Cooking Spices for Meat
Dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, lactose free, nut free, peanut free, soy free, keto, low carb, paleo, vegan, vegetarian.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60-90 min
Total time: 1 hr 10 min - 1 hr 40 min
Resulting amount: about 1/8 cup
(enough for, e.g., 12 chicken thighs)
One year my parents came to visit me in Chicago and my mother Novella brought me a jar of spices. She called it Bonini’s spices, Bonini being the owner of a store in my mom’s town, Casina. Since then, those spices have become part of my luggage back from Italy. I started running low in Bonini’s spices during Covid’s lockdown, so I decided to try making something similar inspired by this Italian recipe. Be aware though, Bonini’s spices are still THE VERY BEST. For reference, when used to make Novella’s Chicken this recipe yields enough for about 12 chicken thighs. I normally prepare up to 10 times the amount here and store them in the fridge in a jar for months.
Ingredients
Fresh thyme, 4.5 g of leaves (¼ cup, 4 tbsp)
Fresh sage, 10 leaves
Fresh rosemary, 4.5 g of leaves (¼ cup, 4 tbsp)
Garlic powder, 3.3 g (1 tsp)
Fresh marjoram, 3.5 g of leaves (2 tbsp)
Fresh oregano, 4.5 g of leaves (¼ cup, 4 tbsp)
Salt, ½ of the weight of all other spices together (e.g. for 20 g of spices, add 10 g of salt)
Tools you might be missing:
Food processor (or mortar and pestle)
Instructions
1. Wash the herbs and dry them with a paper towel.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the spices on it.
3. Dry the spices in the oven at 200 F for 60-90 minutes, leaving the door of the oven slightly open. Check on them and mix them every 20 minutes or so, to prevent them from burning.
4. Once dried out, let them cool completely.
5. Grind the spices with a food processor or a mortar and pestle.
6. Enjoy the aroma.
7. Put them in a jar and store them in the fridge.
Try these spices with Novella’s chicken
Storing
You can store them in a jar in the fridge.