A Pinch Of Homepage cooking with herbs and spices

Q: Hi! I was wondering if anyone can tell me if I take cinnamon directly I get irritation in my mouth, if I take small pinches when added to tea it's ok. Shall I continue taking it or internally is it going to harm me? PS

A: This is a question for your doctor or naturopath. I can see, however, how the intense essential oils of cinnamon taken by itself could cause irritation but cinnamon is generally recognized as safe. We are all different so do see a professional about this question.

Q: I was in a Persian market last week and saw dried lemon in the spice section. I have no idea how to use it but I thought it would probably be interesting to try. Please tell me how they use it in their cooking and how can I incorporate it into my every day meals. I am an adventurous cook and love to try new things. This should be fun! Thanks, RM

A: These are new to me as well. After first reading your question I went on an exploration of the preserved lemons common to Moroccan cooking. Then I read the question again and had to start all over. They sound like an interesting ingredient. Sometimes called black lemons, you can use them whole (aka leemo amAnee) or grind them into a powder (aka gard-e leemo amAnee). I found the same recipe for a meat, bean and vegetable stew called Gormeh Sabzi on five different websites. It calls for whole lemons that you poke a hole in before adding to the stew. Seems like they would be welcome in most places where a tangy accent is needed in a dish.

Q: Just wondered how one, like the Food Network Chefs, cook with no recipes. I am sure they don't by now as they have been doing it for years, but how does a mother of 2 with a love of creativity, create dishes? One thing I have looked at was your marinate section and it mentions acid and herbs and flavored oils. Can I do that too with plain cooking? Say I cook up chicken or meat and would like great flavor to pop out of it. Can I put in cooking wine with herbs and flavored oils to cook? Any suggestions? JH

A: I think the most important part of cooking without recipes is knowing what to expect from the ingredients and how they react to different applications. Each time you cook from a recipe, step back and consider what techniques you employed. While you could just add some wine (use drinking wine, never cooking wine from the grocery shelf!) and herbs while you are sauting a chicken breast, you would get far more flavor, and panache, if you make an easy pan sauce. Cook the chicken and then remove if from the pan, add a good splash of wine and scrape up the little bits that are stuck to the pan. Let the wine cook almost completely away, add a bit of chicken stock, some fresh herbs and maybe a dab of butter or that flavored oil. The techniques used here are 1) "deglazing" the pan (when you added the wine) and 2) "reduction" (when you cooked the wine away). You gathered up the flavors by scraping the pan to get the chicken bits into the sauce and also when you intensified the flavor of the wine by reducing it.

Hello, I noticed one of the questions on your site: Where can my wife by caraway seeds on the West Coast by the pound? If they would like to contact our toll free number, 800-735-7198, we at Market Spice sell practically every spice by the pound or by the ounce to retail customers. We are located in the Seattle area and have been in business for 97 years. JD, General Manager

Q: I live in central Alabama and have two rosemary shrubs that grow lavishly but have never produced blooms. I have to trim them every year because they cover our walkway. What am I doing wrong? Thanks! MT

A: You may be trimming away those nice blooms. If you can, leave the plant alone for a year or more and see when, and if, it blooms. Rosemary is known to bloom at different times of year. Also, don't fertilize the plants as this encourages foliar growth rather than flowers.

Q: I've read through most of the of previous questions, but none seems to apply to me, so here goes: I have a basil plant that's in a large window box in full sun with oregano and parsley. When it was about 10 inches, the leaves started loosing their color and just started to look very unhealthy. I noticed what appears to be spores - short white stalk with black tips - on the undersides. I've sprayed with dish soap/water mix and when that did not produce results after two weeks I tried a general anti-fungal for veggies that I had. This also has not helped. The stems of the plants look great and there's even new growth happening where these diseased leaves have fallen off.... I'm so proud that's I've been able to keep all the other herbs I purchased alive, but I'm sad over this pathetic looking specimen. Thanks for your help and for everything else I learned while researching this issue on your site. DM

A: As you can see, it doesn't help very much to treat a problem until you know what it is. The soap and water may be effective on bugs and anti-fungals on fungus but if that's not the cause, they won't do a thing. This sounds rather unusual to me so it would be helpful to see the plant. I suggest you take a few of the affected leaves back to the nursery where you bought it and see if they can help you diagnose the situation.

Q: I just got this Bay Leaf plant last summer. It was growing quite well starting to put out short branches then discovered that half the plant was sticky from scale. I wiped them off with alcohol in February and have not seen any change in terms of growth. Should I do anything special to it? Special type of fertilizer? It has not turned brown. Still green. Is it dormant? Thanks for your help. GS

A: Dormancy would be a good call. Once you notice that it has begun to grow again you might give it a light fertilizer application. Resist the temptation to overwater it--they don't need much.

Q: Hi, I made chile and always use crushed red peppers, too hot for my hubby. What can I do to get some of it out, or to cool off for the hubby? Thanks HP

A: Aside from making another batch without the peppers to combine with the one that is too hot, you might try stirring in a bit of sour cream. One reader suggests a pinch of sugar might tone it down but I haven't tried that one.

Q: Can ground ancho chile powder be used in place of red pepper seeds or flakes? M

A: Like I always say, it's your food, you can do whatever you want. These two chiles have rather different flavors, though, so you will want to consider that. Ancho chiles have a fuller, richer taste and won't be as fiery hot as crushed red pepper.

Q: Hi, looking for a store in Montreal that sells lime leaves? It is for a Thai chick pea recipe. Thanks a lot! RS

A: The only place I could come up with is T&T at the West Edmonton Mall. You might want to check in with your favorite Thai restaurant and see if they would sell you a few.

Q: I am trying to buy Spike food seasoning which is usually sold in an Indian food store. Since new owners took over, I am unable to locate it. I live in Toronto, Ontario. CP

A: Here in the States you can find Spike at most supermarkets and health food stores. I found a board discussion on this topic at Chowhound: they say Loblaws, No Frills, Noah's and the Big Carrot all carry this seasoning blend.

See all Questions Find questions by subject