Filed under: and Sauces
After I made pasta last week, I’ve been thinking about trying to make more of our food completely from scratch. My husband and I don’t really believe in New Years resolutions. If we want to change something, we think we just do it.
So in the spirit of a non-resolution, I’ve resolved to make more things from scratch 🙂
After all, homemade is usually healthier and tastes better. I think that is true with my blackening spice blend. I used lemon salt to cut down on the amount of sodium that is typical in store bought spice mixtures and then I could control the amount of each spice so that the blend was to our liking.
I just went into the pantry and grabbed all the spices I thought ought to be in a blackening blend and started playing with proportions of each until it was just the right amount of salt, flavor and heat.
Of course, this was just the blend that I thought would suit our tastes best, but feel free to add/subtract/change any of the spices 🙂
Blackening Spice Blend
Ingredients:
½ tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon salt*
3 tablespoons black pepper
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons cayenne
1 ½ tablespoon thyme
3 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons onion powder
Preparation:
Blend all of the ingredients and adjust for taste. Store in an airtight container.
*lemon salt is pretty easy to find here and usually sold by the kilo, but I had never seen it before coming toBahrain. I’m sure it could be found at a specialty store like whole foods or maybe an ethnic market.
16 Comments so far
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Mom de Cuisine 
You’ve got the right idea. I must make my own dry spice blends too. I am lazy to make my own curry powders, taco mix etc… because it’s convenient to buy it at the store already mixed, but the sodium is high. 😦 I need to try this. I do make my own curry paste fresh… I can’t buy the jarred or canned curry paste because I get an odd flavor from it. weird… huh? Well kudos to you on your scratch making spice blend!! 🙂
Comment by Ramona January 11, 2012 @ 12:26 pmI think working from scratch is a brilliant non-resolution resolution! 🙂 The spices you’ve gathered here are fantastic and I just love the idea of a lemon infused sea salt…great idea Alyssa!
Comment by Kelly @ Inspired Edibles January 11, 2012 @ 12:59 pmThis blend sounds wonderful and the pictures are too cute. I also use a bit of sugar in my blend… I find that it helps whatever I’m blackening to caramelize!
Comment by comowater.com January 11, 2012 @ 1:38 pmI absolutely love these photos, Alyssa. Homemade spice blends are my favorite!
Comment by Cassie @ bake your day January 11, 2012 @ 3:37 pmAlyssa, your posts always delight me! Here is to making more food from scratch!
Comment by chandra@ the plaid and paisley kitchen January 11, 2012 @ 6:24 pmThis spice blend sounds wonderful… I will have to keep my eyes open for some lemon salt.
Comment by Susie January 11, 2012 @ 9:49 pmWhat a delicious spice blend! I bet this tastes WAY better than buying a bottle of the stuff….and your photos are stunning! Really well done! YUMMY!
Comment by Ann January 12, 2012 @ 3:08 amI too don’t like resolution. Just live every moment right 🙂
Comment by kankana January 12, 2012 @ 10:33 pmThis spice blend looks lovely and i always enjoy spice blend.
I need to make more homemade spice blends – good idea. Your pictures are gorgeous by the way!
Comment by Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts January 13, 2012 @ 2:59 amI have always wanted to try making my own spice blends and I love making blackened chicken and fish so this would be perfect!
Comment by Stephanie January 13, 2012 @ 5:06 amMaking your own dry spice blends is a great money saver and also much better than store bought. You chose a wonderful blend here, my favorite use for this type of spice is on red snapper. I am definitely keeping this recipe-thanks for sharing it.
Comment by Tina@flourtrader January 13, 2012 @ 12:15 pmI definitely think it’s a good idea to make things from scratch. It’s usually cheaper AND tastier! Good luck with your non-resolution 😉
Comment by The Smart Cookie Cook January 13, 2012 @ 5:12 pmI love homemade spice blend because each one has different way to season food, so it’s a lot of fun to try others. I bookmarked this and will give it a try! I can hopefully make nice meal like you do. =D
Comment by Nami | Just One Cookbook January 13, 2012 @ 7:12 pmVery cool mix! Love all of them and i am just imagining in what recipes I could include this hehe!
Comment by Sandra's Easy Cooking January 14, 2012 @ 6:54 amLove your photos!
[…] Blackening Spice Blend […]
Pingback by Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad « Mom de Cuisine January 14, 2012 @ 2:44 pmThis looks like a perfect lightened meal! I can definitely use one of those in my world 🙂 PS: I have a giveaway going on now that I think you might be in to!
Comment by Baking Serendipity January 15, 2012 @ 3:24 am