Essential herbs and spices

goonlord

I am cooking from scratch much more these days but I find I use the same herbs and spices (garlic, mixed herbs, chilli, black pepper, etc.) in every dish (usually with tinned toms and stock) so everything tastes the same!

What other herbs and spices would be useful to keep in the cupboard to be used regularly?

It would be really helpful if you could also suggest what dishes they should be used in. :j

Thanks in advance. It's great to be able to tap into the wealth of knowledge contained within these boards!!

recovering_spendaholic

I buy freeze dried corriander leaf for curries as it adds a lovely taste with a bit of lemon juice. I also have:

oregano - I use it in italian tomatoey things and find it is much nicer than mixed herbs

thyme - this is my favourite herb - I use it in stews, casseroles, veg dishes, hotpots - it adds a lovley savoury flavour

herbs de provence - these are lovely and give a nice fresh taste to omelettes and chicken dishes.

I usually buy freeze dried herbs as they taste so much nicer, even though they can be a little more expensive.

I also use alot of cinnamon (in puddings), mild chilli powder, cumin powder (I add this to chilli and it makes it taste nicer), medium madras curry powder, freeze dried parsley (lovely on hm garlic bread and also sprinkled on boiled potatoes) and celery salt (I add this to all kinds of stuff)

One final thing I find invaluable is Marigold vegetable boullion powder. It is magic stuff and livens up all soups and stews and it even makes a nice drink just mixed with boiling water.

ckerrd

A bottle of tabasco or similar is great to have around.
Oregano a must for the Itlaian dishes
Cummin for Mexican
Rosemary
Basil

dronid

I find Paprika very nice for a warm sweetness in food.
Dill is great with fish and as a change from parsley.
Sage I always put in HM Beef burgers as it has antiseptic properties which is good for meat which has been minced and stuck together again and also for chicken for much the same reason. It also tastes nice!
Basil - great on it's own with Tomato dishes.
Sometimes I just use a bit of pesto instead of basil and Pesto is great in a salmon pasta bake. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=523083#post523083
Rosemary for lamb and if I'm trying to give something a Mediterranean pungent fragrance.

tawnyowls

I cook a lot of oriental and Indian food and couldn't live without:

Cumin, cardamom seeds, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, ground coriander, ground ginger, curry powder (useful sometimes if you want a very mild curry). I also have several sorts of pepper - ground black & white, lemon pepper, and mixed peppercorns (black, white & pink, I think)

Sweet spices include cloves (whole and ground), cinnamon, allspice (many currries use these three as well) and vanilla pod (I put sugar into my jar when I buy a new pod, so most of the time I don't need to use the actual pod - the sugar has enough flavour).

Dried herbs are mainly thyme, oregano, rosemary and basil. I;m not a huge fan of dried herbs, so I try to use fresh herbs where I can - I chop them in the FP and freeze.

I also buy jars of chopped chillies, lemon grass, pesto, chopped ginger, green & red curry pastes, and lime leaves, and as they usually only last about a month, I freeze the right portions (usually a teaspoon) in icecube trays and store in boxes in the freezer. Several of the supermarkets stock tubes of herb and spice pastes, which are quite good - they tend to last longer, but if they're getting near the UBD, I'll freeze them too.

finc

recovering_spendaholic wrote:

One final thing I find invaluable is Marigold vegetable boullion powder. It is magic stuff and livens up all soups and stews and it even makes a nice drink just mixed with boiling water.

I agree with this in fact I've just had a cup of this with a camembert sandwich for my tea (Wednesday is rushed tea night!)

I seem to use Italian seasoning in almost everything. I've started buying 190g of it in Costco for about £2 as I use so much of it. I also use lots of tomato puree and lea & perrins sauce.

Raspberry_Swirl

chinese five spice

ethansmum

I was wanting to spice up my cooking. All we usually use is tumeric (yellow rice). I've just bought chilli powder for athe chocolate pud recipe (Don't have any idea what else to use this for). What spices should I buy? Thanks

ethansmum

Sorry I should have asked about Herbs too. Dried or fresh?? And which ones do I need?

Littlebean_2

My essentials are cumin & coriander seeds and I also use a lot of fennel seeds. Just grind them up and add them to all sorts of stuff to add a bit of flavour. Dried basil, oregano and thyme aren't as good as the fresh, but I always manage to kill the little plants from the supermarket so I've given up buying them. They are good for livening up tomato based sauces. Just buy a couple to start with and see how you get on.

lofty_cherrytree

Cumin and coriander whole and ground (if you don't have a pestle or grinder) paprika, cardamon pods, bay leaves, fennel seeds, garam masala, mustard seeds, chilli and turmeric for all the curry type recipes.
Dried thyme, basil, bay leaves and oregano for pasta/risotto type dishes.
Saffron, cinnamon, cumin for morrocan type dishes.
I also have juniper berries, mixed spice, chinese five spice, tarragon, ginger cloves, cinnamon sticks......and others, but we do use them.
I guess we have just accumulated them per recipe.

Quick edit to add fresh garlic of course, and fresh ginger. I too have trouble with those supermarket pots of herbs so don't bother unless reduced and grow my own in the summer.