So many condiments, so little time....or is it thyme?
For the next get-together of The #1 Cooking Group, I'm borrowing the game plan of Chef Diane Vatcher, who's coming to Ninecooks the week before to teach a class on grill techniques. Diane, a personal chef in Providence, and former head chef for a major catering company, believes that the secret to good grilling (or good cooking, for that matter) is to have a very good supply of homemade rubs, sauces, glazes, marinades – in other words, your own stash of secret weapons that you can make ahead and store in the fridge or pantry, so you can save time (or is it thyme?) when you want to get a great meal on your grill.
Diane will show the class how to create dry and fresh rubs, and we'll create our own signature rubs to take home. We'll also make BBQ sauces, glazes, and marinades both sweet and spicy. And all of this good seasoning will be put to the test, on chicken, veggies, steaks, ribs and fish.
It all sounds like so much fun that I thought "why not do it again?" with the #1s?
In Ninecooks cooking groups, everyone is responsible for bringing part of the food; that way, no one person gets stuck doing all of the shopping, and we are responsible to each other for making sure all of the groceries are on hand. I send out the individual shopping lists two weeks before we're going to cook together.
Yesterday I sent out the shopping list. Here it is:
"Bring something to grill."
That's it – the assignment! It will be fun to see what people bring, and we'll tailor our rubs and basting sauces accordingly. With a tweak-tweak here, and a tweak-tweak there, Diane says you can adjust any rub to match the characteristics of whatever you're cooking, whether mild-flavored fish or a bistro steak. (I'd better take good notes in Diane's class...)
Though there are many possible sources of the dry seasonings we'll need, there aren't many good ones within 10 miles of the Ninecooks kitchen, and with gas at $3.00 a gallon, I'm not sure that driving the nearly 20 miles each way to the Indian spice market makes much sense. I'm picky about the freshness of the spices in my kitchen, so my first stop will be Penzeys, one of my favorite online sources.
On my shopping list: cumin (whole seeds, and ground); cardamom; coriander; paprika, both the sweet Hungarian and the smoked Spanish; black pepper and whole peppercorns, and white peppercorns, too; fennel seed; rosemary; sesame seeds; chili powder and ancho chile; garlic powder; cayenne; allspice; turmeric; ground cloves; hot mustard.
And those are just the dry spices. Then come the condiments: mustards, molasses, honey, ketchup, lemons and limes, cilantro. The herb garden, finally showing signs of robust growth, can provide chives, thyme and mint.
My nose is excited just thinking about it!
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