Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker - Lynn Alley [4]
Another “trick” I like to use is adding smoked salt for a smoky flavor to a vegetable dish that might ordinarily get its flavor from a smoked meat such as sausage, ham, or bacon. (See the Smoky Potage Saint-Germain recipe.)
Playing around with and learning about this basic ingredient is a lot of fun, and although salts are not inexpensive by grocery store standards, a little bit can do a great deal to make an inexpensive meal taste like “the Ritz.”
Here are a few sources where you can learn a bit and order salt:
www.napastyle.com
www.saltworks.us
www.salttraders.com
www.seastarseasalt.com
www.atthemeadow.com
SPICES
Although most of the herbs I use come fresh from my garden, spices (usually the seeds or bark of a plant rather than the leaves) are not so easily grown at home. My favorite source for most spices is Penzeys Spices (www.penzeys.com). I order from them online regularly. They source high-quality spices and have a large and rapid turnover offered at reasonable prices. Sit back, thumb through the online catalog, and go shopping right from your armchair!
I should also note that I generally buy spices whole so that I can grind them fresh just before using. Just as freshly ground pepper is more pungent and aromatic than preground pepper that has been sitting on the shelf for who-knows-how-long, spices, too, have more to offer if they are ground just before using. In addition, grinding your own spices means that you have more control over the texture of the finished product. Sometimes I like my spices ground to a fine powder, much like how they would come out of a jar. Other times, I like them to retain some texture, especially in dishes where I want to convey a very “rustic” feel. For this reason, I have both an electric coffee grinder that is used only for spices and a couple of small Japanese suribachi that I use for crushing spices. (See further discussion and sources.)
USEFUL EQUIPMENT
Electric Coffee Mill
An electric coffee mill that is dedicated to grinding spices is a very useful item to have on hand. Instead of buying your spices ground, you will find fresher and more interesting flavors if you buy whole spices and grind them yourself just before using. It takes only a few minutes more, but makes a great deal of difference in your cooking.
Immersion Blender
A handheld immersion blender looks like a long stick with a handle at one end and a tiny metal detector at the other end. It makes life with a slow cooker a breeze. Gone are the days when you have to transfer large batches of stuff by hand from the crock to a blender, blend them, then return them to the pot, leaving soup slopped all over the countertop and your clothes. You just plunge the head of the immersion blender into your beans (or whatever), turn on the blender, and purée your ingredients within minutes. It is important to keep the head of the blender under the surface of your food. If the head rises above the surface, stuff will fly everywhere—all over you and your kitchen.
Mortar and Pestle
I have many different sizes of mortars and pestles and have collected them for years. (The most beautiful one I have ever used was in France. It was an antique and belonged to the proprietor of a French farmhouse where I had gone to teach cooking classes. It must have weighed at least 40 pounds and was large enough to make a quart of mayonnaise in. If I thought I could have carried it home on the plane, I would have tried to buy it!) I find them most useful for grinding spices by hand, liberating flavors and aromas while retaining some interesting textures. I strongly recommend that if you really love to cook, you look around for some interesting examples and try them.
India
SPICED BASMATI RICE BREAKFAST CEREAL
CURRIED CHICKPEAS WITH FRESH GINGER AND CILANTRO
CREAMY DAL
DAL WITH GROUND CINNAMON, CLOVES, CARDAMOM, AND CUMIN
STUFFED PEPPERS