By Guest Cooking Columnist Charles Fortson, Jr.
The spice shelf at your supermarket presents an array of choices that be confusing at very least if not scary for cooks who want to make their meals flavorful, but not overpowered with spiciness.
In fact, adding flavor to meats and vegetables is relatively simple with a few basic seasonings and techniques. In the process, you will also make your meals healthier by making them come alive:
1. Flavorful meals, ironically, start before even adding spices by not overcooking them. Even the most flavorful spices cannot save soggy vegetables or overdone, nearly burnt, meats.
2. If you aren’t using heart-healthy olive oil for cooking, switch to it.
3. Use the right kind of salt and pepper. Replace black pepper with red cayenne pepper. It has good flavor, a higher heat level, but really isn’t hot. Any gravy can benefit from cayenne pepper. As a bonus, it’s heart-healthy. Replace table salt with sea salt with iodine or Celtic salt. Both are more flavorful, and heart-healthy as well.
4. Onions and garlic help anything you’re cooking -- both vegetables and meats -- and, again, makes what you’re eating healthier.
5. Cajun seasoning (there are lots of brands) helps all meats -- beef, pork and chicken.
6. For meats to absorb seasoning before cooking, marinate them in a liquid (juice, Jack Daniels, Italian dressing olive oil, milk, yogurt, etc.) and seasonings. Marinate beef overnight (24 hours) in a refrigerated bag; or use a marinade spread over seafood, 15 to 30 minutes; boneless chicken, 2 hours; pork loin, 4 hours; and lamb , 4 hours to 8 hours. I like to cook pork with Cajun seasoning, paprika and fresh garlic and onions (or garlic and onion powder) without marinating it.
7. Use chicken broth or bullion when boiling meats and vegetables, particularly for rice and soups.
8. With most soups, add cream of chicken or mushroom soup to make them more flavorful.
9. Season to taste. The top chefs season as they cook, taste testing and tweaking their dishes at least six times. Balance the seasoning so nothing is overpowering. Watch salt particularly. Salt lightly and add more with caution as seems to be necessary.
Incorporate these seasoning tips into your cooking, and your family will thank you!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Charles Fortson, Jr., is proprietor-chef at Uncle Ray’s across from Lake Lincoln State Park. He makes lunches and dinners to take out or for table service, while also operating a convenience store and bait shop at his Sunset Road location. Follow his cooking tips on Uncle Ray’s Facebook page or call 601-643-0174 to check on his daily specials.