Recipes

Warm Pumpkin Butter

15 min

After finding a lovely pumpkin for Halloween decor, wonder no more about what to do with it. This homemade recipe ensures your pumpkin won't go to waste. It yields a lot, but the pumpkin butter can be stored in the fridge for weeks and freezes well. It's perfect for enhancing future pancakes, waffles, and holiday drinks. I used Kashmiri Garam Masala for a sweet, spiced flavor. The spices simmer with piloncillo, similar to brown sugar, intensifying the pumpkin's natural sweetness. This straightforward recipe adds an autumnal twist to everyday treats.

Mayan Cocoa

5 min

Savoring a cup of our unique Mayan Cocoa blend is an experience like no other. It's all about the ingredients: sesame seeds, true cinnamon, brown sugar, allspice, anise seed, ancho chile, and premium cocoa powder. Each one adds its unique flavor note to create a cup that's truly one-of-a-kind. We take pride in crafting this mix, leaning into our love for chocolate and tradition. While not necessary, cassia cinnamon sticks make the drinking experience an even more tactile savory experience.

Pink Chai Nog

10 min

Happy Nog Season! Eggnog is traditional this time of year, and spicing the custard with our Pink Chai came naturally. Full of holiday favorites like cinnamon, ginger and cardamom, it's a fresh and welcome twist for this favorite drink. The rose, rooibos and pink peppercorns add a floral sweet finish and the festive pop of color on top completes the drink. One sip of this frothy delight will put anyone in a holiday spirit.Thick and creamy, our Pink Chai Nog is made with cooked custard so it has a longer shelf life than the raw version and that also makes it booze-optional. A cooked custard makes for a thicker nog and you can adjust the consistency to suit your taste with an extra splash milk or preferred alcohol. We added a splash of local bourbon from our friends at Oola Distillery. Give it a quick stir with a cassia stick and holiday garnishing will be a breeze. The warm spices of chai lend themselves to all sorts of holiday applications. Once made, think outside the nog and experiment. Use it to sweeten up your coffee or try drizzling it over bread pudding. This velvety sweet cream deserves to be poured all over festive favorites.

Oxymels: Tart and Sweet Elixirs

Many people are curious about the health benefits of spices. As a culinary store, we tend to focus more on the abundance of flavors that our spices impart than on their medicinal benefits, but with oxymels these two worlds beautifully blend. Oxymel is the Latin word for acid and honey, and these tart and sweet concoctions have been used for food and medicine for centuries. Here we made two different batches using raw apple cider vinegar and unrefined honey. One batch is more savory and features Aji Mirasol, a mild South American chili that's fruity with hints of apricot. To compliment, we added sliced elephant garlic and oranges. For our second batch we made a sweeter version infused with our chamomile based Floral Sonnets tea, fresh ginger, and Cassia Stick Cinnamon. Oxymels can be used in all kinds of ways. Enjoy them by the spoonful as a digestive aid, incorporated into glazes, vinaigrettes, and marinades; or sipped as a refreshing warm weather beverage with a splash of bubbly water.

Warm Winter Sangria

Spiced wine? Mulled cider? We say "choose both" with this Warm Winter Sangria. Mulled wine alone can be too harsh, and mulled cider too sweet. Put them together with a touch of honey and orange, and the drink comes out just right.Choose a full bodied wine whose shelf-talker boasts of black or red cherry flavors that will complement the mulling spice, but with a price that won't break the bank. Mid-shelf Pinot Noir or Cabernet are good choices, and an unfiltered and unsweetened cider is the perfect complement. We were lucky enough to have one straight out of the press and it made this Warm Winter Sangria all the more flavorful. Don't forget the Mulling Spice!

Down South Goat Biryani

From My Two Souths and Chef Asha Gomez, we get this stunning recipe for Down South Goat Biryani. With her love of Deep-South cooking as well as her southern Indian roots, this recipe is sure to please all of those experimenting with biryani for the first or the tenth time. Don't worry if you can't find goat - Chef Asha says it's just as delicious with beef or chicken. If you're looking for a stand-out dish for fall entertaining, this dish is for you. From the author: "Biryani is a celebration dish. Weddings, birthdays, festivals, and other times of good cheer are the usual occasions when this iconic dish of rice with meat or vegetables graces our table, with almost the entire spice cabinet having been invited into the cooking vessel. Across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, countless renditions of this festive dinner abound, as do the many names by which it is known. I think the following recipe is my favorite version to make at home, though it is wonderful made with beef chuck roast or chicken thighs. I love the tender goat layered between saffron-spiced rice and baked, then dressed with roasted shallots, cashews, raisins, and a confetti of cilantro. As I fluff the flavored rice, I always remove the star anise, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and bay leaves - counting the fifteen spice hulls as I go - and set them aside to use as a garnish. Alternatively, you can tie all the spices except the saffron and cumin seeds in a piece of muslin to make a bouquet garni, which makes a quick job of removing the spice hulls. Or, if no muslin is available, but them in a tea ball and hang the ball over the side of the pot."

Baked Quince

We do love some good quince. It's an underused fruit, and the firm flesh lends itself quite well to baking or poaching. In Olia Hercules' Ukranian cookbook,  Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe, this recipe piqued our interest. You don't often see juniper used in desserts, and this was absolutely delicious!From the Author: "My uncle had a quince tree in his garden and I have always had an overwhelming love for this fruit. We even used to eat it raw (yes, crazy, I know!) or chop it and turn it into jam. I do love it roasted or poached whole, though. Add some sea salt flakes and black pepper, remove the vanilla, and halve the quantity of sugar to make a delicious addition to roast duck."

Roasted Quail Feast for Valentine's Day

Exotic. Aromatic. Romantic. We prepared this intimate feast with a table for two in mind. Succulent quail are perfectly roasted with our Moroccan blend, Ras El Hanout, hinting at rose petals. The finishing touch, a warm coriander infused honey glaze. Our Wild Rice Pilaf features the bold flavor of cassia cinnamon while Paradise Pistachio Relish combines grains of paradise and Aleppo pepper to bring everything together for a memorable Valentine's Day Feast. We will leave the dessert up to you!

Ras El Hanout Plum Preserves

Her name was Edna Nosworthy. She was the type of lady who invited every family from the neighborhood to harvest from the abundance of fruit trees in her yard. Apples, pears, cherries, and Italian plums - oh my! She would then turn these fruits into vats of phenomenal pickles, preserves, jams, and pie fillings. These preserves are a homage to the generation that inspires us to use what we have, and share with our neighbors. The global update is lent by the Moroccan staple, Ras El Hanout, whose complex flavors accentuate the sweet-sour plums. Any variety of plum will do, a trip to your local Farmer's Market is sure to spark to inspiration. These preserves are delicious over ice cream, on a warm toasted baguette, or as a dipping sauce for juicy lamb kebabs.