Witchy Kitchen

Tag: allspice

  • Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    Tis the season! I’ve decked the halls with pumpkins and cobwebs, and fall baking is in full swing. Here’s a deliciously fragrant witchy spice mix for all your fall treats, everything from gingerbread to roasted veggies to pumpkin spice lattes.

    It’s nothing revolutionary, it’s like chai masala with different levels of spice (not that you couldn’t make a lovely chai with this), and like store-bought pumpkin pie spice only so much more lovely and piquant because the spices are fresh ground. I’ve made a nice batch which I’ve stored in a little jar in my spice cabinet, but it’s going so quickly I know I’ll need to make another batch before the holiday season is over – and this time make it a double!

    Also, this wouldn’t be half as witchy without some magical correspondences, so if you’re curious:

    • Allspice: money, luck healing
    • Black pepper: protection, exorcism
    • Cardamom: lust, love (so you’ve got the sweet playful version with green cardamom and the smokey sexy one with black cardamom)
    • Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, lust, protection, love (so, pretty much everything)
    • Clove: protection, exorcism, love, money
    • Ginger: love, money, success, power
    • Star anise: psychic powers, luck

    All the good stuff; if you’re looking for love, money, or just need a good old-fashioned exorcism, a batch of pumpkin bread may be just the thing. Happy baking!

    Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    • 10 green cardamom pods
    • 10 allspice berries
    • 14 cloves
    • 3 star anise
    • 3 cinnamon sticks
    • 1 tablespoon black pepper pods
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (about half a pod)
    • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

    Lightly toast all spices except the ground nutmeg and ginger in a dry pan. Grind all spices in a spice grinder until very fine. You may need to crack the cinnamon sticks first, and then sift the spices once and grind the larger pieces again.

    Stir in the ginger and nutmeg, and store in an airtight container. Will last indefinitely but spices will lose potency over time, so try to use within a month or two.

  • Jerk Marinade

    Jerk Marinade

    That spinach leaf is to mark the spicy plate!

    Grill season has arrived, and one of the first things I was excited to make was jerk chicken – fresh, flavorful, and charred to perfection.

    I have one recipe way back in the archive that I was calling Spiced Thyme Chicken because I had a fear of claiming authenticity when it’s not (here is a cool article on Serious Eats about real authentic Jamaican jerk chicken). However, I’ve come around to the opinion that it’s ok to adapt classic recipes to your kitchen, especially if that means you can make it more often! Besides, I’m always amazed at similarities between certain cuisines; it was easy to construct this Caribbean marinade from ingredients I already had in my desi spice cabinet.

    The biggest change was using ajwain (carom) seeds in place of the typical thyme. I love using fresh thyme but it’s not a staple in my kitchen, whereas ajwain seeds are just because they store easily, and it’s a similar flavor so why not? Other than that, cloves, allspice, ginger, garlic and lime are ubiquitous in both cuisines, so this really isn’t that far off. I didn’t realize green onions were a must until I read that article afterwards, so will probably incorporate next time. I used paprika and a pinch of turmeric for a little flavor and color, and the fruitiness of apple cider vinegar, and that’s totally allowed because jerk marinade is one of those things with a hundred secret house recipes.

    We used this for chicken breasts (this makes enough for 6 or so), but you could use it for all kinds and cuts of meat, fish and veggies too!

    Jerk Marinade

    • 1 teaspoon ajwain (carom) seeds (alternately, you could use a few sprigs fresh thyme or a teaspoon dried thyme)
    • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
    • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
    • 6 cloves
    • 6 allspice berries
    • 2 teaspoons paprika
    • 2 teaspoons red chili powder (because kiddies, we divided the chicken breasts 3 and 3 and added 1 teaspoon to the grown-up’s portion)
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • generous pinch black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
    • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
    • 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • juice of half a lime
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil

    Heat a dry pan on medium heat. Gently toast the ajwain seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, and allspice. When they become fragrant, remove from heat and grind in a spice grinder.

    Whisk together fresh ground spices with paprika, red chili, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, salt garlic, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and lime juice. Pour olive oil in a stream while continuously whisking.

    Use as a marinade for chicken, beef, fish or veggies, ideally to grill!

    The fresh, bright flavor goes awesome with the nutty creaminess of Hara Masala Coconut Rice.

  • Calabaza en Tacha

    Calabaza en Tacha

    October treats are not complete without something for the Mexican Day of the Dead, a remembrance of those that have passed, when families visit the graves to tend to them and make offerings. Calabaza en tacha is candied pumpkin (or in this case butternut squash), cooked in a brown sugar syrup then served with the syrup reduction and evaporated milk.

    I chose Spicie Foodies’ version of calabaza en tacha because of the lovely spices, but whereas she left her pumpkin in slices (which looks really pretty), my butternut squash wouldn’t have been uniform so I cut it up into chunks. I am not sure why this has brown sugar, sugar, and molasses…but it turned out delicious so who am I to ask questions?

    Calabaza en Tacha

    Recipe from Spicie Foodie

    • 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
    • 2 cups water
    • 2/3 cups brown sugar
    • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
    • 1 heaping tbsp molasses
    • pinch salt
    • zest of half an orange
    • 2 cinnamon sticks
    • 3 cardamom pods, bruised
    • 3 cloves
    • 3 allspice berries
    • evaporated milk for serving

    Bring water, sugars, and all spices to a soft boil. Lower the heat and add the squash, and simmer until very fork-tender (45 minutes to an hour).

    Strain out squash and spices with a slotted spoon, then turn up the heat and reduce the liquid to a syrup. Remove from heat. Serve squash drizzled with syrup and evaporated milk.

    I saw recipes using piloncillo, which is Mexican brown sugar – I’d love to get some to try. I also think this would be really nice made with jaggery.

  • Pumpkin Cider Bread

    Pumpkin Cider Bread

    Pumpkin bread is an autumn classic. From the many recipes out there, I chose the Pumpkin Cider Bread from the the October 1991 issue of Gourmet magazine (RIP); what drew me to this one was the lovely-sounding reduced cider as an ingredient. I love reducing liquids to syrupy sweetness, be it pomegranate molasses, tamarind chutney, red wine sauce, or balsamic reduction.

    In the comments someone said she made this with apple juice concentrate and got the same results, and she’s probably right, but I’m going to pretend I didn’t read that.

    This was adapted just slightly to use spices I already had in my kitchen, and to use melted butter instead of vegetable oil, which btw you can substitute at a 1:1 ratio. Also skipped the baking soda but only because I totally missed that on the list, heh (I did use the baking powder).

    This bread is fine as is, but becomes glorious when toasted right in the toaster, slathered with butter, and sprinkled with sea salt.

    Pumpkin Cider Bread

    Adapted from Epicurious

    • 1 cup apple cider
    • 1 cup pumpkin puree
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/4 cup butter, melted
    • 3/4 cup brown sugar
    • 2 tbsp orange zest
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
    • 2 cups flour
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

    Preheat oven to 350° F and butter a loaf pan.

    In a small saucepan, boil cider until it is reduced to 1/4 up and let it cool. Whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, orange zest, cider, and spices.

    Separately, whisk together flour and baking powder, then mix with wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in walnuts.

    Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean (start checking at 50 minutes, and if the top is getting too brown cover with foil. Didn’t need to with mine). Cool in the pan.