How to Stock a Spice Cabinet

Do you find yourself craving your favorite restaurant dishes and realize that

a) You can’t afford to eat out and

b) You don’t have the ingredients at home to do a passable copycat version?

Go ahead and call in a pizza, you have work to do. Oh, and ask for crushed red pepper, you don’t have any.

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The Value of a Spice Cabinet

Being able to create the foods you love requires that you have some common spices on hand. There’s really no way around that. Start collecting the items you need to turn simple foods into gourmet masterpieces. Like your Mom’s Alcapurrias.

Yep, that’s what professional chefs do every day, and so can you. Add a new spice to your collection every time you shop for groceries or place a Prime Pantry order.

Enhance the flavor of foods you love or for foods that are otherwise kind of bland.

Make your own cinnamon coffee, just sprinkle a little cinnamon on your coffee grounds before brewing. For a yummy flavored popcorn add a little garlic and grated parmesan cheese.  Garlic, oregano, and basil can be mixed with olive oil for an easy, delicious dipping oil for bread.

A smidgen of this, a pinch of that, a dash is all it takes.

 

The Shelf Life of Spices

Dried herbs and spices have a limited shelf life, up to a year for optimal potency. If properly stored you can use them beyond that, they just won’t be as strong. Keep them in an airtight container and in a cool, dry place. Toss them when they lose color and aroma. I admit that I just recently threw out a couple of small jars with a “use by” date of 2014.

Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and nuts will go rancid but you can store them in the freezer.  They will stay fresh for up to 2 years if stored properly.

Make sure to include a date on the label and keep them in a convenient spot so that you can find them when you need them. I have a plastic container that fits in the freezer door where I keep those smaller packages. They would wind up getting lost behind the icemaker if I didn’t keep them otherwise corralled.

Start With These Common Spices

This basic selection will give you all sorts of options in creating a variety of delicious meals. Roasted meats and vegetables, chili, soups, basic versions of Italian, Middle Eastern, or Mexican dishes can be done very nicely with these popular herbs and spices. 

Open More Culinary Doors

You can get so creative when you have this kind of variety. Instead of buying expensive mixes, you have everything you need to make them at home. Fajita seasoning, Mediterranean seasoning, Pumpkin Pie seasoning, whatever you like. You can make your own curry if you have a recipe that you love.

I love having Herbes de Provence on hand and you can make it if you want, but there are like 13 different herbs and spices in this mix, a couple that I think you have to grow yourself if you want them. So you might want to buy this one. Sprinkle some on your Root Veggie Bake and you will be forever hooked on this spice blend.

The same goes for Garam Masala. It’s critical for Indian dishes, but it starts with pods you have to grate and then roast and then there are a dozen ingredients required. Neera’s Garam Masala was recommended to me years ago and I am a huge fan.

Vanilla extract is a must, and it’s nice to have Almond extract. 

I would encourage you to get as adventurous as you like.  Just remember that less is more and that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. 

Add World Class Flavor

Recreating the flavor profiles you crave is pretty simple. Restaurant chefs use the same products you can find on your own.

Combine common spices to create specific flavor profiles that you are looking for AND at the same time eliminate the fillers, sugars, or sodium that you don’t want or need. So many herbs and spices, besides contributing to the depth of flavor we are looking for, have positive health benefits that we need on a daily basis.  

If it’s Moroccan food you crave, make sure you have coriander, cinnamon, cumin. Love Mexican food? Stock chile powder, cumin, and garlic. For African dishes have cumin, coriander, turmeric on hand.  

You’ll find that there is some commonality from one cuisine to another. Having a few key spices on hand means that you will be able to add authenticity to a variety of international dishes.

You have complete control over how you use these potent stems and seeds to enhance your daily bread. Or eggs. Or roasted veggies.  Bump up the heat if you prefer. Go heavier on the garlic. Make it your own.

Customize your own Spice Mixes

Follow some basic suggestions and you can go on to customize your spice mix to suit your palate and dietary restrictions.

Find something you love and you can create homemade spice mixes to give as gifts. Put them in pretty jars, repurpose old baby food jars, they work well. Add a cute label and you have created a beautiful, thoughtful gift that will be appreciated.

There are a ton of choices. Don’t get overwhelmed or spend a fortune buying everything at once. Consider what your favorite specialty foods are, the ones you are likely to go out to a restaurant for and get the spices used in those foods first.

Useful Tools to have on Hand

Using whole spices can be preferable but require some processing before you can use them. You really don’t want to throw whole peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, or nutmeg seeds in your dish. Having the right tools is just as important in the kitchen as it is in the workshop.  A good grinder, grater and even a zester for lemon or ginger make it easy peasy for you to add these ingredients to your dishes.

Oh Yeah, Save Money

A top money-saving strategy is cooking and eating at home. Taking advantage of sales and seasonal foods, using coupons or rebate apps, stocking up when there are super deals all result in lowering food costs.

It takes some planning, but there is a whole world of cuisines that you can create at home for a fraction of the cost of eating out.