CHEF DEZ ON COOKING
Check your pantry right now. I can almost guarantee that you have store-bought taco seasoning and seasoning salt in there. Why not make them yourself instead? With these two recipes (also found in my latest cookbook Cooking Around the World with Chef Dez), you can. These are so simple: just measuring and mixing, so a great opportunity to get kids involved too. And unlike store-bought varieties, you can control the amount of salt, if that’s of importance to you.
You will find that I recommend “smoked” paprika in both recipes, rather than just paprika. Smoked paprika will offer all your recipes a more complex and exciting flavour versus the non-smoked counterpart. When buying smoked paprika, you will generally come across two options: mild or hot. The mild one will be labelled as “sweet smoked” or just “smoked”, whereas the spicy one should say “hot smoked”.
Taco Seasoning
“Why buy store-bought, when you can make it yourself? Taco Tuesday will never be the same again!”
2 tablespoons chili powder
5 teaspoons smoked paprika
4.5 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons onion powder
2.5 teaspoons garlic powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- Mix all ingredients together and store indefinitely.
Seasoning Salt
“Never buy store bought seasoning salt again – make your own!”
1/2 cup salt
3 tablespoons coarse grind pepper
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- Mix all ingredients together and store indefinitely.
