Volume 8, Issue 081 - April 25, 2005

Hello Recipe Club,

Does a cow eat grass because she likes it? Does she have a favorite grass? I am not sure! Do the deer eat my tulips and columbines because they like them? YES! I am sure of that! My point is that while animals eat to survive, most people eat because they enjoy the flavors of the foods they are accustomed to. When you go to a fancy restaurant the food comes out all beautifully prepared, but if it does not taste good, who cares how it looks!

Getting the flavor right is the biggest challenge for any cook. We have all been to a BBQ where the cook has abused his spice cabinet and we could not really even find the chicken or pork flavor in the dish. A little common sense and some basic knowledge will please your palate for a lifetime. That is my mission this week, to share the basics with you. And I will try to give you some fun recipes to follow each day's topic.

So, let's get started!

101 Monday and today's topic:
Define Seasoning and Flavoring
Basic Rules of Seasoning and Flavoring Foods

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Seasoning and Flavoring

Is there a difference? Oh Yes! Seasoning is what you do to enhance the real flavor of the food you are eating. When you put salt on a steak or grilled asparagus you are seasoning the food without masking it's basic flavor.

Flavoring a food means you are changing its basic true flavor. When you coat a piece of fish with Cajun spices and blacken it in a searing hot pan, you have definitely flavored the fish! Same with ground beef for tacos or chili. Do you see the difference? It's pretty simple, but it can be a little confusing too. While salt may be your basic and most common seasoning, what happens when it is used in beef jerky or popcorn? Oops, now it is a flavoring! So like I said earlier, just use common sense.

Basic Rules:

Just remember that for the most part your main ingredient, the meat, starch or vegetable are your primary flavor. Your goal is to cook them properly and enhance their original flavors to make them more pleasing to your palate. Dumping in a whole can of your favorite spice can't save poorly prepared food!

The best time to season your food is towards the end of the cooking time. That is the time when you decide if you have acquired the flavor you were looking for. This is very true especially with liquids. Soups and sauces that have too much seasoning (like salt) in the beginning of a recipe will reduce during the cooking period and have too strong of a flavor. Fine-tune it at the end.

Flavoring foods can take place throughout the cooking time, as most flavorings require heat to bring out the flavor. Some flavorings like fresh herbs, flamed wines, prepared mustards, cracked peppercorns can be added at the end as they will add instant flavor. Remember whole spices take longer to add flavor than ground spices.

On the other side of the coin, some flavors can be lost or diminished during cooking through evaporation. That's why your house smells so good when you are making your favorite spaghetti sauce. Do not overcook!

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Rosemary and Garlic Flavored Steak

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 10 to 12 ounce ribeye steaks, or your favorite cut
4 ounces of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, whole
salt and pepper

Preparation:

One half hour before you are ready to grill your steak, combine the garlic, rosemary sprigs and olive oil in a shallow bowl to incorporate the flavors. Just before the steaks go on the grill, brush them with the oil using the sprigs of rosemary as the brushes. Brush during the cooking time on the grill with the sprigs.

Set the sprigs on the steaks while they are cooking, when not brushing. Add a little more flavor with the salt and pepper right before serving.

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Tenderloin Steak au Poivre

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 two-inch tenderloin steaks
freshly cracked peppercorns to coat
sea salt or coarse salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup veal stock
1/4 cup cognac, brandy

Preparation:

Press the cracked peppercorns into the meat on both sides and season lightly with the salt. In a heavy skillet, I use a cast iron pan, heat the butter and olive oil over high heat and sear the steaks for about 5 minutes on each side. Longer if you like your meat more well done.

Remove the meat from the skillet and add the wine and veal stock with the pan juices. Scrape the little bits stuck to the pan up with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil. Add the cognac carefully as it will flame up. Allow the flame to burn off and cook for another few moments. Serve sauce over the steaks.

Note:

These are two very different ways to prepare a steak. One  has mild seasoned accents and one has a pronounced flavor added to it. But the meat flavor still comes through on both. Obviously be careful not to grind too much of the cracked peppercorns into the meat in the au Poivre recipe. In the au Poivre recipe it calls for veal stock. You could also use a rich beef broth.

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Grilled Asparagus

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound of fresh asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
garlic salt
fresh cracked pepper

Preparation:

Brush the asparagus with the olive oil and lightly season with the garlic salt and pepper. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes and serve immediately.