I have a massive headache/neckache that starts at my eyebrows and ends at my shoulders. Advil, caffeine, decongestants, and food have not helped. In fact, it's worse. I never used to get headaches. Maybe it's tension. Maybe it's the rainy weather. Maybe it's how my period is going to manifest now that I have the Mirena. If I take a Valium or Tylenol, I'll be asleep and I don't want to sleep all day. If I don't, I won't get anything done. I probably won't anyway. Damn.
I just took a medicinal shot of brandy. Let's see what happens.
What would be good spices to add to it?
Cumin. Cayenne.
I was thinking cumin! Cayenne didn't occur to me, though. See -- this is what I mean when I say I'm spice-ignorant.
The overall taste of the whole thing is savory, but...bland. What would be good spices to add to it?
Cumin! That's what makes beans taste more like chili.
Also, I do a mix of what I think of as a Morrocan blend: cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cayenne.
Other things which add flavor: several cloves of finely minced garlic, liberal splashings of Worcestshire sauce.
Green chilies would be good.
you also might want to try a little oregano and/or thyme.
I really like thyme so I add it to a bunch of stuff.
I always say cumin. And green chilis would be delicious. Sriracha?
Other things which add flavor: several cloves of finely minced garlic,
I do add garlic (sometimes only garlic powder if the real garlic has disappeared -- I swear the dog eats it when we're at work, because we go through a head of garlic way too quickly), but it didn't get the stew all the way to where I wanted it.
liberal splashings of Worcestshire sauce.
I do love Worcestershire sauce. It makes my shepherd's pie SO GOOD.
I need to just buy the Flavor Bible, which is essentially a glorified list of All The Foods, along with what flavors/foods complement them. For someone like me, who likes to cook but hasn't developed any knowledge/instinct of what flavors/foods pair well together, it's *brilliant.*
I always say cumin. And green chilis would be delicious. Sriracha?
Heh. Here's my problem: I am a spicy (hot-spice, that is) food wimp. For things like chili, I cook the batch so that it's spiced to what I can tolerate, and then Tim adds Flaming Anus hot sauce (NOTE: not a real hot sauce, as far as I know) to his serving.
So he would have to add Siracha (which I always think of as "rooster sauce," thanks to the rooster on the bottle) to his own serving.
The Flavor Bible is AWESOME. Buy it. Well worth it.
