Spice spice baby

The hardwood floors are "herb & spice friendly."

There’s a (fairly) new shop in town, and I adore it. No, it’s not a clothing boutique, a guitar shop or even a book store. It’s a spice shop!

Exterior of Savory Spice.

Savory Spice on 4th Avenue NE opened up earlier this year and they’ve never failed to disappoint. If you want 15 kinds of pepper, 10 kinds of salt or a different curry powder for every day of the week, well, Savory’s your place. It’s my place, too. But they’re  more than about salt & pepper. Or curry. Bakers could find a paradise here, with exotic vanilla beans and flavored sugars, various cocoa powders and whole nutmeg and cinnamon.

I never really go into the shop for one specific thing. But if I do, I always come out with more than intended, because on each trip there I find something new and exciting.  I am happy to report that they have organic dried herbs such as oregano (and several different kinds!), dill and basil. The Mexican oregano is fragrant and intoxicating!

Vanilla beans!

On this particular day, I went to Savory looking for a new curry powder, and wound up with Vindaloo for a change from my usual. I also picked up an exotic Italian coarse sea salt/herb blend which I could not stop using on everything once I got home; it was that tasty!

Savory Spice sells both in bulk and in pre-packaged bottles. You’re allowed to taste-teste as much as you like before you buy, which is actually kind of fun! Sometimes the staff will whip up a recipe showcasing their herbs and spices; on one day I visited, a gentleman staffer showed off  brownies he baked using their Black Onyx cocoa (which I, of course, bought).

Everything is clearly labelled, weighed, and noted for origin. Suggestions for use are also on the labels.
It’s a great place to go for gift sets and small kitchen utensils; there are also some BBQ sauce and hot sauces.

Savory Spice is located at 400 Beach Dr NE  St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Twitter: @savoryspice727
Web: Savory Spice

A cute little shop!

 

Exotic? They've got it!

Hoagie heaven

Whether you call it a hoagie, sub, or grinder, no doubt this sandwich has been embedded in American gastronomic culture like almost no other. Sandwich chains are everywhere, offering innumerable ingredients stuffed into a variety  of breads and rolls.

Homemade perfection - in a roll

I stopped going to [insert name of mega-popular sandwich chain shop here] because, frankly, the food wasn’t all that good, the cleanliness quality always seemed lacking (no matter which shop I went to), and asking for a veggie sub always resulted in “No mayo? Not even cheese?” and funny looks from the surly submaker. Most disheartening: the veggies used were tasteless  and probably not always fresh as they said.

And a veggie sub is simply that: a veggie sub. A piece of bread stuffed with veg. I can do that, I thought, and set out to construct my own amazing subs (hoagies/grinders) in my own kitchen using unique and varied (and fresh!) vegetables, proscribed proportions be damned.

Now that I make them at home, they never disappoint. A spritz of balsamic and olive oil? Sure. Some cracked black pepper atop avocado, tomatoes, red onion, green and yellow pepper, maybe a smear of hummus to add moistness, tucked inside a bakery baguette, crisp on the outside, pillowy-soft on the inside, and just perfect.  That, to me, is the superior sandwich.

You can do this too, folks. Don’t go to those sub shops if you don’t have to (go if you must), but I promise you, a little noodling around in the kitchen with your fresh veggies and good bread will make you a convert.

Golden elixir

More ‘stock’ photography! Tee-hee! Ok, sorry for the pun. But I’m in love with homemade veggie stock. I’m super-in-love with the way it makes me feel, this energy-giving elixir. This particular one, pictured, was derived from bits of carrot, onion, celery, tomato, eggplant, cauliflower, garlic, and dried herbs (which you see at the bottom of the cup). It’s so perfect, it doesn’t even need salt. I simply sip it like a tea. And I instantly feel energized and all warm & fuzzy.

Stock it to me

There is nothing, in my opinion, more glorious and humble

Gorgeous, isn't it?

than beautiful homemade vegetable stock.

Radical radishes

Delish.

I am officially over my longstanding childhood dislike/fear of radishes. Roasting them low and slow in the  oven in garlic butter renders them sweet and tender and soft. Drizzle crusty french bread with the melted butter, top with the halved radishes, salt/pepper, and you have a winner of a simple, delicate lunch.

Idea courtesy The New York Times 

This is how we roll

…roll vegetarian egg rolls, that is. My friend T had us over to her house for an “egg roll making party,” which also included cat-and-dog petting, some knitting, and lots of gab. T was making a big batch of the rolls for some ladies with whom she has upholstery class.

We used Filipino wrappers, which are usually made into lumpian prito, a Filipino roll.  T chose these because her Vietnamese mother always used these particular wrappers instead of the traditional Chinese-style egg roll wrappers. They come frozen in the Asian markets, and I think there are about 50 wrappers to the pack.

T had the day before sauteed  a bunch of veggies: carrot, eggplant, onion, and cabbage to use in the rolls.  She decided to make the rolls vegetarian because she’s been thinking about switching from a meat & veggie diet to one that is completely plant -based. I applaud her thinking!

M rolls like a pro.

The veggie mixture

As we all sat at her dining table, R and I watched and knitted as T and M filled and rolled the rolls….lots and lots of rolls! We conversed about shopping, men, pets…and knitting, of course. Yeah, your typical ladies’ gathering!

T’s pets – two kitties and a dog – sensed something was afoot: namely, people food! Ginger, the yellow lab, eventually insinuated herself underneath the table for a nap when she realized she was not to take part in this party! Egg rolls and puppy dogs don’t mix!

Sad Ginger.

A quick fry in some peanut oil, and the rolls began to appear…ready for eatin’. T got out the Chinese hot mustard and we all had a sample. Super yum! You know egg rolls, that heady mix of “fried” and “I’m eating veggies, so it’s kind of healthy” – yeah, it was like that. So bad, so good, so bad, so very very good…

As always, T is very generous, and encouraged us all to take some un-fried rolls home. I grabbed six and fried them up a few days later, dipping them in some soy-based Vietnamese all-purpose sauce. Outstanding!

Cooking parties are awesome. Next time, T suggested we have a pasta-making party….I can’t wait to see how that goes!

The final result.

Day-off Dining

I love those lazy days off from work where I can, at my discretion, knit, nap, read, and most importantly, cook. I always have veggies in the house, but today I noticed that some of them needed to be used as soon as possible – you know how veggies get that sad, dull, almost-but-not-quite-squishy look to them, begging to be eaten or cooked. Yep, I had quite a few of those.

Take cherry tomatoes, for instance. I bought them last week at a local farmer’s market; a tiny, but heaped-up basket full – and down to about 10 or so today, they were looking a little wan. I also had an uncut  green pepper who needed attention as well, so I chopped those guys, along with some elephant garlic, and started a tasty sofrito that will be used in some black beans and rice. Sofrito – the homemade kind -adds a wonderful flavor to Caribbean dishes. Skip over the jarred stuff and make our own – trust me. It smells awesome while it’s cooking.

Last week’s leek greens and kale stems had been saved, along with some mushroom stems and onion bits. I’m of the mindset that you pay (sometimes dearly) for produce; you should get every bit out of it that you can. I save things like stems and inedible parts to make pure vegetable stock.  Kale makes amazing stock. I let my bits boil away for two hours, and the result is a hearty stock that forms the base for many soups, such as this shell pasta/veggie soup I made today as  well. Yum. Good comfort food for a lazy day off!