Pantry Purge

The month of March is a tease, offering brief glimpses of warmer temperatures mixed with days of biting cold.  This in between season is the perfect time for spring cleaning and a great place to start is the spice rack in your kitchen pantry.

“Best by” dates are stamped on almost everything edible, including bottled spices and herbs. Fortunately for your kitchen budget, these seasonings have a lengthy shelf life, ranging from 6-12 months for dried herbs to several years for dried spices. Seasonings won’t spoil, but they will lose potency, which can be a recipe killer.  So, in lieu of a “best by” date, how do you know when a dried spice or herb needs to be discarded?  

The Nose Knows

First, it’s helpful to define the terms “herb” and “spice.”  In culinary usage, herbs come from the leafy green parts of a plant and can be either fresh or dried.  Spices are usually dried and come from other parts of the plant, like the root, seeds, pods and sometimes flowers. 

Herbs and spices are used to complement food, enhancing the flavor and aroma.  Use the aroma to determine their freshness.  Open the bottle and deeply inhale the fragrance.  If it smells stale or like day-old cut grass, throw it away.   

Master the Mix

If you have a small amount of several seasonings, consider making your own custom spice blend.  For example, chili powder, onion powder, cumin and ground coriander make a great blend for tacos or southwestern-style hamburgers.  Mix the spices together in the amounts that you have and place in a labeled sealed bag.

Another great mix is marjoram, sage, parsley flakes, celery salt, orange zest and lemon pepper.  The proportions may vary; just go easy on the lemon pepper.  This blend makes a fantastic seasoning for grilled or roasted chicken.

Seasoning Essentials

Once you’ve made your custom blends and purged the old bottles, take stock of what’s left and determine what you need to replace.  Most cooks have a favorite seasoning, but in addition to your personal preferences, I recommend these essentials for your home spice rack:

• A Season-All spice blend
• Garlic Salt or powder
• Onion Salt or powder
• Chili Powder
• Peppercorns
• Dried Rosemary and Thyme
• Curry
• Cinnamon and/or a Cinnamon Sugar, which is 5 parts sugar and 1 part ground cinnamon.

If you need to re-stock, buy smaller containers and label bottles with the purchase date to take the guess work out of next year’s spring cleaning. 

Brand vs. Generic

There is very little difference between a brand-name spice and a generic brand.

The Crofton sells a brand name 2-ounce bottle of paprika for $3.99, while the same size store brand is $2.49.  Don’t be afraid of store brands.

Embrace the mill

To prolong the life of your spices, I recommend buying them whole and grinding them as needed.  Simple grinding mills are relatively inexpensive, usually $5 to $10, and will greatly prolong the life of your seasonings. 

To achieve the best flavor in whole seed spices (such as coriander, peppercorns, cumin, star anise, or fennel seed), you should toast them prior to putting them in a mill.  Pour the seeds into a pan and heat them for 20 minutes in a 250 degree oven.  The heat breaks down the essential oils in each seed, saturating it and providing a homogenous taste.  Once the seeds have cooled, they are ready to store in a mill.  The taste difference between pre-ground pepper and toasted cracked black peppercorn is amazing.

Don’t cheat your taste buds with herb flakes.  They have their place, but when possible use fresh herbs.  Dried herbs are big on the convenience factor, but you loose an immense amount of character.  Whole herbs such as rosemary and thyme do well when stored in a mill, but that is about it. 

Spices and herbs add amazing flavor to your favorite recipes.  Check out your spice rack and try a new flavor tonight.  Enjoy!