What are some quick and easy edible gift ideas for the holidays?
Everyone always recommends quick breads and cookies for the edible gifts. I say forget the quick breads and cookies. And the pies and cakes. Don’t even think about making those peanut butter balls. (Unless you’re giving those peanut butter balls to me.)
Blasphemy? Maybe. But after a few years of going through the holiday baking frenzy -- the umpteen dozen eggs, the truckload of flour, sugar, and butter, the cello bags and twisties -- I’m hanging up the oven mitts and making custom spice blends.
The Spice and Herb Bible by Ian Hemphill and Kate Hemphill is hands-down the best reference guide for learning everything you need to know -- from the basics to exotic spices, techniques, and recipes for making blends. The beauty is you can adjust mixes to suit taste and dietary restrictions (cutting salt, upping the heat), and they're easy to make.
Whole spices -- seeds, dried peppers, cloves, peppercorns, pods -- make the best mixes because they have more flavor than the stuff that’s been pulverized to dust and sitting in a big bin for ages. Before grinding, lightly toasting whole spices in a dry, hot frying pan until they’re fragrant (but not smoking!) releases the oils and flavor in the spice.
A few of my favorite sources: The Spice House, Penzey’s, Patel Brothers, and Kalustyan's. The Spice Barn is a great resource for bottles, shaker tops, and labels. (Cost Plus and The Container Store have a good selection, but they’re nearly double the price.)
For the noncooks, I'll make seasoned salt or a fresh cinnamon sugar blends that'll make convenience foods like microwave popcorn or instant oatmeal taste semi-homemade. For the adventurous types, I’m making a Thai curry paste or a tangy Middle Eastern Zahtar/Za’atar, a multipurpose blend for meats and vegetables; it can also be turned into a dip or marinade by adding olive oil.
Za’atar
Ingredients
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
3 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. savory
2 1/2 tsp. marjoram
2 Tbl. sumac berries, ground
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds, ground coarsely
1 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 Tbl. dried ground lemon peel; or zest of two lemons, finely minced
Directions
Just mix everything together, and you're good to go!
by Colleen Rush is the author of "The Mere Mortal's Guide to Fine Dining: From Salad Forks to Sommeliers, How to Eat and Drink in Style Without Fear of Faux Pas." She and her husband live in Chicago.
1/31/08
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