Recipes
Sri Lankan Sweet Potato Pie
Our holiday motto? Don't skimp on the sweets! And add ambrosial spices whenever possible... As such, this incredible sweet potato pie is a must for our Thanksgiving menu because it does both. We adapted this recipe to feature our Sri Lankan Curry, which has none of the savory turmeric that we often expect in our curries, but is instead made up of a melange of warm, sweet spices. Each component is individually toasted before being mixed in perfect proportion, yielding an intensely dark and aromatic blend so intoxicating that most customers who give it a whiff can't leave without it. The sweet potatoes are a perfect canvas for the deep, toasted flavors of the spice, with just a pop of orange zest added for contrast. The crust is a dense, almost shortbread-like shell made with chopped pecans for a special crunch. This pie will please all who grace your autumn table!
Learn moreHeavenly Hawaij Mushroom Soup
This Heavenly Hawaij Soup is the perfect starter for a long holiday feast. Combining aromatic spices, earthy mushrooms and velvety cream, it is as decadent as holiday fare should be. Cardamom, turmeric and saffron are the essential spice elements of the Yemenese blend Hawaij, and they play wonderfully in this exotic mushroom soup. Serve as elegant soup shots to start a meal or by the bowl as a first course. It's a leftover that will have you sneaking back to the kitchen in the middle of the night!
Learn moreWalnut Rosewater Wafers
These sublime wafers are the perfect treat if you are looking for a sweet to satisfy without over-doing it. The lofty texture of these delicate wafers owes itself to the flourless dough, and the ethereal flavor comes from our Advieh spice blend and its rosewater complement. Try them as a light dessert with cardamom coffee, with your afternoon tea or as an apertif.
Learn moreGet Your Sausage-Making on with Chorizo Bomb!
World Spice's Chorizo Bomb spice blend has been a favorite of our restaurant clients for years, so it was no surprise that it started flying off the shelves as soon as we started offering it to our retail family. This versatile blend can be used to make a Mexican-style chorizo, or even a North African-style merguez sausage, as links or patties. It pulls double, triple, and quadruple duty as a great grill seasoning, taco and fajita spice, or in simple beans and rice. A little smoky from the Pasilla Oaxacas, sweet smoked paprika, and Chipotle flakes, a little herbaceous from the generous dose of oregano, thyme, and marjoram, and a bit sweet from the Hungarian paprika... well, you'll see. There's a reason we call it the "bomb!"So, how do you use it? We're testing additional recipes right now, but in the meantime, here are easy patty-making recipes for both Mexican chorizo and North African mergeuz sausage. P.S. If you decide to go all D.I.Y. homemade, here's a great article explaining how to grind your own meat for patties as well as case up your sausage links: how to make your own sausage.
Learn moreSassy Bacon Draped Meatloaf
I've finally nailed a simple and satisfying meatloaf recipe! A generous loaf draped in bacon is always a universal hit, but with classic comfort food, the brilliance is in the details. What set this loaf apart from all the rest was quick sauté on the onions before mixing them in. Their natural sweetness develops, complementing the Vietnamese cassia cinnamon in our bewitching Sassy Steak Spice. It's completely worth the extra step. Tip number two is to leave the loaf pan for banana bread - sculpt this masterpiece free-form in a shallow Pyrex baking dish to allow the bacon to properly crisp, moistening your loaf as it cooks, smoky juices mingling with the beef and spice...Delicious! Any leftovers make great sandwiches the next day, too!
Learn moreChef Andrea's Cardamom and Olive Oil Cake
This delicious cake is complements of Pastry Chef Andrea, and was served at dearly departed Lecosho, one of our favorite after work restaurants.The Ranier cherries that she serves with it are at the end of their season now, but don't let that stop you from attempting this cake! Try a few slices of Northwest pear, poached in wine and sugar, or a few cubes of caramelized pumpkin, roasted until soft to garnish. This cake is heavenly with freshly ground cardamom, but is also a brilliant vehicle to feature any number of exotic spices- try pink peppercorns, saffron, fennel (or fennel pollen!) or anise seed, paired with a different flavors of gelato. A word on the recipe itself: "Real deal" bakers and pastry chefs weigh their ingredients, much like we weigh our spices here in the shop. Weighing provides far more consistent and accurate measurements, which is why we choose to sell our spices that way, too. I left Chef Andrea's original weights in the recipe in case you're in possession of a gram scale, but also translated them to the more commonly used volume measurements for the average home cook, too.
Learn moreHeavenly Béchamel and More Fun with Mace Blades
Of the five classic French "mother sauces," béchamel gives us some of the most rich "small sauces". Although béchamel may be the most simple to prepare, that doesn't mean it can't also show off some pretty complex flavors. Taking the time to create layers of flavor in the building blocks of a recipe ensures that the sauces and dishes created from those blocks will build palaces of flavor. As the recipe below demonstrates, there are not many ingredients in the basic béchamel sauce; just milk, roux, and the onion cloute. An onion cloute is an onion studded with cloves and a bay leaf, and although I've seen some recipes call the cloute optional, it is not. The onion cloute is essential, as it is the only flavor added to the milk besides butter. An Italian chef I once worked for insisted that a béchamel was never complete without a bit of nutmeg, an ingredient that was conspicuously absent from béchamel recipes in my traditional French culinary education. Once I tasted his version, I never again made my béchamel without a dusting of freshly ground nutmeg to finish it. Never, that is, until a few weeks ago when we were lucky enough to get the first shipment of mace blades we've been able to secure in years. I had always used a mixture of mace powder as well as a little extra freshly grated nutmeg when making creamed spinach from a béchamel base, but I had been reluctant to to try including mace powder in every batch of my béchamel for fear of the flavor being overpowering. This is a perfect application for mace blades! By adding a nice mace blade or two to my onion cloute, I could get the subtle mace flavor I was looking for without overshadowing other flavors. Béchamel itself is used in many recipes for lasagna, croque madames, or soups, but there are quite a few other sauces that can be derived from a basic béchamel, often by adding just a few ingredients. The French call these "small sauces" and some of my favorites are: Cheddar cheese - add some shredded cheddar cheese, Mustard Powder, and Worcestershire sauce or Worcestershire powder. Mustard sauce - add some prepared mustard. Crème Sauce - just whisk in some heavy cream (I also like to add a heavy pinch of Piment d'Espelette.)
Learn moreLemon and Thyme Rhubarb Cake
Tart, sweet and dramatically red, rhubarb never tasted so good as in this rustic cake with lemon thyme. The cake is moist and fluffy on the inside with a slight crisp on the outside edge. The sharpness of the rhubarb combined with the delicate pungency of the lemon thyme make this a most wonderful way to take advantage of an abundant rhubarb harvest.
Learn moreSalmon Gravlax with Dill Pollen
I love making gravlax because it is such a versatile dish. The cured salmon slices can be used to make elegant hors d'oeuvres, they can be served with a few simple sides to make a nice cool lunch on a hot day, the scraps are great in an omelette for breakfast, and being "cured-but-not-cooked" makes gravlax perfect for coaxing a timid diner into trying more adventurous raw dishes. Most recipes call for fresh dill and while that works just fine, using Dill Pollen creates explosive "pops" of dill flavor that are hard to imitate with other methods. Using some Beet Powder in the sugar mixture adds a beautiful reddish hue to the outer crust of the filet, and the transition from bright salmon orange to deep beet red allows a creative cook to arrange the slices into stunning displays. So this summer when you come home from your fishing trips, try a salmon recipe that just can't be beet.
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