It's not your Grandmother's HERBES de PROVENCE

No, it's not your grandmother's and it isn't the commercial mix of herbs either.

BUT, it is a handy spice mix to have around.  It is very fragrant.  Open the sealed bag and your kitchen smells of a spring garden!

I use this almost anytime a recipe calls for a mixture of two or three herb spices.  It tastes great on a focaccia bread, add to oil and balsamic for a great bread dipping oil.  I add to fish and chicken for a light taste accent. It is just great to have sitting around... ready

5 TBS dried Tarragon
5 TBS dried Oregano
5 TBS dried Dill
5 TBS dried Thyme
5 TBS dried Rosemary
5 TBS dried Garlic Flakes
2 TBS Sea Salt
2 TBS Fresh ground Pepper
1 TBS dried Lemon Zest

Store in a sealed plastic ziplock bag, airtight in a dark drawer, and stays fresh for 6 months or more.

Very useful

Sesame Seed / Kosher Salt ... Rub / Garnish recipe

I seem to be using quite a bit of this rub here.  Could not be easier to make...

1/4 cup White Sesame Seeds
1/4 cup Black Sesame Seeds
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
2 TBS Garlic Flakes

Mix well.  It is best to use as a coating or garnish prior to cooking.  the heat will toast the sesame seeds, increasing their flavor.

Like on this loaf of bread...



It is a great seasoning accent for Chicken and fish...

And especially Vegetables.

Mediterranean Herb Pizza Dough - and cheater pizza sticks

Pizza dough... fast and easy...

3 1/2 cups Flour (divided)
1 package fast rising Yeast
1 cup warm Water
2 TBS Garlic infused Olive Oil
2 TBS Mediterranean Herb Rub (see yesterday's post for that mixture... Click HERE)

In a large bowl, combine the warm water and yeast... mix well

add the other ingredients and mix very well.

Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth... about 10 minutes by hand, 5 minutes in a kitchenaid.

Cover and allow to rise for 2 hours.

And use as pizza dough... it takes about 20 minutes to cook the dough through.

But I take just a bit, and make some BBQ cheater pizza sticks...

Lay out some flat sticks of dough...

add a layer of BBQ sauce, and a bit of Asiago Cheese...

Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes...

Makes a great appetizer!

Another RUB - Mediterranean Herb Mix

Think Herbes de Provence...

This is very useful.  I make a batch of this up once every few months.  It is handy to add a little extra something to lots of dishes.  Once you make it up (takes 5 minutes), you can store a bag in the fridge and always have a fresh teaspoon to add to lots of things... Like pizza dough!

2 tablespoons each -
Oregano
tarragon
dill
thyme
rosemary
lemon pepper
garlic flakes

Notice, another low/no salt mix... Too much salt in my diet, so i make my own mixes.  Fast, easy and cheap!

Garlic/Onion/Chipotle Moomie Buns... I did it My Way!

Since this is to be a journal of my cooking and dining experiences while living in ST Thomas, I would be remiss if I didn't include what I do to the world famous Moomie Rolls.

If you have never heard of moomie rolls, go ahead and google them.  over a quarter of a million sites talk about this recipe... And for very good reason.  It is my go to recipe, at least once a week.  Cost wise, I am sure it is less than $1.50 (even at island shopping prices) to make eight hamburger buns.  Or in this case... Sausage rolls...

But, on the island, no bread machine (if you use the dough setting on a bread machine, you can whip these off with almost no effort, no mess)...  But alas, no machine here on the island.  Here is the original recipe, so easy with a bread machine...

� 1 c water 
� 2 tbsp butter or margarine 
� 1 egg 
� 3 1/4 c. flour 
� 1/4 c. sugar 
� 1 tsp salt 
� 3 tsp instant yeast 

� Place all ingredients in your bread machine. Select dough. Allow to run cycle. � Dump out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 pieces. With each piece, slap into a bun shape. Usually 4 or 5 slaps will do it. Place on greased cookie sheets or your bun pans, cover; rise about 30 to 40 minutes. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes til golden. Cool on wire racks. 

And another BUT, no Kitchenaid mixer.  So, it's old school for me once a week... Mix by hand...

And get creative... I added 1 tsp of Garlic Powder
and 1 tsp Onion Powder
and 1 tsp Chipotle Powder

This is such a beautiful recipe.  Form any way you like.  I had just bought a batch of Johnsonville Brats, so I made split top sausage rolls.  Had enough dough left over to make a few "regular" buns.

I made these in the morning, had a left over Blackened pork chop sandwich for lunch...

And at night, I had mango beer braised brats that you will have to go to my "regular" site to read all about it! I posted about those today!

Blackened Tilapia

Remember yesterday???  Cajun Rub (blackening seasoning)... We made a triple batch.  Now we start using it...

Tilapia is a wonderful fish ... Taste and cheap!  Every store from Aldi to Kroger to the cheap place in St Thomas sells big bags of single fillets, individually sealed and perfect for a quick lunch...

And this recipe is quick... Freezer to thawed in the microwave to 4 minutes in the frying pan and served... total time, just a shade over 5 minutes...

While the fish is thawing ... BTW, if you plan ahead, instead of microwave, put a fillet (still sealed in plastic) in a pan of warm water for 30 minutes and it will be thawed.  OK, back to the how to... While the fish is thawing in the microwave, take an aluminum non stick pan and melt one TBS butter for each fillet you are making...

Add one rounded teaspoon of the rub to the butter and get hot hot hot... You will start to see whisps of smoke coming from the spices.  At that stage, turn the heat down just a tinge.  You like the smoke, but you do not want to burn...

Add the fish fillet.  2 minutes, and you continue to see the smoke...

Flip the fish and 2 minutes on the other side...

Filled with flavor, cooked perfect, flaky, not over cooked...

I love blackened fish.

Make your own rub - CAJUN RUB (Blackening Seasonings)

Earlier this week, I got my care package from home (Kansas City).  25 cups of various spices!!!  Click HERE to see what I got.

Now it's time to start doing something with all those beautiful spices...

No, these pork chops are not burnt... They are blackened.  Sadly, many restaurants have confused blackening seasonings with blackened.  Blackened is a cooking process, made popular by Paul Prudhomme! It is a way to infuse and caramelize spices with butter and cook meat.  The collection of spices used would be more accurately called Cajun spiced if you do not use a flash frying method followed by gentle baking... But I digress...

Soon, I will blog the recipe and technique for making these blackened chops, but today... just the rub.

A Cajun rub is very versatile.  Not as hot as it's reputation would suggest, but certainly enough to know you are eating something special.  I prefer to make my own, especially without salt.  There is plenty of salt in our everyday food.  Highly overrated (in my opinion), and more often than not, not needed.  And especially if you are trying to cut back on dangerous quantities of salt.

You can use this rub to spice up just about any cut of meat, and sprinkling some on grilled fruit and veggies makes a special dish really pop.

here's what I did...

1/4 cups Sweet Paprika
1 TBS Garlic Flakes
1 TBS Onion Flakes
1 TBS Dried Thyme Leaves
1 TBS Dired Oregano
1 TBS Black Pepper
2 TBS White Pepper
2 tsp (TEAspoons) Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Ground Bay Leaves

Go ahead, mix by hand...

Did you pay attention to the quantities?  Biggest quantity was Sweet Paprika (yes, paprika is a pepper, but not a hot hot pepper).  There is a bite to this, it is Cajun after all, but not the killer quantities that people expect.

Isn't this pretty???  I tripled the recipe, as I use this mix a lot.  From eggs in the morning, to grilled pineapple to (of course) meat... Cajun spice is very versatile.

The spices stay fresh for about 6 months.  I store in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator (cool dark place, assuming that little light bulb does indeed go out when the door is closed... Who really knows for sure???).  Mark the bag and date it.

And stay tuned to see my instructions for blackening pork chops and fish... It really is impressive!