These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Ras el Hanout
I posted a recipe for Ras el Hanout a few weeks ago, but I’ve been using it so often in the kitchen lately, I felt it deserved its own post.
Ras el Hanout is a spice blend from the Middle East and North Africa. Spice market vendors all claim their version to be the best, and some people consider the seductive blend of spices to be an aphrodisiac. At the very least, any food in which you include Ras el Hanout will inspire diners to kiss the cook, so you’ve got that goin’ for you.
Basic Ras el Hanout
Ingredients:
2 (level) teaspoons salt
2 (heaping) teaspoons cumin
2 (level) teaspoons ginger
2 (conservative) teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 (slightly rounded) teaspoon nutmeg
optional: 1 teaspoon saffron threads (I still don’t have saffron.)
Directions:
Blend all spices together in a bowl and store in an air-tight container. For vegetables and meats, add 1-2 teaspoons per pound.
I’ve been following this recipe for weeks (my modifications are in parentheses), mixing into wilted greens, coating pork chops before grilling, and stirring into cauliflower fouscous. Today, I found this link, and I’m curious to try a blend made with more than 30 spices!
I think it would also be fun to truly make it from scratch and start with whole spices. If you’ve never toasted then ground whole spices, you really need to treat yourself and try it. (And while we’re talking about spices, you know I have a massive crush on Penzeys Spices, but I’m feeling a certain flirtatiousness with Zamouri Spices today. I’m thinking a little fling might be in order.)
I’m excited to once again join the punk rock foodies on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.
Tags: dino-chow, favorite things, moroccan, paleo
19 Responses to “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Ras el Hanout”
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YUM…I will definitely be mixing up a batch! I wonder what the saffron would add, as far as flavor…I don't have any in my kitchen at the moment either. I bet this mix would be good on some yam fries. Thanks for the inspiration!
I think you're right: it would be wicked tasty on yam fries! Mmmm… with a dipping sauce made of a little mango chutney mixed with homemade mayo!
Killin me! Sounds awesome
I'm trying it this week! I have some Mango Chutney we got on our last trip to Maui…I've been waiting for an excuse to bust it out! I'll let you know how it all goes down…
I made it and I LOVE IT!!!
I made carrot soup and upped the flavor of my sweet potato gratin…so far. Look out Bobby Flay…you may just be my new spice guru! Keep 'em coming!
Get down with your bad selt, Jen! Glad you like the Ras el Hanout. I'm SO tempted to find a traditional recipe with, like, 30 spices and try to make it from total scratch.
Hi…
I’ve bought Ras el hanout in Provence and in Morocco, as well as here in the USA.I also have an original recipe with 27 or so ingredients from long ago if you’d like it.
Lorraine
Ooooh! I would love to see the recipe, if you wouldn’t mind sharing. How fun!
Wow, my girlfriend actually had everything on this list just sitting all lonely in her cabinet! We're going to enjoy it on Kale today!
Awesome! Hope you like it! It's definitely become one of my favorites for adding zip to just about everything.
What sort of salt?
I tend to use a coarse-ground sea salt. Would that work so far as texture is concerned?
Great question! I think you’ll be happier with the result if you use finely-ground sea salt. You want a really uniform mixture, and I suspect the larger salt crystals won’t be as evenly distribute throughout the blend as fine salt would be.
[...] time is make the mixture of Ras el Hanout, a Middle Eastern/North African spice blend. I followed Melissa’s recipe from her amazing blog, and it turns out, I had all the spices on hand anyway! The Ras el Hanout [...]
[...] and flavors. However, she does it just right. Whether it is a dash of an exotic spice mix like Ras El Hanout, or a simple blend of ingredients like pears, bacon and paprika that tickle the tongue with [...]
I just stewed some chicken thighs with a lot Ras El Hanout, coconut milk, sweet onions, red peppers, mushrooms, crushed red pepper, garlic, sriracha and bamboo shoots over some short grain brown rice with fish sauce.
Wowsers, that is some tasty stuff. I wish my girl was here to have a bowl, she’d love it.
That meal sounds amazing! Way to work the kitchen magic. And yes, ras el hanout is like magic powder.
That sounds really good
I’m proud of your. U are being successful at something you love! And you quit your day job
[...] more. We’re also going to try it with a mixture of different spices (the ras al hanout from Well Fed tops the list). This is one of those side dishes you can tweak to your hearts content, a home-cooked [...]
[...] Velvety Butternut Squash from Well Fed. I upped the Ras el Hanout to 1 T and nixed the pecans. Ras el Hanout is a blend of Middle Eastern spices that varies depending on each person who mixes it. It’s [...]
needs cardamom and a touch of turmeric!
“Well Fed” has entirely changed the way I cook! It is SO much easier to eat paleo all week now when I put in a little effort on the weekend to stock up and pre-cook ingredients. I totally love Ras el Hanout – I mostly use it to spice up my ground beef hot plates and as a rub on flank steak and other beef cuts.
Thanks for letting me know you’re enjoying Well Fed. So glad it’s helping you. YAY!
And yes, Ras el Hanout should be called “magic powder.”
[...] tablespoons ras el hanout spice blend (Click link for [...]
[...] of my new favorite spice blends in the kitchen: Ras el Hanout. Do yourself a favor and make this now. It makes everything so much tastier (except maybe oatmeal). While you’re perusing that [...]
[...] of my new favorite spice blends in the kitchen: Ras el Hanout. Do yourself a favor and make this now. It makes everything so much tastier (except maybe oatmeal). While you’re perusing that recipe, [...]