ingredient or component ⁽⁸⁾

January 19, 2025

[Instant Pot] Caramelized Onions

Once, many years ago, I heard a rumor that it was possible to make caramelized onions using a slow cooker. I dutifully followed the directions and ... no. I got soft, sautéed onions, but not caramelized like I wanted.

Then came a long series of Reddit rabbit holes which ended up with me checking out The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook from the library (How much do we love our libraries?) and reading the recipe for Caramelized Onion Jam (page 61). Wait a minute, caramelized onions? Hmmm. Can Instant Pot do what the slow cooker couldn't?

December 15, 2024

Taco Seasoning

I love a good make-ahead spice mix. It helps in terms of economizing if you can make it in a large enough batch and/or have multiple people to part it out between. Much as we did with the makhani spice mix, here's the recipe to replicate a packet of taco seasoning.

November 21, 2024

Brown Sugar from Pantry Staples

If you have been hanging out, snooping my recipe book for a while, you know that I am all about that capsule kitchen, which means that certain items which are pantry staples for others, are just an additional bit of recipe for me. Such as brown sugar.

January 5, 2023

McCormick's Butter Chicken Spice Mix

A long, long time ago in a galaxy right where you are currently located, there was a lovely company called

which produced the very best Makhani spice packet that could ever be purchased at a standard American grocery store. It was so good, in fact, that when they discontinued the spice packet, people took to the internet to seek a duplicate. There were none to be found.

SEVEN years later, McCormick finally has posted the recipe on their website. In fear that the page on their website will disappear at some point, like the spice blend did, it is being archived here, here, here, and here on this blog for posterity. We must not lose this flavor again!

January 11, 2022

[Dehydrator] Citrus Zest

IN SEASON ALERT! It is winter and that means citrus is in season so that means they are cheap and plentiful!

As a person with executive dysfunction, I loathe grating citrus zest. One of the substitutes I like to make is a powdered citrus peel. I make this from the peel of citrus fruits I was otherwise eating anyway, and simply reserve the peel for this extra process. This is a /r/NoScrapLeftBehind kind of #frugal winner.

It is very simple to make: raw (as in not boiled to otherwise cooked) citrus peel (including pith) dehydrated and then ground up in a spice grinder.

4 oz of citrus peel, including pith, weighed in a coffee filter on my messy kitchen table

Want that in more detail?