How can I take advantage of up nigella seeds or complete dried shiitake? I purchased each lately to make particular recipes (the nigella for an Indian-inspired dish and the mushrooms for a Chinese language one), however I don’t know what to pair them with in my easier on a regular basis cooking.
Audrey, Montreal, Canada
One factor I like to do with nigella seeds is to combine them with different seeds, spices and nuts that additionally want utilizing up. Pair nigella with white sesame seeds, chilli flakes, onion and garlic granules, and flaky sea salt to make what I name “every little thing seasoning”. I sprinkle that on leafy salads or toss some with cubed bread that’s destined to be salad croutons.
Nigella and nuts, in the meantime, make a fantastic snack – put some on a tray with complete cashews, brazils and/or pecans, toss with oil, honey and spices, then roast. It additionally works brilliantly when dry-roasted with flaked almonds (and perhaps a couple of sesame seeds and chilli flakes as effectively): retailer that in a jar, able to scatter over salads.
Nigella additionally seems sensible in opposition to a white backdrop, so strew some over thick yoghurt to serve with curry, say, or on fried eggs. Inexperienced is one other high color combo: suppose inexperienced leaves or avocado on toast. It additionally goes a good distance in all kinds of pastry, be that combined into the dough itself or sprinkled over oil- or butter-brushed filo, comparable to for boureka or spanakopita.
Shiitake are a bit extra in your face, however they’re an effective way so as to add flavour and depth to all kinds of shares and soups, or pop a pair into the combination when poaching rooster. Risottos additionally welcome dried shiitake, each as a flavouring for the liquid and as a characteristic of the completed dish. Lasagnes do likewise, whether or not you’re going all-out with a mushroom lasagne (by which case a broad mixture of mushrooms works finest) or so as to add oomph to a meat or vegetable lasagne. Come to consider it, many hearty dishes received’t shake their heads at a shiitake or two.
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