In This Installment:
Garam Masala Spice Blend via California
Broadbent’s Sweet & Tangy Mustard from Kentucky
Garam Masala Spice Blend via California
If you are a fan of Indian cuisine, you’ve certainly come across Garam Masala in your flavor excursions. There’s versions of garam masala in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Caribbean—it’s like so many signature dishes like gumbo where all sorts of different places around the world make it, but they make it slightly different from one another. Yeah, it’s one of those spice blends that people argue over and about and frankly, that’s just fine with me; whatever gets folks talking and passionate about food is all I care about. I don’t give a fig who’s correct (usually), just that they’re talking.
This is also an appropriate time of year to be using garam masala because it goes so well with grilled foods and dishes. It loosely translates to ‘warm spices’ and since they’re made from a blend of spices like peppercorns, cinnamon, fennel, coriander, cumin (just to name a few) it’s easy to see where it gets its name from. This version in particular comes to us from Pondicherry Dry Goods located in Los Angeles, California. They’re a women-owned business that sources the best tasting spices they can find for their garam masala and roast them here in the states before grinding and mixing into the masala we have here. And when it comes to spices, the best way to get the most flavorful out of them is to keep them “whole” until you’re just about ready to use them and then to grind them to order, and that’s exactly what they do at Podicherry Dry Goods.
Try this easy to follow recipe for lettuce wraps. Sometimes I use ground turkey instead of ground beef if that’s your thing.
Recipe – Indian-Spiced Beefy Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup mango chutney
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 package (12.70 ounces) Asian crunch salad mix
1/4 cup canned coconut milk
12 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
1 medium mango, peeled and sliced
Directions:
1. In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender, 6-8 minutes, breaking beef into crumbles; drain. Stir in chutney, soy sauce and garam masala; heat through. Add salad mix (reserve packets); cook and stir until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes.
2. Combine coconut milk and reserved dressing packet until smooth. Spoon beef mixture into lettuce leaves; sprinkle with contents from reserved toppings packet. Drizzle with coconut milk mixture and top with mango.
Serve next to a bed of jasmine rice and enjoy.
Sweet & Tangy Mustard from Broadbent in Kentucky
We’ve been buying country cured hams, bacon, and sausage from Broadbent’s down in Cadiz, Kentucky for so long, they’re onto the third owner we’ve known in the decades since we first bought their cured meats. And in all those years this is the first time we’ve offered their Sweet & Tangy mustard, but since these folks know what the heck they’re doing with ham, they’ve designed this mustard to be the perfect accompaniment.
Located in Cadiz, KY (pronounced “Katie’s”) Broadbent began at the turn of the 20th century and at one time as what they call “vertically integrated” meaning they did all the work from raising the pigs to slaughtering to curing and packaging them. Heck, they even had a pretty big mail order business since the 1960s. Eventually, the third generation of Broadbents was ready to move on and they sold the business to Ruth and Ronnie Drennan. They’ve been running the company since the late 1990s and now they’ve found a new partner to continue the traditions (and flavor): Chef Joshua Poling. I’m here to tell you: so far so good. As a matter of fact, the mustard is something new that we haven’t carried before so I’m interested to see what else comes from the new ideas and fresh blood working at Broadbent! As long as the hams stay delicious, everything will work out fine.
In addition to being great on sandwiches, I think this mustard makes a great vinaigrette, too. Mix 3 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar and 1 part Sweet & Tangy Mustard. Mix really well and serve!