Spice Place Blog

If you’re looking for an easy to make meal for four, that has a Mediterranean taste, and flair of Greece then consider the following dish. It’s made with ground lamb, spinach, onion, egg noodles and is flavored with McCormick Greek Seasoning. Some Feta cheese adds the final taste of Greece to the dish.

First start this dish by browning the ground lamb. At the same time heat 2 quarts of water to boiling in a 3 quart pan. For the ground lamb, I used store bought lamb from Safeway and there was a bit of fat in the pan after cooking. So what I do is soak up the fat with Viva paper towels, they’re really absorbent. Just swish them around in the pan with the spatula. I had to use several towels and must have been unlucky in the package of ground lamb I choose.

When the lamb has browned:
Add 1 1/2 cups of egg noodles to the boiling water; these will cook for 7 to 8 minutes.

Then add the following to the skillet:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 tsp McCormick Greek Seasoning

Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the pan so the meat is flavored equally. Cook until the onion is clear.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach leaves to the skillet, stir often to cook the spinach evenly.

After 2 to 3 minutes the spinach should be cooked, and if the timing is right your egg noodles will be ready to drain. Test by tasting one, and if done drain, add to the skillet and stir in well.

To serve, scoop out some of the mixture into a bowl or plate and top with some crumbled Feta cheese. If you like Greek cooking, you should be happy with this simple noodle dish. Cooking time is about 20 minutes total.

Barbecued New York Strip Steak

For years, we’ve been on the search for finding that tender cut of meat that we get at the restaurant and from specialty steak suppliers. We’ve bought steaks from gourmet shops, organic farmers, organic grocers, high end grocers, and so on. Yet, we never seemed to get a tender steak. We tried USDA Choice and USDA Prime cuts, which made no difference either. We almost gave up on the idea believing that that restaurants had a specialty supply of select meats. Then one day recently, the light came on and we discovered the secret.

We’ll tell you in just a second what the secret is and when we do, you’re going to say, duh! And it’s a big duh, something we all should know and in fact do know about. The secret is, (ready?) Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer. See, it’s something you know about, probably have in your kitchen cabinet and most likely don’t use very often. But you should use Adolph’s often and on every steak you barbecue this summer. Oh, one more question. Ever wonder how that barbecue joint makes tender baby back ribs and beef brisket? The answer to that question is that they use Adolph’s Tenderizer. That’s it.

So break out that bottle of Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer this weekend, sprinkle a little on both sides of the steaks. Use about 1 tsp of Adolph’s per pound of meat. If you have one, prick them with a corn on the cob holder, otherwise use a fork. Then season as you desire, and they’re ready to grill immediately. You may cover and refrigerate for 2 - 3 hours for more tenderizing but that’s usually not necessary.

Adolph’s is made from the Papaya, is all natural and contains no MSG. It’s a little bit of magic in a bottle. What are you waiting for? Light that grill and be surprised with how you can now make those tender steaks like you get when you eat out at that expensive restaurant and without paying $20.00 a pound for them. Try it! You are certain to be amazed.

McCormick’s Big and Bold Monterey Style Seasoning has become a favorite seasoning of ours. It’s a mix of coarsely ground garlic, red bell pepper, roasted garlic, red pepper, and contains tumeric and annatto for adding a yellow color to foods. We find that the yellow color adds a pleasing and appealing look to chicken. So today we’re going to share our recipe for making a barbecued whole chicken seasoned with McCormick’s Monterey Style Seasoning along with a little bit of chili powder.

Monterey Seasoned Chicken Recipe
a 4 pound whole chicken
2 tbsp McCormick Monterey Style Seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup water

1. Wash the chicken under cold water and set on a plate to allow excess water to drain off.
2. Place the Monterey Style Seasoning and Chili Powder in a cup. Add sugar, water and vinegar. Stir to mix well.
3. Put the whole chicken in a one gallon size freezer zip-loc storage bag.
4. Dump the seasonings over top of the chicken, seal the bag, and flip over a few times to distribute the seasonings. Place the chicken in the refrigerator and marinate for about 2 hours turning over every 1/2 hour so the seasonings evenly infuse the chicken.
5. Since this is a whole chicken, it needs to be cooked indirectly so it cooks slowly and completely. So place the charcoal on only one side of the grill. Light grill.
6. Remove the chicken from the zip-loc bag, and place into a disposable heavy-duty aluminum pan that has the bottom lined with non-stick aluminum foil. We use the disposable pans because the smoke from cooking will permanently mark a real roasting pan.
7. When the grill is ready, place the chicken on the side away from the heat, cover and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature of the chicken is about 170° F. For proper food safety, it’s very important that a meat thermometer is used to make sure the chicken it cooked thoroughly to prevent illness from under cooked chicken.
8. Let the cooked chicken sit for 10 minutes before carving or else you’ll find you have shredded chicken (instead of sliced chicken).

Several years ago we had lunch from a Mexican chicken restaurant near us called El Pollo Primo. They cook the chicken on a couple large griddles, and then serve a few pieces of whole cooked chicken on a plate along with some corn tortillas, salsa, and Spanish rice. Then at the table, the chicken is shredded by customer, placed on the corn tortilla, mixed with some Spanish rice and some salsa. Then the tortilla is rolled up, and eaten. We found this to be a delicious and unique way of serving chicken.

So over the years we’ve tried to replicate their seasoning on the chicken and we think we finally hit it.

El Pollo Primo Grilled Chicken

1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground corriender
1/2 tsp annatto seed (from a Latin American grocer)

The annatto in this recipe adds the lovely yellow coloring to the chicken that you see in the photograph above.

Place the canola oil, water, vinegar, garlic, cumin, corriender, and annatto seed in a blender. Blend on medium high speed for 1 - 2 minutes to allow the annatto seed to be chopped up by the tines on the blender. Alternately use ground annatto, and whip up well with a wisk.

Wash, and place 5 - 6 chicken breasts and thighs in a large, freezer duty ziplock bag. Pour the seasonings over top of the chicken and seal the bag. Turn the bag over a few times to coat the chicken well, then place in the refrigerator. Let marinate for 4 to 6 hours, turning over ever hour or so.

Cook the chicken on a griddle or large iron frying pan until done, about 15 - 20 minutes to a side.

Serve with warmed corn tortillas, Spanish Rice, and your favorite salsa. You may optionally add sour cream, and cheese.

We’re continuing to find delicious ways to use our newly found McCormick Greek Seasoning. This week we found that it has a wonderful affinity with lamb. While we’ve used Greek Seasoning with lamb chops, the flavor seems more pronounced to us when it was mixed in with the ground lamb meat. In this recipe for Lamb Sausages with Tomatoes, the flavor of the tomatoes adds a wonderful contrast to the lamb and seasoning resulting in a delight for the taste buds.

Recipe for Greek Seasoned Lamb Sausages with Tomato Sauce
1 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup Basmati Rice
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 tsp McCormick Greek Seasoning
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp grated orange peel

1/2 cup diced onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp McCormick Greek Seasoning

Combine the ground lamb, rice, diced onion, egg, and 1 1/2 tbsps orange peel in a small bowl. Mix well with hands to distribute rice and seasoning throughout the meat. Form into miniature sausage shapes about 3/4″ in diameter and 2 inches long. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a non-stick skillet, then add the sausages. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes, then turn and repeat until all sides are lightly browned.

When turning the last time, add 1/2 cup diced onion. Cook the onion for 3 or 4 minutes, then add canned diced tomatoes, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1/2 tsp Greek Seasoning. Gently mix to blend the tomatoes with the broth but not break up the lamb sausages. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes to boil off some of the liquid and thicken the sauce. Stir and cover sausages with the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes more. Use remaining orange peel as a garnish for each serving. Serve Greek Seasoned Lamb Sausages with a piece of toasted Italian roll to dip into and mop up the sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Try out these Greek seasoned meatballs if you want a change of taste in your daily meals. The flavor of the lamb and the citrus/mint/thyme seasoning of the McCormick Greek seasoning blend makes a delicious meatball. The hardest part we had in making this recipe was finding ground lamb. After going to 3 or 4 grocers that we thought would have ground lamb, we found it at a local Safeway store.

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 tbsp McCormick Greek Seasoning
• 1 tbsp dried Parsley Flakes

1. Prepare a place for setting meatballs on by placing wax paper on the plate.
2. Place the ground lamb in a large bowl.
3. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and chopped onions over top of the lamb.
4. Scramble egg and mix in the Greek seasoning and parsley flakes.
5. Pour the eggs over the lamb, and using your hands mix the lamb, bread crumbs, onion, and seasonings together for about a half a minute.
6. Take a bit of the lamb mixture, and form into 3/4 - 1″ meatballs by rubbing in the palms of your hands. Place formed meatballs on the plate. Repeat for all meatballs.
7. Place 1 tbsp canola oil in a 12″ skillet, and heat. Add meatballs.
8. Cover and cook meatballs for about five minutes, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Remove cover, and flip meatballs to another side and cook until brown.
10. Continue to flip and cook until meatballs are cooked though and are brown.

Makes about 20 Greek Seasoned Meatballs. Serve wits Couscous or Greek Tomato-Potatoes.

Want something that’s quick to make on a weeknight, and yet has great flavor and nutrition; then try this recipe for Cajun Seasoned Pork Chops. In only takes about 20 minutes to cook the chops, and meanwhile you’re making the pasta salad, which is a jiffy when made with Salad Supreme®.

Recipe for Cajun Seasoned Pork Chops
This recipe is so easy, I’m not sure if it really should be called a recipe!

• 1 - 2 Center Cut Pork Chops [per serving], all visible fat removed
• Cajun Seasoning

1. Place 1 tbsp of olive or canola oil in a non-stick skillet, and heat over medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Reduce heat to low. Add the pork chops, and sprinkle with Cajun Seasoning.
3. Cover pan, and cook 8 - 10 minutes, depending on thickness of the chops, until lightly browned. Thin chops made need less time. Turn, season other side with Cajun Seasoning and cook other side about 5 - 7 minutes.
4. Serve with Pasta Salad (recipe below).

• 1/2 pound spaghetti noodles
• 1 tbsp McCormick Salad Supreme
• 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced baby carrots
• Sliced bell pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Mix 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing with the Salad Supreme.
3. When pasta is cooked to your desired liking, cool it under cold running water and place in a serving bowl large enough for the pasta, and vegetables.
4. Add the vegetables to the pasta and mix.
5. Pour the Salad Supreme/Italian Dressing seasoning over top of the pasta and toss gently to season pasta and vegetables.
6. Sprinkle each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Salad Supreme® is a registered trademark of McCormick & Co Inc, Hunt Valley, Md 21031

If you’ve never read the nutrition label on most pre-made store bought meatballs, you might be surprised at the fat content. Many times the daily value for fat is at 25% or higher, and that’s only for a few meatballs (the nutritional values are listed for an arbitrary serving which isn’t a portion). So because of that high fat content in the prepared meatballs, we always make our own using lean ground beef, ground turkey breast or ground chicken. It’s really not that hard to make meat balls, and all most all are made with 4 key ingredients: meat, bread crumbs, egg, and seasoning. The short story is you toss everything into a large bowl, mix well with your hands and then form the meat balls into balls with the palms of your hands. Place the formed meatball on a piece of wax paper and if making lots of meatballs, separate the layers with additional wax paper sheets.

Last Sunday night we felt like making a meal with kluski style egg noodles. While kluski egg noodles are more often used with soups, they are hearty enough to use in a chicken pasta dish. To the right is a picture of kluski noodles along with a quarter so the size can be judged. Kluski noodles are about 1/4 - 3/8″ wide, 2 1/2 to 3″ long, and are a little bit thicker then regular egg noodles.

Recipe for Chicken Meatballs with White Cheese Sauce and Kluski Noodles

To Prepare Chicken Meatballs

1. Prepare a place to put the formed meatballs by placing a piece of wax paper on a plate.
2. In a small cereal bowl beat and mix well:
   1 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
   1 egg
   2 tbsp milk
3. In a large bowl add:
   1 pound ground chicken
   1/3 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
   Seasoned egg mixture
4. Mix well with hands for a minute or so, and then form into 1 to 1 1/4″ balls with the palms. Place on plate covered with wax paper. Repeat until all of the meatball mixture is used up.
5. Place the meatballs in a lightly greased large non-stick skillet, cover, and cook on low heat, turning every 2 to 3 minutes to cook through, and brown on all sides.
6. Total cooking time will be about 10 - 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make the White Cheese Sauce and Kluski Noodles.

Kluski Noodles

1. Cook 1/4 pound of Kluski Noodles according to package directions. Ours cooked for about 10 minutes.

White Cheese Sauce

1. Add 1 cup milk and 2 tbsp white flour, and 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning to a 1 quart non-stick pan.
2. Place over low heat, and stir constantly until the milk thickens, about 8 - 10 minutes.
3. When sauce is thick, add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

To serve, place a layer of cooked kluski noodles in a small bowl, top with 6 chicken meatballs, cover with some Cheese White Sauce, and Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Meatball Sandwich Recipe
As an alternative for serving this recipe over kluski noodles, you could instead make a Chicken Meatball Sandwich. Make the meatballs and Cheese White Sauce as described above. Spread the Cheese White Sauce on a kaiser roll, cut meat balls in half, and place on roll, and finely sprinkle with finely sliced lettuce.

Enjoying a delicious Hawaiian flavored pork ribs recipe on a cold winters night congers memories of warm tropical nights in the islands. Flavored with pineapple, ginger and garlic, these ribs are very tasty and it is a simple recipe for a weeknight as long as the ribs are thawed.

Start with:
2 pounds of boneless pork country ribs

Chop the ribs into 3 to 4 inch long chunks. Place a large 10 quart sized non-stick pan on the stove, and season with 2 tbsp canola or olive oil. Heat the pan for a minute, and then add the pork ribs. Cook over medium until the ribs are browned, stirring often to brown all sides.

Add 1 cup fresh chopped onion, and 1 tsp chopped garlic

Cook for 3 - 4 minutes until the onion is tender but not browned.

Add:
1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks
1 cup black vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp ground ginger

Mix well, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Check the pot every 10 - 15 minutes and add water to the liquid should it get too thick.

Mix 1 tbsp corn starch with 1/2 cup water using a fork to blend well. Add to pan of ribs, stir in and cook, stirring often until sauce thickens.

Serve with Seasoned Rice and your favorite vegetable.

Seasoned Rice Recipe
2 cups water
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sesame seed
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp molasses

Heat water to a boil in a 2 quart sauce pan. Add rice, and all seasonings. Return to boil, cover tightly, reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 10 - 12 minutes until water is absorbed. Remove from heat, and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Mix to fluff the rice, and serve.

For some reason when December comes around our thoughts turn to cooking slow cooked foods for dinner. Some of our favorite slow cooked foods are beef stew, beef vegetable soup, chicken soup, and chuck roast and we make those all of the time.  We wanted to make something different, and there were some very nice boneless pork ribs at the grocery store this week. We bought the boneless pork ribs with the idea of grinding up the pork to make pork meatballs. Since the grocer is too often tempted to get some value from the waste fat and toss extra fat into the grinder, we try to grind our own meat, as we are sure to leave out as much fat as possible. As it turns out, when we got home the ribs were just too nice to be turned into meatballs and we decided to make Country Boneless Pork Ribs with them instead.

Stove Top Country Barbecued Pork Ribs are a simple and easy slow cooked meal. You’ll need a large stockpot or dutch oven with a cover to cook these ribs in. While we made the pork ribs on the stove top this recipe can easily be adapted to the oven by replacing the stove top simmering and cooking the pork ribs at 315° F. for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

• 1 pound boneless pork ribs
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp McCormick Pepper Supreme
• 1/4 tsp Tabasco Sauce

1. Cut 1 pound of boneless pork ribs into about 3 inch long pieces.
2. Place 1 tbsp canola oil in a large pot or dutch oven and heat.
3. Add the boneless pork ribs to the pot, and cook until browned on all sides.
4. Add the diced onion and chopped garlic, and cook, stirring about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, liquid smoke, Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, molasses and Pepper Supreme. Stir well, and bring to a simmer.
6. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, checking every 15 minutes to make sure the sauce isn’t too thick.  Add water if needed.  Oven Method: Bake covered in a slow oven (315° F.) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours instead of cooking on stove top.

Serve Country Barbecued Boneless Ribs with your favorite vegetable.

 Note this recipe calls for using McCormick Pepper Supreme.  Pepper Supreme is a wonderful blend of 7 peppers and is a delightful mix to add taste to meals.  If you don’t have Pepper Supreme on hand, subsititute 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper in it’s place.