spice help

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Samiwhereareyou
Samiwhereareyou Posts: 281 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Im trying really hard to cook at home but Im noticing my food either taste bland or wrong. I made stir fry with kale and chicken apple sausage with salt and I thought cayenne pepper would make a sweet spicy thing. wrong it tastes like poopie. Does anyone have some go by these rules and your food will be tasty and not taste like you put hot sauce in your maple syrup.

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  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
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    Why dont you try looking up recipes? There are a lot of spice combinations that are good, even if you normally wouldnt like the spice on its own. or you can try to get some of those packet seasoning mixes, or Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning blends.
  • misslissa555
    misslissa555 Posts: 135 Member
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    I'm vegan and love to make stirfries! I'm having it for dinner right now actually. To give it taste, I use Braggs Liquid Amino Acids. Taste just like soysauce but better for you! :)
  • solflyer81
    solflyer81 Posts: 119
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    lol. its commendable that you are trying! and with daring ingredients no less. What else did you have in the recipe? pasta? rice? what kind? and what other spices or ingredients (not food items) did you use?

    If you are trying for a traditional asian stir fry an easy no fail route woule be: Tamari soy sauce, fish sauce, green onions, white onion, carrots, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes and any other veggie you wouldnt mind chopped in there.

    if you are calling it stir fry simply because you stirred and sauteed it all together then your options are limitless: the advice to search recipes online is good. Food Network.com has tried and true recipes there if you want to be less adventurous, or any google search could net you something.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    Here's a couple things that have helped me.... :)

    *Mexican Hot Sauce -- I use Valencia (available at Wal-Mart) - I eat salads daily - and this hot sauce goes on every single salad!
    *Emeril's Original Essence -- you can buy huge containers of this stuff at BJ's for relatively cheap -- I put this on everything from fish to veggies, to chicken.... It is a staple in my kitchen - I use it daily!
  • BJPCraig
    BJPCraig Posts: 417 Member
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    Like ejmcam said, try looking @ recipes for different spice ideas. To keep from getting overwhelmed, you might want to focus on one type of cooking. Like, if you're doing stir fries, check online or in cook books from the library for oriental cooking recipes and see what spices they use. After you get used to them, move on to recipes for Mexican or Indian or whatever...
  • _gwen
    _gwen Posts: 501 Member
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    Good question.

    When I'm experimenting with seasoning, I usually smell what I'm cooking and then take a sniff of the seasoning. Do they smell ok back to back? If not, I don't use it. Mixing them together will only make things worse.

    I think you pretty much can't go wrong sauteeing a little garlic in the pan before adding other ingredients, especially meat and other savory foods. For variation I also use onion or shallots. I also tend to toss in one or two whole dried red chili peppers. It doesn't make it hot, but adds a little more depth to the food.

    In the Kale and Chicken Apple Sausage stir fry, kale has a strong taste. I would use both garlic and onions plus the dried red chili as a counterpoint to the strong flavors.

    Googling on Kale Chicken Apple Sausage I also get a couple seasoning ideas:

    --http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_sausage_kale_stew.html

    They use tomatoes. Sounds good. Maybe toss in a few cherry tomatoes towards the end of cooking? They get mushy fast and you don't need to over cook them.

    --http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=chicken+apple+sausage+kale

    one recipe calls for caraway seeds. Definitely a strong flavor, but not one I particularly like.

    Another calls for bay leaf. I think that might be a good flavor to add. I'd saute the leaf with the garlic, onion, and chili to release the flavor into the oil before doing the rest of the stir fry.
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
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    Mrs. Dash! get one of every kind. Then you are all set.
  • MyNewLeaf
    MyNewLeaf Posts: 40
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    I'm vegan and love to make stirfries! I'm having it for dinner right now actually. To give it taste, I use Braggs Liquid Amino Acids. Taste just like soysauce but better for you! :)

    Not to pee in your cheerios or anything.... but fermented soy is the only kind of soy that didn't show health problems long term in studies. Braggs is not fermented, and therefore risky, at least for some people. In addition to the fertility issues soy naturally presents, a large percentage of people are allergic to soy to varying degrees. Again, fermented soy shows much fewer problems (so tempeh, miso, soy sauce, natto, ontjom, and su-fu are probably okay). While Braggs works for some people, others will have problems with it. Glad it's working for you, though!
  • NiciS72
    NiciS72 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    I suggest some of the Tastefully Simple spice mixes. They come with recipe cards and they also have recipes on their website. I use the seasoned salt a lot along with many of their other mixes. Good luck.
  • MyNewLeaf
    MyNewLeaf Posts: 40
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    I'm of the opinion that all stir fries need fresh garlic, fresh onion, or both. They just aren't stir-fries to me otherwise! Garlic and onion provide so much flavor. True, you can use all sorts of delicious spices. Try that too. But in general? All a stir fry really needs is oil, salt and pepper, onion and/or garlic. If you can squeeze a little fresh lemon juice in at the end? All the better. I cheat because lemons are expensive, especially out of season. I use raw apple cider vinegar, a capful, to replace lemon. Waaay cheaper and makes the stir fry flavors perfect.

    BTW, only use fresh onion and fresh garlic, then chop. The powders can't even touch what the real thing tastes like.
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
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    cooks.com
    allrecipes.com
    epicurious.com


    these sites usually let you search for recipes by ingredient, too .. so you can input "chicken sausage" and it will pull up recipes that include it.


    Once you learn which spices and herbs go with which ethnicities and styles of food, cooking becomes so much fun! I believe there are books called "the encyclopedia of flavor" or something like that which give you information about 'proper' flavor combinations.
  • FabCheeky
    FabCheeky Posts: 311
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    I'm vegan and love to make stirfries! I'm having it for dinner right now actually. To give it taste, I use Braggs Liquid Amino Acids. Taste just like soysauce but better for you! :)

    Not to pee in your cheerios or anything.... but fermented soy is the only kind of soy that didn't show health problems long term in studies. Braggs is not fermented, and therefore risky, at least for some people. In addition to the fertility issues soy naturally presents, a large percentage of people are allergic to soy to varying degrees. Again, fermented soy shows much fewer problems (so tempeh, miso, soy sauce, natto, ontjom, and su-fu are probably okay). While Braggs works for some people, others will have problems with it. Glad it's working for you, though!

    I use raw coconut aminos and love them. (I can not tolerate ANY soy.)

    For OP: check the recipes out at Everydaypaleo.com, Elanaspantry.com, comfybelly.com, fastpaleo.com, civilizedcavemancooking.com, and marksdailyapple.com for tons of great paleo approved or paleo friendly seasoning choices and recipes. :D
  • MyNewLeaf
    MyNewLeaf Posts: 40
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    OP, I keep thinking you're going to like cumin in your stirfries for some reason... Maybe try a little? It typically has a more Mexican feel. Use ground cumin, otherwise you have to toast the seeds to make them taste right, and the flavor might not meld enough in a stirfry. YMMV

    P.S. I like coconut aminos too, except for the price! Luckily, I can get by on soy sauce and be okay, if I want that flavor. I use them interchangeably.

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