Questions about spices, oils and substitutions

[mandyky]

I love trying new dishes, but often find I don't have the right spices or oils, etc. Sometimes I don't have the right cheese and rarely have wine in the house.

Then there are terms I don't understand. While I am an okay cook, I rarely used recipes until recently, except for things like bread, unless they came from friends, family or on food products.

That said here are some questions to get started.

What is rissotto?
What can be substituted for thyme and cummim?
I assume cilantro is like parsley.
Do you all raise your own herbs and spices? Where do you get seeds?
How big of containers do you need?
If you don't have wine, do you sbstitute something for it?
Are lemon and lime juice interchangeable for some things?
I don't have olive oil, can I use vegetable oil? Do I add something to the other oil?
I hate ginger root, are other spices somewhat interchangeable?

Maybe other folks have questions too! Let's put our collective smarts together and make us all wonderful cooks and bakers!

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Not sure I can answer all of this, but here's a start ......

Here's my take on these questions .... if anything isn't clear, or you disagree, lemme know! I love talking food!

What is risotto?

Risotto is as much a rice cooking technique as it is a recipe or item. Classic risotto uses slowly incorporated hot liquid to dissolve the rice starch and create a very creamy sauce, at the same time cooking the rice. It is Italian in origin and calls for either arborio or carnarolli rice, both of which are from Italy, but quite available in the US - at least in larger cities or from national chains. There is no substitute for a true imported Italian rice. Honest and no fooling ... don't even bother to try to find a substitute for those two types of rice; it doesn't exist. Spanish paella is a close cousin. Risotto can be a side dish or an entree, can be plain or very fancy. A mainstay in Northern Italy, it is pretty much a macaroni exchange - the South does macaroni, the North does risotto. A random Google search for "risotto" turned up this pretty good treatise on it.

http://www.arborfood.com/dining-in/gourmet-details/risotto.shtml

What can be substituted for thyme and cummim?

I'm not sure about cumin, but oregano is very close to thyme in both taste and botanical terms.

I assume cilantro is like parsley.

They're similar only in appearance. The taste is dramatically different. You can replace parsley with cilantro (also called coriander) or vice versa, but the taste of the finished dish will be dramatically different. Taste them side by side and then decide.

Do you all raise your own herbs and spices? Where do you get seeds?

I can't speak for anyone but myself. We grow Italian parsley and sweet basil every year (both are annuals) and grow it from plants we buy at a nursery. We have an oregano patch (a perennial) too. In recent years, fresh herbs have been easily obtainable at our local supermarkets, so there's little need to grow herbs we don't use all that often (being Italian, parsley, basil, and oregano are much like staples for us.) We also have fig tree we planted last year ... but that's not really an herb. :)

How big of containers do you need?

We grow ours in our flower beds, not in pots.

If you don't have wine, do you sbstitute something for it?

If you mean wine with a meal, we usually have it every night. On nights we don't, we'll drink Pellegrino water (our local BJ's and Costco have it at a reasonable cost per case). If you mean wine for cooking, there are some opportunities to substitute, but the rules vary widely, so I'd need to know what you're making to know if wine can be substituted and with what. Common items to use in place of wine would be vinegar and citrus juices. But again, you have to be careful. They work in some cases and are awful in others.

Are lemon and lime juice interchangeable for some things?

Generally .... yes. The taste is different, to be sure, but I know I often use one where the other is really called for. It changes the flavor for a nice change of pace while leaving the rest of the dish pretty much intact. Think of orange juice too ... or even grapefruit juice. Neither is tart, however, so think before ya squeeze! :)


I don't have olive oil, can I use vegetable oil? Do I add something to the other oil?

As a general statement regarding substitution ... yes .... but the flavor of olive oil is in many ways why its used. It is, IMO, delicious and without substitute ... but that's a statement of preference, not of fact. As a statement about adding flavors ... be careful. Oil, while safe on its own, is not a safe medium in which to infuse flavors. Commercially infused oils are one thing. Home infused oils are quite another. Depending on what you're putting in, you could find you've also grown botulism in it! Herb infusions are the most dangerous. Now, those scary words aside, if you plan to use the oil in a short period of time, there's virtually no danger (think of oil and vinegar salad dressings with herbs added ... it'll keep a week or two with no problem. It is the longer infusions that are the issue ... a few weeks to months on the shelf. Not safe, IMHO.

I have to ask why you don't have olive oil? Cost? Availability? Taste? Olive oil, as oils go, is one of the best for you, in health terms. True, it is still an oil - fat - but it is a very healthy fat once you get past the notion of it being a fat. If cost is an issue, try a blend of olive oil and vegetable oil. Or try a light olive oil. This could also be a way around the taste, if that's the issue. Olive oils (and other specialty oils, for that matter) are in some ways like wine or coffee or tea .... they vary a lot in taste, even though they're all olive oils. Light. Dark. Fruity. Acidic. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I hate ginger root, are other spices somewhat interchangeable?

I have to defer to others here. Asian cooking isn't my long suit.

[mandyky]

4. Right now cost is the olive oil problem

I only have $200 a month for groceries. A small (probably quart or liter of) Olive oil is almost $6. We used to use it. I notice many recipes (esp Italian) call for it.

[politicat]

5. Once upon a time.....

I, too, lived on a really, really tight food budget for many years. However, olive oil is not something worth giving up. What I did was found a friend who bought hers at Costco (then called Price Club) and bought some of hers from her - If she bought a gallon for $12, I could buy a quart of it from her for $3. ( If you were close, I'd gladly do the same for you!)

I then divided that quart into two bottles - one small, that was pure olive oil, for dipping and such and one larger bottle where I cut it 1:1 with canola or similar oil. A quart usually lasted me (and whomever I was seeing at the time) 2 months.

As far as spices and herbs go, I do grow many of my own; I get the seeds at the hardware store or the Co-op. I have a ton of extras this year because I did not get my garden plot; if you'd like seeds and jiffy pots, I'd be glad to send them to you, if you'll send me your address via PM.

Cilantro will grow nicely as a potted plant, and if you have a green thumb, you can usually keep basil, parsley, cilantro, etc alive all winter. Oregano is a bit hard to start, but once it gets growing, it'll be fine as a potted plant for years. My oregano is currently in a pot made out of a 1 pint deli container; my basil plants (there are 4 of them) are in pots made out of quart-sized yogurt containers. I drilled holes in the bottom; the advantage of the plastic, clear containers is that I can see when the plants are getting root-bound.

[Warpy]

2. OK, here goes

Risotto is a rice and vegetable dish in which the rice itself provides a creamy sauce. It's a labor intensive dish that's worth it. Some people have managed to substitute regular white rice for arborio rice, but I've never been able to make it work. Brown rice will NOT work.

Cilantro is a pungent herb in the same family as parsley but with a very different flavor. It's essential in Mexican and a lot of Indian and Asian cooking. Coriander is the plant's seed.

Google "herb seeds" and see what you come up with. Most large nurseries have small plants for sale for transplantation early in the spring. Or you can buy a Chia herb garden if you're not too adventurous. The container size depends on the herb you're growing. Again, a nursery will be able to tell you.

Lemon juice mixed with water can be substituted for wine in a few dishes, but as far as I'm concerned, there's no substitute. Buy wine that is good enough to drink, not that salted crap from the spice section of the grocery. Wine and fat are the two things that carry flavor in food, so if you're not an alcoholic and you need to go low fat, wine is your friend. I always keep dry red, dry white, and sherry on hand.

Any veggie oil can be substituted for olive oil, but it won't have the same flavor. Some people are not used to olive oil, and for them the substitution is a good thing.

There's no substitution for ginger root. If you hate it, chop it finely and use less of it. It will generally cook down if chopped finely enough, and you'll never know it's there except for a flavor you can't quite put your finger on. I buy huge hands of ginger, peel it, and chop it practically to mush in a small electric chopper. I put teaspoons and tablespoons full on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and freeze it overnight. The next day I put the frozen lumps of ginger into a freezer bag and grab it to use as needed. That way, it's always there and I never bite into a huge lump of ginger in anything when I've been in a big hurry chopping stirfry ingredients.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. "Buy wine that is good enough to drink"

Amen to that! Wine is a food. Really! Alive. Living and breathing. That "salted crap" Warpy cited is exactly that ... C*R*A*P. A waste of money. Better to buy some Boone's Farm than use that crap.

.... Well ..... maybe not Boone's Farm ... but you get the idea! :hi:

[politicat]

6. Agreed: wine good enough to drink is also usually cheaper than "cooking"

wine.

Cooking wine runs about $6 a bottle for a 250 ML bottle around here. I can buy a decent, if not stellar, 750 ML bottle of wine for cooking for about $8; it lasts for about 3 months.

[wildeyed]

7. I raise many of my own herbs.

I love having everything I need to cook growing fresh right outside my door. I also like to garden, so it is an easy match.

I have perennial thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary and lavender in a small sunny garden plot.

Mint I grow in a large container, it is invasive and will take over the world given half a chance.

I have an itty-bitty bay tree (twig actually) that I have to take inside for the winter because it is not hardy in my garden zone.

I tried tarragon in a pot last year. It did poorly, but seems to be coming back. I think it is too hot in NC for tarragon. I read about something called "mexican tarragon" which allegedly tastes similar, but likes heat.

Sage seems to like a container on my patio. I can't get it to grow in the garden plot. Maybe it needs the sharp drainage from the container. Anyway, the sage is coming back strong this year :)

I will put out annual basil and parsley as soon as I can get over to the garden supply store and purchase some seedlings. Some years I start my own in small pots inside, but I was too tired and busy this spring to bother.

Quick pointers for growing your own herbs:

Most herbs are easy to grow.

They like full sun and well drained soil, so add some sand to your soil if you have clay like me.

Herbs can be grown in containers, just be sure you water them often during hot weather.

You can grow herbs inside if you have a window with full sun, but when I have done that, the plants get leggy and get white fly from not getting quite enough sun.

Good luck!

[mandyky]

8. I'd have to grow mine in trays on my porch

We don't have much of a yard and the dirt is more like rock. I am have tempted to bring in some sand and topsoil and put it in back of the building next door (it's for sale at a very high price so selling slow), and I'm sure the guy wouldn't mind if we asked first. But it would take that, bringing in soil. Would putting soil in a kiddie pool work?

I want to try to grow ones that I can't buy cheaply. I get parsley, basil, oregano and such easily and cheaply. It's rosemary, thyme, etc that the cheap generic brands don't make available that I'd like to grow.

Do you air dry them or put them in the oven? Or do you just harvest as you use?

[wildeyed]

9. You could use a kiddie pool or 1/2 whiskey barrels.

Any decent sized plastic pots are fine. Just be sure there is a hole in the bottom for water to drain out of.

Rosemary, thyme and lavender from seed is sloooooow going. I have done it. You need to be patient for a few years before they really get off the ground. That is why they are more expensive at the garden supply store.

I do enjoy plants I started from seed more than plants I purchase. I also like 'pass along' plants and seeds that friends and neighbors give me. Every time I look at the plant, I remember the person who passed it to me.

But if you want fast results, that is not the way to get them.

Rosemary and thyme are evergreen in my climate, so I just snip those when I need them year round. Extra basil and parsley usually gets made into pesto, frozen and sored. Taste of summer all year.

One year when I did lots of hot peppers, I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend, but that is the only time I dried herbs. I have read that you can dry them on screens in full sun or in a low heat oven as well.

[politicat]

10. Re: drying things - a car is a great solar oven.

Seriously. If you don't mind your car smelling like herbs, it's a wonderful solution.

Put thing for drying on back seat, roll up windows, and let it sit in full sun for a day or so.

This also works for fruit; I have a friend who makes prunes from the local, native plums this way.

[wildeyed]

11. It would beat those air fresheners that folks hang on their reaveiw mirror

A mobile sachet factory :)

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Around here, cars that smell like herbs tend to get stopped ... yanno?

That was just a joke. :)

Seriously, that's a really, seriously great idea! The inside of a car in the sun is the perfect environment to dry herbs.

[mourningdove92]

13. What a great idea! Especially here in my HOT TEXAS.

I will keep this in mind when I am drying my mint, rosemary and lavender this year.