Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier. This month he shows how to mix spice blends to make your cooking more flavoursome.
It's handy to have jars of seasoning mix for rubbing or sprinkling on meat for roasting, barbecuing or stir-frying, or for seasoning vegetables and other dishes, but they can be expensive to buy.
They are quick to make at home with dried spices and herbs and will keep for a long time if stored in an airtight jar.
All the ingredients need to be dry, so if you want to use fresh herbs or lemon zest, dry them first.
To dry, put chopped herbs or grated zest in a dish in the oven set at 80degC for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave them to dry out.
Use onion and garlic powder instead of fresh onion and garlic. Plain salt is better than flaky salt, which doesn't stick well to surfaces you will coat with it.
Seasoning mixture for meat
Ingredients
60g salt
10g freshly ground pepper
15g paprika
2g thyme
Method
Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in an airtight container in a dark place, if possible.
Seasoning mixture for poultry
Ingredients
60g salt
10g pepper, freshly ground
10g paprika
zest of 1-2 lemons, dried
5g rosemary, dried
5g sage, dried
Method
Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in an airtight container in a dark place, if possible.
Hot seasoning mix
Ingredients
60g salt
10g freshly ground pepper
10g smoked paprika
10g chilli powder
10g cumin powder
5g oregano, dried
Method
Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in an airtight container in a dark place, if possible.
Indian seasoning mix
Ingredients
60g salt
5g freshly ground pepper
5g chilli power
10g garlic powder
5g ginger powder
5g curry powder
Method
Use more or less chilli and mild or hot curry powder to taste.
This is nice mixed with yoghurt to coat chicken for the barbecue or for roasting.
Middle Eastern seasoning mix
Ingredients
60g salt
10g freshly ground pepper
5g cayenne powder
5g paprika
10g garlic powder
5g cumin powder
5g coriander powder
2g cinnamon powder
2g clove powder
Method
Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in an airtight container in a dark place, if possible.
Asian seasoning mix
Ingredients
60g salt
5g pepper, freshly ground
10g chilli powder
10g garlic powder
5g ginger powder
5g five spice powder
Method
Use more or less chilli and mild or hot curry powder to taste.
This is nice mixed with yoghurt to coat chicken for the barbecue or for roasting.
