Spicing Up Your Meals

Both salting and brining are great ways to season meat deeply and thoroughly. Brining involves submerging protein in a saltwater solution for a period of time, and while it has the advantage when it comes to super juicy meat, it requires a big container and a lot of fridge space (especially for something like a turkey) and can impede poultry skin browning and crisping. Salting is just what it sounds like: liberally sprinkling protein with salt and either letting it sit at room temperature for a few hours or refrigerating it for a longer period. It’s better for browning, and our go-to for steaks. Whichever method you choose, be sure to pat your protein dry before cooking.

White peppercorns are fully ripe black peppercorns— the black outer husk is removed and the berries are dried. They lose much of their heat in this process but have a sharpness and a pronounced citrus flavor. Pink peppercorns are actually not peppercorns at all but berries from a tropical evergreen; they have a savory heat but a light, fruity flavor. Green peppercorns are simply unripe black peppercorns and are usually soft, sold packed in brine or vinegar. While we love making use of the whole rainbow of peppercorns, none are a direct swap for black; try a medley of black, white, and pink for finishing dishes.

The two really aren't comparable! When you buy store bought spice rubs you have no idea how long ago the spices were packed, let alone ground, and they often taste dusty and stale. In addition commercial rubs are loaded with salt, making it difficult to control the seasoning in your dishes. Homemade spice rubs are best made fresh in small batches from freshly-ground spices for the most vibrant flavor, and we omit the salt, choosing instead to season the food itself so we can add as much rub as we want without affecting the sodium. The result is boldly flavored, perfectly seasoned food.

Good question! We talk about both steeping and infusing in this class, but in general infusing simply means you’re imparting the flavor of one ingredient—in this case a spice—into another ingredient. There are lots of different ways of making infusions, and steeping is one of them. Steeping means soaking an ingredient in a liquid of choice (we steep in oil, vinegar, or water) for a certain amount of time to extract its soluble flavors. Often this involves heat—at some level below the boiling point—since steeping benefits from slow extraction. Flavor molecules dissolve to a greater extent in a warm solvent (such as fat or oil) than a cold one. Heat coaxes flavor out of spices and allows their complexity to blossom.