I'm not a purist when it comes to dry rubs. I'll mix dried herbs with fresh, depending on what I have handy and what I think will taste good. So with that experimental mindgear in mind, I present the following, a variation on a dry rub from The Complete Meat Cookbook. Not only did I mix fresh with dried, but I left out some of the ingredients ( Read more... )

So this post isn't so much a recipe as it is an open question to the commune ( Read more... )

I like baking bread. It's a good way to relax with the reward of something tasty to eat afterwards. Winter's a great time for me to get my bread-baking fu on because if you've ever heated up an oven during a Texas summer, you'd rather bake bread in winter, too.

Lately my bread-baking fu has been focused on pain ordinaire, or plain ol' French ( Read more... )

Earlier this weekend I was looking over the bags of stew meat we have in the freezer and was trying to come up with something new and different to do with them. Not that I don't love what we normally cook with stew meat, and I will still happily eat curry, chili, tumbleweed beef, and other yummy things, but ... y'know, novelty can be fun ( Read more... )

Oh, boy am I full. Very happily full. For the second night in a row. And I owe it all to pot roast ( Read more... )

I was poking around looking for another guide on herbs and spices, and discovered that the Mayo Clinic has a section on their website giving basic information on herbs and spices. This is very basic information, perfect for the cook who's trying to learn which herbs and spices are good in what kind of recipes.

One of the joys of moving into a new kitchen is rediscovering old stashes of semi-forgotton spices. Amidst the boxes, I couldn't find what I'd wanted to season my dinner with last night, but I did find my pot of Herbs de Provance ( Read more... )

Crock pot spaghetti sauce ( Read more... )

Thanks to the wonderful yellowseptember, I took delivery of a lovely spice cabinet this afternoon (yay!). So now I need to buy herbs and spices to put in it! *grin*

What would you guys say are the essential herbs and spices - the ones you can't do without? I'm willing to entertain any suggestions, including the special rub mixes.

morganraven brought up the excellent point of how everyone should have a few spices around for cooking. Absolutely right! I listed a few of my favorites on the previous post, but I also thought I'd throw in a few words about condiments ( Read more... )