Spice Blends

Spice blends can save you a lot of time and energy … and even more than that.. they can enhance your foods so much. You can buy spice blends … such as Italian Seasonings… McCormick has an excellent blend… BUT I say that with a qualification.. they are generic… and people and their meals are … well… not generic… or at least they shouldn’t be… we all have different flavors we like better than others. I almost always add something to the foods when I use a commercial blend.

From the novice to the experienced cook.. making personalized spice blends should be one of the more important things you accomplish in your kitchen… spices are the foundation of great meals….

Where do you start?... you start from the experts and family and friends…Emerill and the Neely’s come to mind… try their spice blends… and if you don’t care for them… change them until you like them…

I like some of Emerill’s stuff… but not all.. I like things hot.. but I prefer my toes not to be on fire… The Neely’s like a little zing in their spices… but I’ve found they really are more middle of the road… well maybe a little hotter than the middle.. but certainly more compatible to general tastes.

I have some spice blends I’ve tweaked over the years… a few come to mind….my Taco Seasoning, Chili Seasoning and Fajita Seasoning… and my Paprika mix for Goulash and some other Hungarian dishes (my Mother used to buy the blend from a little Hungarian store in Brooklyn… which no longer is in business… I’m still working on duplicating it… getting close… not quite there yet).

For today’s blog I decided to try The Neely’s Barbecue Sauce which uses the Neely Blend of Barbecue Seasoning…. and the only way to try it is try using it in one of my recipes… soooo… my Barbecue Meatloaf got a Neely makeover… and it was fabulous… so read on… my friends… we’ll take this a step at a time.