Archive for SAUCES & SEASONINGS

Homemade Seasoned Salt

Homemade Seasoned Salt — this is so much better than any store-bought variety.

I’ve listed the very basic ingredients below, but you can create many variations depending on your particular taste (I included optional ingredients as well).

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂
 

Homemade Seasoned Salt

spice blend

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch (prevents clumping)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon dill (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

Directions:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together. Store in a resealable plastic container or jar, or place in a salt shaker. This mixture keeps for several weeks.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade Taco Seasoning — it’s better than store-bought!

This recipe makes the equivalent of one packet of commercial taco seasoning mix.  Use it to season ground meat for tacos or as a rub for grilled meat.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

spice blend

Ingredients (Version 1):

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon masa harina (corn flour) (or use cornstarch if you don’t have any corn flour)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 1 cube chipotle bouillon (optional, but if you add this, decrease salt to 1/2 teaspoon)

Ingredients (Version 2):

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika (I like using smoked paprika)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Accent (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.  Store in a resealable plastic container or jar.  This mixture keeps for several weeks.
  2. To season 1 pound of ground meat, first brown the meat then add the seasoning mix above.  Stir in 3/4 cup of water and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Omit the cayenne pepper, pepper flakes and/or chipotle bouillon if you don’t want your seasoned meat spicy.

Fina’dene’ ~ Chamorro ‘Special Sauce’

Chamorro Special Sauce — that’s what my non-Chamorro friends call fina’denne’, the literal translation of which means made with pepper or donne’, the Chamorro word for hot chili pepper.

Fina’denne’ is a staple in most Chamorro homes.  It’s served with most meals.  Pour it over your freshly steamed rice or over your meat of choice.  It’s sure to enhance your dining pleasure. 🙂

There are many, many ways to prepare fina’denne’.  Soy sauce is usually the main ingredient; however, depending on the type of dish being served, you may choose to use salt instead.  For instance, I prefer a salt-based fina’denne’ over grilled fish, but I love a soy sauce-based fina’denne’ over fried fish.

The acidic ingredient is all up to you as well.  You can use white vinegar, cider vinegar, coconut vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice…it’s all up to you.  My brother, for example, likes only lemon or lime juice in his fina’denne’.  I, on the other hand, like to vary the acid I use depending on what I’m eating.  I mentioned fish above…I like a soy-lemon fina’denne’ with fried fish, and either a salt-lemon or salt-white vinegar fina’denne’ with grilled fish.

I also like using white vinegar when I add tomatoes to my fina’denne.  Tomatoes and vinegar pair really well, you know, like how a vinaigrette dressing goes great with a tomato salad.

Be sure to taste as you go…you might like your fina’denne’ more on the salty side, or you might prefer it a bit more sour (which is how I like it).

I like a 1:1 ratio of soy sauce to vinegar.  My husband prefers his fina’denne’ on the salty side, so when he makes it, he uses a 2:1 ratio of soy sauce to vinegar.  In other words, if I were to make a cup of fina’denne, I’ll use 1/2 cup soy sauce and 1/2 cup vinegar.  My husband, on the other hand, will make his using 1/2 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup vinegar.

Try making different varieties of fina’denne’ and decide for yourself your personal preference. But by all means, give it a try.  I’m sure you too will love it. 🙂

Fina’denne’

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Ingredients:

  • Soy sauce, to taste (you can substitute the soy sauce with salt)
  • Vinegar, to taste (you can use any type of vinegar, or you can use lemon or lime juice)

Optional ingredients:

  • Green onions, as much as you like
  • White onions, diced, as much as you like
  • Hot chili peppers, as much as you can stand
  • Cherry tomatoes, diced or sliced
For this batch of fina’denne’, I used:
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 1 jalapeño pepper
  • 2 Serrano chili peppers
  • 4 stalks green onions
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

Directions: 

In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce and vinegar (or lemon juice if you prefer).  

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I like adding hot green chili peppers to my fina’denne’, charring them slightly.  You don’t have to char the peppers, but doing so brings out so much more of the pepper’s flavor.  I grilled these peppers over the flame of my gas stove.  Use a metal skewer to keep the peppers together; it also makes it easier to turn the peppers over to ensure even grilling.

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My mom and one of my sisters loves using the red, super-hot Thai peppers in their fina’denne’.  Those are great too, but beware!  Those suckers are MOUTH-ON-FIRE H-O-T!!!

red chili peppers

Slice the peppers then add them to the bowl.

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Add the onions.  I used green onions here, but you can use white or yellow onions too.

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Add the tomatoes.

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Stir to combine.

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Pour over your rice and meat and dig in! ENJOY! 🙂

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Here’s a great tip:  for fina’denne’ at your fingertips and ready when you want it, buy a plastic squeeze bottle and fill it with fina’denne’, the liquid mixture only.   Squeeze bottles are sold at most grocery stores, but I bought this one at our local Korean store.  Add onions, tomatoes and peppers on the side when you’re ready to serve up your meal.

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Hannah’s BBQ Marinade

My teenaged daughter is the official Marinade maker in our house.  She has a recipe that is so simple yet has all of our friends salivating when the smell of our BBQ wafts into their homes.

Hannah’s recipe is great for marinating beef, pork, or chicken.  This makes enough to marinate 4 packages of short ribs or 2 slabs of ribs or a 5-pound bag of chicken.

Hannah’s BBQ Marinade 

DSC_0426

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1 can soda (your choice–sometimes Hannah uses Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper or Root beer)
  • 1/4 cup good quality honey (we buy ours from a local Colorado bee farm)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 small apple, cored, and puréed in a blender or mixer
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
Directions:

1.  Mix all the ingredients together.

2.  Place your meat in a ziplock bag.  Pour the marinade into the bag then seal.  Allow the meat to marinate for a few hours or overnight before grilling.

ENJOY!

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