^^ The mention of fresh garlic brings up something I’ve been wondering about. I buy fresh garlic, too, and go through it quickly. I buy it at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, and I am pretty sure their stock does not sit around long. The garlic I buy is frequently already sprouting - sometimes just a little, sometimes a lot. And some cloves often have bad places (brown, dried out). It’s impossible to tell from the outside what the cloves look like (unless the sprouting is so bad that the green things are coming out the bottom).
Last weekend I bought a container of peeled and separated cloves - not by choice. Before the snowstorm, Whole Foods’ produce department was badly depleted. They were out of several things on my list: bananas, spinach, parsley, cauliflower, garlic. they did have the peeled cloves so I bought them. All the cloves are perfect, no brown spots, no sprouts.
Here is a unique use for white pepper…you can put it on rugs or furniture where a recalcitrant kitty keeps scratching. One dose of that up the nose or in the paws…and no more scratching. Once the habit is broken just vacuum up the remains (of the pepper not the cat ;)).
We also have mustard seeds hanging around the dark back corner of the spice cabinet. I think they originally weree used for H’s canned bread and butter pickles.
Thanks mathmom, just picked up some cayenne so I will try that, in small doses to start.
I’m actually enjoying having leftovers and freezing what can be frozen. That didn’t happen often when the whole family was home. The vegetable curry I made 2 nights ago tasted even better for lunch today. I can see the benefit of spices mingling and mellowing together.
I bought the jarred cleaned raw garlic cloves once - so handy! But mine starting molding before I could use them all - I thought I was careful using a utensil to get them out, but somehow they became tainted before I had the chance to use them all - which wasn’t too long.
I think the mold would have happened whether you touched them or not, abasket. Moisture in a closed container seems to promote mold. I’ve seen the peeled garlic cloves in jars covered with olive oil. I imagine those last much longer.
I’ve frozen peeled cloves in the past. Also Vidalia onions. I keep a roll of masking tape to use for container labels- and a black Sharpie for writing. H says it isn’t needed but a week or more later who remembers what is what, even clear containers are hard to figure out.
For Indian cooking my recipes typically call for 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper- that’s added to a # bag of veggies or a cup of dry beans/dals/lentils along with the other ingredients/spices. Be careful- a little red pepper can go a long ways. You will find different degrees of heat in different brands, types found at Indian grocery stores. Years ago I kept a bottle of tabasco sauce for H to add if he needed extra heat- a touch of vinegar there and we never used the whole bottle before it was too old so haven’t gotten it in years.
My complete spice pantry – no I didn’t type it. It’s from my Penzey order spreadsheet. I have actually cooked something with all these at least once, but there are some that get little or no attention on a regular basis. The ones in bold get ordered in bulk at least once a year. Using up a 1 lb bag of black tellicherry peppercorns is when it’s time for Penzey’s order. I mix up Emeril’s Essence, BBQ rub, and Chili powder and use those constantly.
Aestofida Powder
Allspice - Ground
Allspice - Whole
Chile Peppers Tien Tsin
Chile Peppers Ancho (whole) Chile Peppers Ancho (ground)
Anise Seeds Annatto Seeds
Arrowroot Bar-B-Q Rub Basil - California
Bay Leaves
Caraway Seeds
Cardamon Pods (green)
Cardamon Seeds Cayenne Pepper Powder
Celery Seed
Charnushka (Nigella)
Chile Pepper - ground
Chiles – crushed red Chili Powder
Chinese Five Spice
Chives
Cilantro
Cinnamon (chunks)
Cinnamon (Ground)
Cinnamon - 2.75 in. cut sticks
Cloves (ground)
Cloves (whole)
Coriander Seed
Cream of Tartar
Cumin (Ground) Cumin Seed
Curry Powder
Dill Seed
Dill Weed
Fennel Seed
Fenugreek
Garam Masala Garlic Powder
Ginger – powdered china
Gumbo File
Kala Jeera (Black Cumin)
Mace
Marjoram
Meat Magic
Mustard Powder
Mustard Seed (Black)
Mustard Seed (Yellow)
Nutmeg - powdered
Nutmeg - whole Onion Powder
Oregano - Mexican Oregano - Turkish Paprika - Hungarian Sweet
Parsley
Pepper – Black ground
Pepper – White ground
**Peppercorns - Black Tellicherry **
Peppercorns - Szechuan
Peppercorns - White
Poppy Seed - blue
Poppy Seed - white
Pork Magic
Poultry Magic
Rosemary - whole
Sage - rubbed
Salt
Savory
Seafood Magic
Sesame Seeds - white
Sesame Seeds - black
Shrimp and Crab Boil
Star Anise - Broken Pieces
Tarragon Thyme
Turmeric
The other one is a jar of saffron, which is a key seasoning in my favorite Jacques and Julia’s Mediterranean Seafood Stew. Best deals on that are from Amazon. Penzey’s charges a fortune for it.
@NYMomof2 - I’ve been growing my own garlic and the standard procedure (middle Atlantic) is you plant them in November or so (when you would plant tulip bulbs) and pull them up around the 4th of July. You can eat them right away but it takes about 2 weeks to cure so they get that thick, papery, protective husk.
This year was the first time I had so much garlic that it lasted several months. I’m just finishing it now and I had to throw out the last few heads of one variety, but another variety lasted this long very well.
I’m not sure if the growing schedule is different in California where nearly all the commercial garlic comes from. I guess you are finding garlic that just hasn’t lasted as long because it has been a long time since harvest. It is probably stored in warehouses (hopefully cool, dark, and dry) and possibly some of it is stored there for months before shipping to stretch out our supply.
The garlic I had to throw out wasn’t sprouting, but it had dried out and inedible cloves. When I go shopping for garlic now I’ll try to get my fingernail a little bit between cloves on a head of garlic to see if its nice and firm or not.
Thanks for the other name for this stuff. I’ve been looking for it - no local store seemed to carry it, but I see The Spice House on line has it, unless you have another suggestion? Penzey’s does not have it. I’m not actually that big a Penzey fan. Too many mixtures, not enough middle eastern stuff.
^^ OK, that is just odd. Isn’t nigella the small black seed that goldfinches like? So, it’s hard to find in spice catalogues but it’s available wherever bird seed is sold? Is this it?
FWIW, mathmom, Penzey’s does have charnushka(nigella) in their catalog. says it is also known as black caraway (which is the name I knew it by) or kalonji.
Fun fact - IIRC, Spice House is owned by a member of the Penzey family.
I can’t tell you how happy I was when an Indian grocer finally opened around here! When I first moved to Maine, I depended on periodic supply by friends in NJ–Jersey City is a great source-- for everything except more universal items such as cumin and fennel seed. According to Bangladeshi friends, the closest supply at that time was in Massachusetts! There were local Korean/Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian grocers, but no Indian.
For those who live in Fairfield County, CT, Patel’s on Rte 1 in Norwalk is great. I stock up on some things when I’m down there, since it is cheaper and larger than the store here.