Tired of the same old, same old? Find yourself eating the same things, week after week? Spice up the boring! All it takes is a little taste test to find your favorite or to try something new.
Ginger knows how to spice up the boring! She steamed shrimp in J.O.’s BBQ Spice. It was so delicious that she added it to her salad for lunch ~ topped salad greens with BBQ spiced shrimp, feta, and honey mustard pretzel bits and balsamic dressing.
We are well known for our seafood seasonings but did you know we have all kinds of specialty spices? BBQ, Caribbean Jerk, Rib&Chicken, Rotisserie, and more all online and under the specialty tab! Unsure of how to use a spice? We are here to help! We all love certain spices and we all love to spice up the boring.
Do you have a favorite? Ginger loves the Rotisserie & the BBQ, Kathleen loves the Rib & Chicken, I love the Caribbean Jerk & Blackened and my brother in law loves the Cajun! Between all of us, we’re not only spicing up the boring, we’re spicing up the world!
What about a favorite recipe you’d care to share? Leave a comment below or on Facebook!
Spice up the boring!
🙂 Pamela
So when people walk into the retail store, they ask about shrimp ~ “What is the best spice?” “I want something spicy for my shrimp tacos/quesadilla but I don’t know what I want?” or “I want to be able to taste my shrimp in my pasta, what should I use to dress my shrimp?” ~ We always suggest J.O. #1 All Purpose Seafood Seasoning as that is the absolute best. However, there are a few other spices that put a different twist on shrimp, and depending on the accoutrements you will dress your shrimp around (Mexican veggies, pepper/onion sauteed mixture, noodles, rice or couscous, etc), J.O. Blackened, J.O. Cajun or even J.O. 50% Less will give you that extra “bada-bing” that you want.
Dressing your shrimp in a different spice other than the traditional seafood seasoning sometimes scares people. They aren’t sure if they will like it or what else they could do with the spice. Popular restaurants are using the same spices we sell and the trick is to get it to your taste/liking and not to be afraid to experiment. J.O. Blackened can also be used on chicken, fish, eggs, tuna fish or chicken salad for a different take. J.O. Cajun is also great on pasta, rice, in cream sauces, deviled eggs and on catfish. Just like both seasonings do for shrimp, a spicy flavor enhances the specific food and brings out its distinct best!
Here’s a fine example of how dressing your shrimp using J.O. Blackened can bring out the best taste! Ginger made a Blackened steamed shrimp w/Mexican rice and veggies meal and she commented on Facebook:
“What we put in our recipe could be completely different from you and that’s the best part: make it to your taste and to your liking! We steamed shrimp in J.O.’s Blackened Seasoning. It’s DELICIOUS and spicy if you use too much so be careful while sprinkling it on. We then steamed some rice and then we made a Mexican salsa dicing up avocados, cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, cilantro, tri-colored peppers, scallions, fresh lime juice, cucumbers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sea salt! DELICIOUS and healthy.”
Stepping outside your comfort zone of tried and true recipes is new and exciting. The best part about not working with a recipe is that it’s to your taste, to your liking and the more you do it, the better you become at perfecting just the right recipe…and then you write it down!
Blackened steamed shrimp is just the beginning. Why not try steaming shrimp in lemony seafood? J.O. #1 50% Less Salt? Just modifying one spice can make all the difference to your taste buds.
Try something new tonight! Y’know, it’s just dinner.
Enjoy more of Ginger’s recipe posts on Facebook…Like Us today and don’t forget to share pictures of using J.O. Spice in your meals! We love pictures and we love our fans! Thank you!
🙂 Pamela
The smell of cinnamon evokes the scent of fall…apple pie or cobbler baking in the oven, hot toddies, hot cider simmering on the stove with lots of cinnamon sticks and cinnamon inside your slow-cooker chili! Don’t forget there’s also snickerdoodles baking, gingerbread and cinnamon spiced cake straight from the oven! Got whipped cream?
Here at J.O. we have the wonderful Apple Pie Spice and Pumpkin Pie Spice. These spice blends have the right combination of cinnamon and other spices that you can use for so many recipes, not just pie! Cookies, pound cake, ice cream, cider and coffee drinks, add some to whipped cream, sprinkle some on top of your chili, your butternut squash soup, your hearty lamb stew or any stew that has the flavors of curry or cumin, coriander, chili or fall!
Even if you just have a pork or chicken to roast in the slow cooker, adding onion, peppers, 1 can of diced tomatoes, J.O. Garlic Pepper, J.O. Cumin/J.O. Cinnamon and/or Cinnamon Sticks to the mix, and cook on low for about 6 hours ~ the smell of cinnamon in the air makes coming home on that first fall day feel like a cozy hug! It’s the first day when you are attacked by the cold after just wearing shorts and you’re like, “Whoa. Where did fall come from?” You just need a hug of cinnamony warm goodness after that!
Then when you are ready, make some snickerdoodles -have you ever tried it with the J.O. Apple Pie Spice or the J.O. Pumpkin Pie Spice? That adds a nice and different zing to the cookies and makes the hot apple cider, and/or hot toddies a welcome treat! Don’t forget to sprinkle the whipped cream with some added spice!
How do you enjoy a cold, fall day? What does the smell of cinnamon in the air evoke in your memories?
Happy Spicy Memories,
🙂 Pamela
So you think you know what’s on your crabs? Isn’t it funny how a spice can just add so much to a meal? I’m not sure people even realize the difference a sprinkle of spice makes…I just love to cook so I forget that some people don’t like to experiment with spices and flavors and the combinations that can make the difference between an okay meal to a fabulous meal. It can get overwhelming if you have no idea what coriander or celery seed or marjoram or crushed red pepper can do – even what J.O. #1 or J.O. #2 can do!
Someone just told me that she learned all about celery seed when she ate her neighbor’s potato salad. She never knew that was what made the difference and why she preferred her neighbor’s to her own! Another person said she could never get her mom’s noodle burger casserole just right until she learned that it was oregano, rosemary and marjoram – the spice that alluded her! What is the spice you love and didn’t know? I didn’t know I could make chili better with cumin, coriander, and cinnamon!
A lot of people think they are eating a certain brand on their crabs and go to the store, buy it and yet can’t get the combination just right when they steam…it’s because the spice is J.O.! Most crab restaurants use J.O. #2 when steaming or preparing crabs. There is a difference. You can taste it and you can see it! Do you know how to tell the difference?
Become a fan of J.O. on Facebook. Let us know how you know what you are eating on your crabs and spread the word!
We love J.O. Crabby Fans,
🙂 Pamela
It’s nice and cool so what better way to spend a lazy Sunday than with a Smoked Pork Tenderloin roasting in the oven while you settle into a good book, your favorite marathon on television or a 1500 piece puzzle?!
All you need is some spice – what’s your favorite J.O. Specialty Blend? We have used the J.O. Rib and Chicken on many occasions around here….try it on a pork tenderloin for the perfect smoked pork tenderloin! Just get a 1-2 LB tenderloin, rub the spice all over the meat, and let set for 20 minutes while the oven heats to 375 degrees. Roast the loin for about 45 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 140 degrees (covered). Remove from oven and keep covered, let stand for about 15 minutes.
Make some oven browned potatoes while you have the oven on – if you don’t like peeling, use red potatoes or the white new potatoes and cut them into chunks – sprinkle with J.O. Rotisserie Seasoning or J.O. Garlic Pepper and J.O. Rosemary or J.O. Caribbean Jerk Seasoning…either add some butter or some oil and roast alongside the pork until tender. If you leave uncovered, they will brown up nice and yummy. If you cover them, they will create their own steam and cook a bit faster but if you want the appealing brown and yummy look, uncover the last 20 minutes! Add some green beans and you have the best Sunday Smoked Pork Tenderloin Dinner in the family!
How do you Spice up your Sunday Dinners?
Have a great dinner idea? Let us know – jospiceginger@yahoo.com…we love to hear how you spice up your life!
Enjoy,
🙂 Pamela
With Fall on the weather map and the holidays not too far away, spice baskets and bundles are becoming a hot item again! And fall always brings great slow cooker spiced recipes!
I have to try this new recipe in the slow cooker. It’s a 5 spice powder meatball concoction! I don’t have any 5 spice powder but I looked it up and thought it wouldn’t be too hard to try to concoct –
I do have 1 tsp. J.O. Spice Cinnamon, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice ground cloves, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice Fennel Seed*, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice star anise*, and 1 tsp. ground Szechwan pepper which are the ingredients for Chinese 5 spice powder. I have read that when you don’t have Szechwan pepper, just use regular black pepper or the 5 peppercorns blends…J.O. does sell both green and pink peppercorns, too, FYI. Some people also substitute allspice for the anise…I think it’s all in what you have, what you want to taste and your tastebuds. Either way, give your tastebuds a party!
*You will need to toast and then grind both of these. Place some seeds on a baking sheet or saute pan, let heat until you can smell the seeds, then either grind in a mortar and pestle or in your blender. Star Anise is hard to grind down manually but it can be done. It’s worth all the hard work for the flavor!
After you have prepared the J.O. Fennel Seed and the J.O. Star Anise, combine them with the other 3 spices -blend them together in the blender or mortar and pestle.
(Store the remaining spice in an air tight container. Some more 5 spice powder recipe ideas:
- Sprinkle over fish fillets, add brown sugar and soy sauce
- Use on top of chicken, bake with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar
- Sprinkle over vegetables in your stir fry
I think you’ll find that a little bit of work amounts to huge TASTE payoffs!)
5 Spice Powder Meatball Concoction a’ la J.O. Style!
Make your meatballs:
- 1 1/2 pounds ground meatloaf mix (beef, pork and veal)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 scallions, sliced, plus more for garnish
- 2 tsp. J.O. Spice ginger
- 1 teaspoon J.O. onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (just a side note, this can be bought in the store but they say it’s fresher to do yourself.)
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
Make these meatballs big -about a 1/3 cup each.
Combine these ingredients:
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
Pour into the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the meatballs. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 (make sure to check the meatball temp before eating~160 degrees).
It’s just a small way to fall back in love with slow cooker recipes. This recipe might seem like a lot of work…but you can cheat by buying the pre-made 5 spice powder or you can experiment as there are so many spices that can make a great meal.
What are you cooking this weekend in your slow cooker?
🙂 Pamela
Fall is back! Fall back in love with your slow cooker and the great SPICED recipes that come from slow cooking! It’s amazing what you can do with spice, y’know? Have you tried? What are your most amazing recipes that you would never have done if it were not for a specific spice?
I would not have fallen back in love with chicken salad had I never tried the Rotisserie Chicken Spice Seasoning from J.O. It really adds a great flavor to chicken and even potatoes if you love to bake up a potato! Easy experiments like adding chicken/beef broth/beer/sherry or white wine to your meat and spicing it up with Caribbean Jerk Seasoning, Cajun, Venison/Steak Seasoning, or J.O. Garlic Pepper and J.O. Chili Powder and just letting the meat slow cook for hours…it’s amazing the meals you can come up with!
On one of my many experiments, all I did was cook 5 chicken breasts inside my slow cooker, adding a 32 oz. can of chicken broth and 2 cans of beer (don’t forget, this adds gluten), sprinkled with J.O. Garlic Pepper…let that cook for 8 hours. Then I split the breasts up and made quite a few meals:
1. BBQ pulled chicken using J.O. BBQ spice and a prepared can of BBQ sauce
2. Chili using 3 cans of tomatoes with the chili’s and J.O. XHot chili powder, J.O. Cumin and white beans
3. Chicken Cacciatore adding J.O. Chopped Onions, J.O. Italian Seasoning, J.O. Minced Garlic, with 3 cans of stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and utilizing the chicken broth from the pan
4. Chicken tacos using taco seasoning, 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes and frozen corn
I took a Sunday, let the slow cooker do the work and had easy meals for the week! I freeze what we don’t eat and save it for the next week or so. EASY!
Fall back in love with slow cooking! What are you going to spice your food up with?
🙂 Pamela
All photos courtesy of Astro Pigs BBQ – BBQ that’s outta this world! Check them out! They have great spice blends too! 🙂 www.astropigs.com
Do you love restaurant-style ribs – y’know, the lip-smackin’, finger-lickin’ soooo good they fall off the bone kind? You can make ribs like that at home ~ the secret’s in the spice rub! J.O. has so many varieties of specialty spices that any of them could be used as spice rubs. Whether you are using chicken thighs or breasts, pork or beef spareribs, you can choose to go sweet, savory, spicy or a combination of all ~ it just depends on the SPICE.
Spice rubs give more intense flavor than a sauce. A BBQ sauce is great added at the end of the cooking process or as a dipping side. All you do is choose your meat, then put some spices together and literally, rub on your meat and let it sit overnight (preferably) or at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Most rubs include salt which helps to break down the tendons and get the meat ready to become the most tender, most juicy, succulent, lip smackin’, finger-lickin’ goodness you’ve come to expect from a great rib dinner!
A great spice rub to try is the J.O. Rib ‘n Chicken or the J.O. Lumberjack. The J.O. Rib ‘n Chicken is more popular because of its versatility in that it works on chicken, pork, beef, ribs, potatoes and more but the J.O. Lumberjack is still a fun rub to use on meat! It has a great smoky flavor. Another popular favorite, especially with all the employees here at J.O. Spice, is the J.O. Beef & Poultry Rub! That has a great combination of salt & sweet that works on just about any meat. It was first developed as an addition to the Venison product line but once you try it on pork chops, chicken wings and ribs, you won’t be going back to anything else.
Do you like a little sweet with your meat? Adding granulated sugar to your spice rub gives you that caramelized finger-lickin’, lip-smackin’ taste that you get at all the BBQ establishments. If you are more the spicy aficionado, try coating your wings, ribs or beef in a dose of hot sauce then spice rub your meat and let marinate for a few hours or overnight. The hot sauce gives your spices something to adhere to but just coat it enough to let it soak into the meat (maybe pat down with a towel) making sure it’s not dripping or soaking the meat. Let the spices do their work to the meat not drip off!
Experiment on your own. J.O. has great seasoning blends that make spice rubs so easy but J.O. also has a wide range of spices that you can buy and combine to get your own taste. J.O. Rosemary is a great spice to combine with J.O. Sea Salt and J.O. Cracked Black Pepper. Sometimes simple is the best way to go! J.O. Garlic Pepper, J.O. Sage and J.O. Cayenne Pepper works together beautifully and then there is the “Peruvian-style” where you combine J.O. Cumin, J.O. Oregano, J.O. Paprika, J.O. Black Pepper, J.O. Sea Salt and 2 tsp of sugar…heaven!
Never underestimate the power of Garlic Crab or Black Crab…that will have the amount of salt you need for the rub and give you a flavor that is the absolute best on chicken wings! Keep in mind that there is a lot of salt in those products because they are designed to be used in steaming crabs but if you love the taste, & have some leftover from your summer crab feasts, don’t be afraid to experiment on your football chicken wing tailgates (I mean you’re drinking beer…like you do when you eat crabs…just saying!)
Who ever thought rubbing meat would become so popular? Grillmasters like those at Astro Pigs already know the secret – it’s time you got in the know as well! It’s all about the spice rub for lip smackin’, finger lickin’ restaurant style ribs!
Have fun rubbing meat,
🙂 Pamela
Too much garden zucchini? J.O. has great recipe ideas! They take no time at all and very few ingredients that most likely you have in the pantry! Pasta sauce, J.O. Italian seasoning, ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, onions, fresh tomatoes are just a few of the ingredients that you might need…it’s all up to what you want to create!
The biggest complaint I hear about zucchini is that there is always too much! (“I just planted one plant, why do I have so much!?!”) Zucchini is a great, meaty-type vegetable that can take the place of ground beef. I have used it in lasagna, sandwiches and as a main dish and tricked a few people who claimed they don’t eat green ~yes, zucchini is THAT good! Grill it, saute or bake it and always add spice; the great thing about zucchini is that it does not have an overpowering flavor so you can add a variety of spices and always change it up! J.O. Italian Seasoning, J.O. Garlic Pepper, J.O. Rotisserie, J.O. Lemon Pepper, J.O. Oregano, J.O. Basil and if you want it spicy, do J.O. Cajun, or J.O. XHot #1. If you want to, fry it up using J.O. Golden Batter or J.O. Seasoned Southern Fish Fry. (It’s not just for fish! It’s the spicy batter that makes anything delicious!)
Too much zucchini is a great thing! Clean and cut the zucchini in half and then in half again (kind of like making zucchini boats). Then add whatever you would like…make it a Zucchini Parmesan (Think Eggplant or Chicken Parmesan and substitute with zucchini, then add the sauce, the cheese and bake.) There are pizza ideas where you add onion, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, basil, tomatoes, J.O. Italian seasoning, J.O. Oregano. Substitute it in your lasagna recipes or use it as an additional layer to reduce calories, and add veggies to your diet.
There are a zillion sandwich ideas where you can fry it up in some J.O. Golden Batter or J.O. Seasoned Southern Fish Fry and add to a bun with lettuce, tomato and horseradish mayonnaise; broil the zucchini in a little olive oil and garlic to get it tender to a fork-touch and put in your veggie panini sandwich (this is mine, picture on the right above); or grill up zucchini, portabella mushrooms (keep ’em whole!), onions (thick sliced for the grill) and either add on top of a turkey burger, grilled mahi-mahi burger or hamburger, or stack all the veggies up, add a slice of mozzarella, fresh basil, drizzle with pesto and voila, dinner is served.
This is from Ginger: stuffed with fresh tomatoes, ground beef, fresh basil, fresh garlic, and J.O.’s Italian seasoning topped with Parmesan cheese (the picture above on the left).
Don’t forget – stuffed with an artichoke-spinach dip or shrimp – sprinkled with J.O. #1 – very delightful! The zucchini ideas are endless. Don’t knock it because it’s a green veggie – once you try it, you will want to eat the entire dish! Trust us!
Happy Zucchini Dinner Days of July,
🙂 Pamela
Family Circle July 2014 Magazine has these great recipe ideas…how do you cook with J.O. Spice?
Deviled Crab Dip
Makes: 24 servings Yield: servings Prep 15 mins Bake 375°F 30 mins Broil 2 mins
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 24
- Amount Per Serving
- cal.(kcal)96
- Fat, total(g)5
- chol.(mg)43
- sat. fat(g)1
- carb.(g)6
- fiber(g)0
- pro.(g)6
- sodium(mg)282
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Ingredients
- 1 cup light mayonnaise
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (such as J.O. Spice Company)
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 pound crab claw meet
- 1 sweet red pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp plain bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees . In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, eggs, lemon juice, milk, seafood seasoning and dry mustard. Carefully fold in crab, red pepper, onion, celery and 1 cup of the bread crumbs.
2. Transfer mixture to a shallow 11/2-quart oven-safe baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp bread crumbs on top and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Broil on HIGH for 2 minutes or until browned. Serve with crackers.
Low-Country Shrimp Boil
Makes: 8 servings Yield: servings Prep 5 mins Cook 17 mins
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 8
- Amount Per Serving
- cal.(kcal)520
- Fat, total(g)20
- chol.(mg)297
- sat. fat(g)6
- carb.(g)39
- fiber(g)4
- pro.(g)47
- sodium(mg)1120
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Ingredients
- 3 pounds small red potatoes
- 1 1/2 pounds kielbasa, sliced into 2-inch pieces
- 4 corn, husk and silk removed, halved
- 1/4 cup seafood seasoning (such as J.O. Spice Company), plus more for sprinkling (optional)
- 3 pounds shrimp
Directions
- 1. Place potatoes and kielbasa in bottom of a large stockpot. Fill with 5 quarts cold water. Stir in seasoning, cover and bring to a boil; cook 5 minutes. Remove lid and carefully add corn; cook 10 minutes. Stir in shrimp and cook 2 minutes, until pink and just cooked. Drain. Sprinkle with more seasoning, if desired.
Let us know how you cook with J.O.! We love sharing recipes and pictures!
Happy Cooking,
🙂 Pamela
