Mexican Spice Blend

I love making tacos and burritos but don't much care for the seasoning mixes available grocery store. I like knowing what types of spices are going into my food so I can reproduce the flavors if necessary. Here, I offer you a Mexican spice blend based on the one found here. However, I altered the recipe and tripled the amount to make enough to almost fill my 8 oz (1 cup) glass spice jar.

Ingredients **

• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cumin (I used whole cumin)
  
• 3 Tbsp dried oregano
  
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 Tbsp garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients very well.
2. Spoon into jar or resealable container.

Comments
This mixture turned out pretty spicy. If you are looking for a more mellow flavor, I suggest cutting down on the crushed red pepper flakes as well as reducing the cayenne.

I tried this in a smashed black bean and cheese quesadilla, using about 1 Tbsp of the Mexican spice blend mixed into one half a can of black beans. It was very spicy, but not overbearing when matched with the mozzarella cheese. I suggest trying this in in your next batch of taco meat or even in the empanadas.


** If you are in a gluten-free home, be sure to check the label of each herb and spice you use to make this mixture to be sure that it is gluten-free. Here is a website with links to popular spice brands and their level of gluten use in their products.

Basic Pizza Dough

I consider pizza dough a staple - it can be used for pizza crust, yes, but also calzones, stromboli, and even non-Italian foods. This entry is for my basic pizza dough, which I make using a KitchenAid mixer. I've included a separate set of instructions for making this dough by hand.

You can make this the night before a meal that might require it, and put the entire bowl, saran wrap and all, in the fridge. It will rise slowly and be ready for you come dinner time the next day.

This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman's basic pizza dough recipe in How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (unbleached bread flour if you've got it)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• garlic powder and/or onion powder, if desired
  
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions by Hand

1. Combine half the flour, the yeast, salt, pepper, and any other flavorings you might like (such as a few shakes of garlic powder and/or onion powder).
2. Add water and olive oil. Stir with wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Add remaining flour a bit at a time. Begin kneading by hand on floured surface when dough gets too tough to work with spoon.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth.
5. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bowl and roll the dough in the oil to coat. Place dough in bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap.
   
6. Let dough rise in warm, draft-free area until dough doubles in size, about 1-2 hours.
   

Directions Using Stand Mixer

1. Attach the bread hook to your stand mixer.
2. To mixing bowl, add half the flour (about 1 1/2 cups), the instant yeast, salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you might like (such as a few shakes of garlic powder and/or onion powder). Stir to mix ingredients.
3. Add water and olive oil and mix at Speed 2 for 30-60 seconds.
   
4. Add half of the rest of the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour while on Speed 2. Once incorporated, add in the remaining flour. Let mix at Speed 2 for another 2 minutes or so. Add a little more flour if the mixture is still very sticky.
5. Once dough sticks to bread hook in one large mass (2 minutes or more total), stop mixing.
6. Remove dough from bowl, drizzle a little olive oil down the side and roll the dough in oil to coat.
   
7. Leave dough in bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap.
8. Let dough rise in draft-free area until it doubles in size, about 1-2 hours.

Comments
You can use all-purpose flour if you don't have bread flour; however, the bread flour makes it a little chewy, rather than the flaky and somewhat dry consistency that you might get from all-purpose flour. Bread flour also browns nicely while cooking, making it attractive as well as tasty. If you intend to make your own dough, I certainly recommend making the investment in buying a nice bread flour, such as King Arthur.