Spice Parisienne (Seasoned Pioneers)

"Spices, of course, are essential" (Marcus Samuelsson)

Spice Parisienne, a blend of white peppercorns, nutmeg, paprika, clove buds, thyme, cinnamon, basil, savory and bay leaves, tastes as good as it sounds. It has been traditionally dry-roasted and blended by hand to a genuine French recipe. Like all the spice blends from Seasoned Pioneers that I have tried, this is a high quality product. It comes in a pouch sealed for freshness (resealable for your convenience). This warm, aromatic spice mix has a complex aroma. Smell it to unravel the bouquet of fragrant spices. It is great with chicken and pork.

Spice Parisienne 

I first tried the new spice, while roasting a whole chicken. I put a lemon sliced in half in the cavity and seasoned well with the sea salt and Spice Parisienne. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the chicken and roast until cooked through for an hour and a half (depending on the size of the chicken).
The chicken was moist, wonderfully flavoured and very tasty.

Just a few days ago I have seen one of the bloggers asking something along the lines Have you ever had roasted grapes? as if it were an exotic rarity and a culinary revelation. Actually I had, many times, and if you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for?
This time I cooked pork steaks with grapes in apple cider (mildly alcoholic, just 1%) and cream, as well as Spice Parisienne.

Pork steaks in cider and cream sauce (serves 6)
Ingredients:
6 lean pork steaks
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp Spice Parisienne
sea salt
grapes, a small bowl of
1/3 bottle of apple cider
a small tub of single cream, 170ml
Place the steaks in a well oiled tray. Sprinkle with Spice Parisienne. Scatter a handful of green grapes. Put the tray in the oven preheated to 180C. Roast for 10 minutes, then pour some cider around the steaks to keep the meat moist. Cook for 45+ minutes, adding more cider as it cooks. Add the cream to the cider in the last five minutes or so.
Serve hot. I served the steaks with the roasted butternut squash, but mashed potatoes would be fab as well.

For the whole range of Seasoned Pioneers spices, visit Seasoned Pioneers. The choice of spices is impressive.

Disclosure: I received a selection of spices for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Advieh chicken with green beans and pomegranates

Trying new spices is always fun. I haven't heard of an Iranian spice blend Advieh until recently. Having searched online for an inspiration and ideas of which dishes I could use this spice blend in, I decided to cook an Advieh Chicken with green beans and pomegranates. It is by no means an authentic recipe, it's more of a recipe which is inspired by the Iranian cuisine. Advieh is widely used for seasoning rice, but it's much more than the spice for rice.

Advieh Chicken
Ingredients
400g chicken fillets
2tbsp olive oil+
1tbsp Advieh seasoning blend from Seasoned Pioneers
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1tbsp honey
1 garlic clove
1 red onion, finely chopped
100g green beans
350g butternut squash, cubed
1 medium potato, cubed
4tbsp tomato juice from tinned tomatoes
water
4 spring onions, chopped finely
pomegranate seeds, about 1/3 of a fruit

Mix the olive oil with lemon juice, honey, Advieh seasoning blend, pressed garlic clove into a paste. Pour the paste over the chicken strips and mix well. Let them marinade for at least half an hour.
Fry the chicken in the deep frying pan for about 4-5 minutes. Add the onion, cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cubed potato, butternut squash and tomato juice or paste. Pour about a glass of water, cover the pan with the lid and cook for half an hour, simmering, until the chicken and vegetables are done.
Cook the green beans in a small pan, until nearly done, they should still be crisp. Drain the water, let the beans cool before slicing them in smaller pieces.
Add the green beans to the pan with chicken and vegetables
Chop the spring onions, scatter over the chicken and mix well, then add the pomegranate seeds. Cook for another 3 minutes or so.

This is a fragrant dish, with lots of flavours and textures.

The Advieh seasoning consists of cinnamon, rose petals, cardamom and cumin. Rose petals add a mild floral note to an overall dish, and work beautifully with the spices. I absolutely love both the aroma and taste.
For a full range of spices from around the world visit Seasoned Pioneers.

Chicken tabaka

Georgian cuisine is not well known in the UK, and more's the pity. It is similar to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, but at the same time it is unique and original. Georgian food is very popular in Russia, and the Russians have adopted many of the Georgian recipes, which are much loved throughout the former Soviet Union.
Whenever my Mum comes to visit me, I ask her to bring along a few packets of a Georgian spice mix called khmeli-suneli. It has a distinct flavour and aroma, and I absolutely love it. Imagine my delight when I discovered that I can now order it in the UK. Seasoned Pioneers offer an excellent khmeli-suneli among a big variety of spices from around the world.

Open the sachet, and the smell is just wonderful. Coriander, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, mint, dill, savory, fenugreek and marigold petals, what a luxurious bouquet of flavours and textures.
Khmeli-suneli is widely used in marinades, soups, stews, as a meat rub, but the first dish that springs to mind is Chicken Tabaka.

For this dish you will need a poussin or a small-sized chicken, ideally not more than 800g in weight.
Using kitchen scizzors, cut the poussin to butterfly or spatchcock it. You can also use a meat hammer to flatten it.

Chicken Tabaka
Ingredients:
poussin or small chicken (not more than 800g)
2 cloves of garlic
1tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp khmeli-suneli (or more)
black and red pepper, freshly ground
sea salt
olive oil for frying
to serve with the roasted vegetables and sauce made of Greek yogurt and chopped coriander

Press two garlic cloves through the garlic press and mix in with a tablespoon of lemon juice, a heaped tablespoon of khmeli-suneli, pepper and sea salt, rub the poussin with the mix. Let it marinade for at least an hour before cooking.
There are different opinions on when the garlic should be added. Some cooks swear by rubbing the garlic before cooking, some claim it makes the meat slightly bitter, so they prefer to rub it after the chicken has been cooked. I haven't noticed any bitter flavour, and prefer to add it as part of the marinade.
Heat the skillet well, add the oil and place the poussin in the skillet. Put a heavy lid over the poussin, so that it stays flattened. I put a heavy lasagne dish on top (just don't forget to wash it well after you turned the poussin over and need to put the dish again on top of it).

Marinade + cook on a skillet with the weight on

Cook for about 30- 35 minutes, turning a few times.

One of the sauces often served with the chicken tabaka is a garlic sauce made of grated/pressed garlic mixed with the broth or stock, but it is garlicky enough without the sauce.

You could cook this dish with pieces of chicken, in fact a couple of years ago I did a blog recipe for chicken tabaka, using fillets and thighs. But for an authentic version, use a whole spatchcock bird.

If you'd like to read more about Georgia and its cuisine, Darra Goldstein wrote a fascinating essay Georgia: Culinary Crossroads which I highly recommend.

Wild game stew with cheesy dumplings

Chinese Five Spice blend is traditionally used in the Chinese cuisine, as well as in many other Asian recipes. It is a great ingredient in red meat and poultry dishes, and is well known for its rich flavour. When I received a fat little pouch of Chinese Five Spice from Seasoned Pioneers, I cooked a Chinese-inspired stir fry with chicken and oyster mushrooms, and it was very nice. But I also wanted to try it in a European-style stew, maybe even with dumplings, as the cold weather often makes me crave comfort foods like soups and stews.

Wild game stew with dumplings
Ingredients:
2tbsp olive oil
500g wild game mix
1 big carrot, peeled and chopped
1 big onion, finely chopped
2tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 Knorr beef stock pot
1 orange, zest and juice
500ml red wine (I used pinot noir)
350g butternut squash, cubed
1 tin (400g) peeled plum tomatoes
10 dates
10 dried apricots
salt
for dumplings:
100g self-raising flour
50g cold butter, grated
50g cheddar, grated (I used Applewood cheddar)
1tsp dried mixed herbs

Pan fry the pieces of wild game mix (mine came from Abel & Cole) in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrot, sprinkle with the Chinese 5 spice, fry for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once browned nicely on all sides, remove the meat from the frying pan and place in a deep pan. Add a beef stock pot (or stock cube), zest and juice of 1 orange, and red wine. Pour hot water, enough to cover the meat and vegetables. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat. Cook on low for 20 minutes. Add cubed butternut squash, 1 tin of plum tomatoes, dates and apricots. Season with sea salt. Cook for about half a hour, until the squash is soft.
To make dumplings, mix together self-raising flour with grated cod butter and cheddar cheese, as well as a bit of dried mixed herbs. Place a bowl of cold water nearby to dip your hands in, to make it easier to roll the dumplings from the dough. I made 11 dumplings. Put them half-way deep in the stew, cover the pan with the lid and cook for the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Serve hot with a nice chunk of bread to dip the sauce.

Chinese Five Spice blend might be not an obvious choice for a stew, but it worked really well in this recipe, having added the depth of flavour and richness.
Chinese Five Spice from Seasoned Pioneers is an excellent blend, with a beautiful aroma. It is traditionally dry-roasted and blended by hand to a genuine Chinese recipe. It includes such ingredients as star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel, cassia and cloves.

If you enjoy world cuisine, you might want to check out Seasoned Pioneers with its inspiring range of spices from all over the world.

Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews has tested two different varieties of spices from Seasoned Pioneers - Herbes de Provence and South African Curry Powder, have a look at her mouth-watering globe-cooking recipes.

Disclosure: I received a couple of pouches of spices for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Chicken curry with sambhar

When Seasoned Pioneers have queried whether I'd like to try some of their spices, I asked them to surprise me. And surprise me they did indeed. I got two fat little pouches of spices, one of them - Sambhar powder - was something I have never tried before. I loved the aroma of sambhar (or sambar) as soon as I opened the sealed pouch.
Seasoned Pioneers describe this spice as having a "great nutty taste of roasted spices and dal overlaid with hot chillies, popular in South Indian Brahmin vegetarian dishes".
This beautiful spice mix is traditionally dry-roasted and blended by hand to a genuine South Indian recipe. Its ingredients include channa dal, urad dal, turmeric, red chillies, coriander, cumin, black peppercorns, mustard seeds, fenugreek, asafoetida. The texture is fine, with chilli flakes scattered around.

Not quite knowing what was the best way to use it, I asked a fellow foodie blogger - Monu from Recipes Passion blog. Monu's blog has lots of mouth-watering posts, she is truly passionate about cooking and baking. Monu shared with me a recipe for a chicken curry dish, with sambhar powder.
I have slightly adapted Monu's recipe, as I didn't have all the right ingredients, but I kept pretty close to her suggested recipe.

Chicken curry with sambhar
Ingredients:
1 big white onion, finely chopped
2tbsp olive oil
1tsp mustard seeds
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
3tsp sambhar powder
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
4tbsp coconut milk powder (e.g. Maggi, which I used isntead of coconut paste)
150g tomato sauce or paste (I used Sacla Pronto tomato and garlic sauce)
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
2tbsp olive oil
500g chicken, sliced
1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
salt, to taste
I didn't have curry leaves or fresh coriander, but I imagine they add colour and flavour.

Heat 2tbsp of oil in a big frying pan or wok. Saute the sliced onions for 5+ minutes, add the mustard seeds, and keep stirring, until the onion is translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste, sambhar powder, coconut milk powder, tomato sauce and sliced tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring.
Put chicken slices in the curry sauce, add water (about 500ml) and more olive oil, add the chopped carrot and parsnip, cover the pan with the lid and cook for half an hour or more on medium low, check that the chicken is cooked through.
If you have fresh coriander, garnish the curry with coriander before serving.
Serve with basmati rice.

We had it yesterday for dinner, and it was delicious, if a tad too hot for me. Next time I will probably add just 2 tsp of sambhar rather than 3. If you enjoy hot food, you might want to increase the amount of sambhar to 4tsp.

I am also going to try the sambhar powder in a vegetarian recipe.

For a full range of spices from around the world, visit Seasoned Pioneers.