The Perfect Pantry

Ground cardamom (Recipe: spice rub)

How do you say cardamom?

Nobody's entirely sure of the etymology of the word, though it originated in ancient Greek (kardamomom), but the names for this popular spice from the ginger family are varied: shooshmir (Armenian); sugmel (Tibetan); trúc sa (Vietnamese); phalazee (Burmese); elaichi (Hindi); habbahan (Arabic); karudamon (Japanese); cardamomo (Italian); kardamonas (Lithuanian); kardemon (Estonian); kardemomme (Danish).

My favorite is kardemumma (Swedish) perhaps because I can imagine my Swedish brother-in-law Nils pronouncing each lilting syllable -- kar de MUM a -- his blue eyes twinkling, a glass of cardamom-laced akvavit raised for a toast.

The fruit of a large bush that grows wild in the Cardamom Hills in southern India, kardamonas is cultivated in Tanzania, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Guatemala. It's the world’s third most expensive spice, after saffron and vanilla, because it too must be harvested by hand, when the pods are only three-quarters ripe, or the pods will split open and spill their seeds.

Dried green pods should be hard, and the seeds inside them sticky. The seeds lose their flavor quickly when ground; even the whole pods will lose 40 percent of their essential oil within a year. When you can, buy whole green kardemomme pods, and grind as you go.

For convenience, I buy ground kardemon in small quantities, from Penzeys or from a local Indian spice market that has a lot of turnover. I always keep a bit in a jar on my spice rack, and store the rest in the freezer.

Kardemumma's warm, smoky, lemony flavor enhances dishes sweet (cardamom cookies, orange and cardamom upside-down cake, pistachio-cardamom cupcakes, cardamom and pine nut pears) and savory (Moroccan lamb tagine, beef curry, Indian spice broiled chicken).

An essential ingredient in baharat, berbere, and some masalas, cardamomo also makes a great addition to homemade spice rubs for the grilled foods of summer -- no matter how you say it.

SPICE RUB FOR CHICKEN
Providence chef Diane Vatcher shared some of her spice rub formulas for a grilling class in the Ninecooks kitchen, and a few weeks later our cooking group had a great time mixing up dry rubs for different types of meats and fish. You can use this Moroccan-inspired rub on a whole chicken or turkey breast roasted in the oven, too. Makes enough for 6 large chicken breasts.

3 Tbsp ground cardamom
3 Tbsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp ground turmeric
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground allspice
3 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Store in an airtight container for up to two months.

To cook, take chicken out of the refrigerator and let warm to room temperature. Rub lightly with olive oil, then massage some spice rub into the meat. Set aside while you heat the grill.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Grilled fruit with cardamom yogurt
Cardamom shortbread
Doro wat (Ethiopian chicken in red pepper sauce)
Sweet couscous

Flavored sea salt (Recipe: Grilled sirloin tips with asparagus)

In the beginning, everything was pink.

Not just pink. Barbie pink.

My first big-girl bedroom.

My first and only prom gown.

My first contact lenses. (I was 14 years old, and when the doctor asked what color I wanted, I said, "Ooooh, I always wanted blue eyes." He pointed out that the lenses wouldn't change my brown eye color, so the sassy teenager in me replied, "Well, then, might as well make them pink." He did.)

My first sea salt was pink, too, a lovely, faintly volcanic, not-at-all-Barbie, reddish-pink salt from Hawaii.

Until a couple of years ago, I didn't really "get" salt. I don't mean that I didn't have salt in The Perfect Pantry; I had plenty. Iodized table salt (for baking) and kosher salt (for everyday). That Hawaiian pink salt. Black salt. French fleur de sel and Portuguese flor de sal.

I pinched here and there, and used my salts sparingly for baking and on matzoh brei. Then, just when I'd gotten the hang of colored salts, I discovered flavored sea salt.

Sea salt results from the evaporation of sea water; it's raked by hand, so the granules remain large and irregular. A natural product, with no additives, sea salt takes kindly to being mixed with bold flavorings. It's great in marinades and salad dressings as well as for finishing dishes, meaning the salt sits on top of the dish and slowly melts in at the end of the cooking.

If pink salt is good, grey salt is better. Grey is the color of sea salt harvested in Guerande, France (fleur de sel is harvested off the surface, leaving behind the grey salt), and it's the base for the herb-and-lemon flavored Mor-sels salt that has taken up permanent residence in my pantry. I first discovered this in a local shop, where the cheesemonger paired it with some soft cheeses. Salt and cheese -- an unexpectedly wonderful combination. Made by Rhode Island metal sculptor Peter Morse from herbs grown in his garden blended with lemon zest, this salt comes in a beautiful tin that keeps 2.5 ounces of flavored salt dry -- and chic.

It's easy to make your own flavored salt, too. Szechuan peppercorns, matcha, fresh thyme, smoky pimenton, lavender, orange -- use your imagination (and a food processor or blender), and raid the pantry and garden for ingredients to pair with salt. There's no limit to the flavors you can create, or to the number of sea salts you can keep on your spice rack.

GRILLED SIRLOIN TIPS WITH ASPARAGUS
Peter Morse, who created Mor-sels flavored sea salt, also creates magic in the kitchen. He graciously shared this recipe, which serves 6-8.

3 lbs sirloin tips
1 can organic lite coconut milk
1/2 cup mirin
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp chili paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup basmati rice
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Mor-sels or other flavored sea salt
1-1/2 lb asparagus, root ends trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil

In a bowl, place the sirloin tips. Combine coconut milk, mirin, ketchup, and chili paste into a festive red marinade, and pour over the meat. Let stand in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine chicken broth and 1 cup water. Under the kitchen faucet, rinse rice in a colander until water runs clear, and add to the broth. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Stir occasionally. Let water reduce slightly below the rice level and the lower the heat to the absolutely lowest setting. Place a tight lid on the saucepan and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

While the rice is cooking (or up to a day ahead), make a compound (blended) butter by mixing butter, parsley, and a pinch of Mor-sels. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Heat your grill (or grill pan, if you're cooking on the stovetop). While the grill is heating, remove sirloin tips from the refrigerator, drain excess marinade, and let the meat come to room temperature. Grill to desired doneness, and set aside to rest for a few minutes. Toss asparagus with olive oil and a sprinkle of Mor-sels, and grill until just tender.

On a large platter, make a bed of the basmati rice, and arrange asparagus spears and sirloin tips on the rice. Top with a large dollop of compound butter and, if you wish, finish with a sprinkling of sea salt.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Pizza bianca
Brick-cooked chicken breasts or thighs

Granulated garlic (Recipe: dry rub for steak)

Granulated garlic is to fresh garlic as (blank) is to (blank).

As pepper flakes are to habañeros?

As decaf is to espresso?

As Brad Pitt is to George Clooney? (I guess this one depends on your taste. Maybe the other way around?)

The point is that granulated garlic will never have quite the zing of the fresh, but, as my family says when we're seeing the glass half full, it has other attributes.

Often used in spice blends, granulated garlic provides the flavor of garlic with the added benefit of a long shelf life, ease of measurement, and no skins to add to the compost pile. It is pure dehydrated garlic, with no added preservatives, salt, or anti-caking agents. It takes nine pounds of fresh garlic to make one pound of dehydrated.

To substitute in a recipe (which, honestly, you really should not do unless you are out of fresh garlic and also out of the minced garlic in a jar and you absolutely cannot live without the flavor of something resembling garlic), soak one-half teaspoon in one tablespoon of water to equal 2 cloves of fresh garlic. If you're sprinkling it rather than mixing it into a liquid, use 1/4 teaspoon for every clove of garlic.

Though I love Penzeys granulated garlic, and I use it in place of powdered garlic, I must take issue with the confusing labeling; granulated garlic is to powdered garlic as granulated sugar is to confectioners sugar. It's the same product, but in a more coarse grind. It keeps for 6-12 months if stored in a container with a tight-fitting lid, and it's great to have on hand to make pico de gallo or spicy garlic chicken, or a real creole spice mix or your own Montreal steak seasoning.

DRY RUB FOR STEAK
What could be easier? Rub on beef, let the meat sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, and cook on the grill.

4 Tbsp dried porcini mushrooms
2 Tbsp granulated garlic
4 Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt

In a spice blender, grind mushrooms to a fine powder. Then, in a bowl, mix all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Cocoa powder (Recipe: Cocoa-Cumin-Allspice Rub)