December’s Raw Spice Bar

For my birthday this past year, my dear friend surprised me with a 6-month subscription to Raw Spice Bar. Raw Spice Bar is a spice kit delivery subscription service. Just like a subscription to a magazine or some other pastime, Raw Spice Bar delivers ethnic spice blends to your home every month for a given period of time. A food-lover’s dream come true! I love foodie gifts that keep on giving. One year, my parents bought me a year-long subscription to Harry and David’s Fruit-of-the-Month club. Every month for an entire year I was spoiled with a gourmet box of fruit, like pears or apples or pineapples. It was glorious!

Similarly, Raw Spice Bar sends spice kits that are themed for the month. In December, the theme was Iceland. So in my December delivery, I received three Iceland-inspired spice blends (Quatre Epices, German Gingerbread, and Licorice Salt), and several recipes to go along. 

I had this brilliant plan to use the Quatre Epices blend, a warm, earthy combination of white peppercorns, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and “spices” – which I am not entirely sure that means, but I know the company does not use MSG or salt, unless specified in the ingredient list, so I was still in good hands – on a beautiful side of wild sockeye salmon I bought on sale at Whole Foods. However, in the midst of opening all three spice blends at the same time and pouring their contents into mini prep bowls for a clever photo attempt, my absent-minded self began dumping the German Gingerbread spice mix, a blend of ginger, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, black peppercorns, cloves, mace, star anise, and “spices”, all over my salmon. AHHH! To say that I was mad at myself is an understatement. I had planned to use the German Gingerbread blend to make the sweet German Gingerbread energy bites recipe that came with my package, and now my plans were completely foiled! Although, the two spice mixes are very similar, I dreaded my salmon would taste like a piece of oceanic pumpkin bread; but, nevertheless, the salmon actually turned out quite delicious! I drizzled olive oil on top of my German Gingerbread salmon, then roasted the fish, skin side down, at 350 F for about 15 minutes and squeezed a fresh lemon all over the fish when I pulled it out of the oven for a citrusy balancing finish. Perfectly moist, and full of wintery spice flavor, but not overpoweringly so. I served the salmon with steamed organic gold potatoes and broccoli drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

And now on to Quatre Epices……Thursday night is Bible study night, and December was my month to host, so I needed a snack in a pinch. I ingeniously resorted to the Quatre Epices cake recipe that came with December’s spice month package. A cocoa-spice cake really. I used brown sugar in place of the white sugar called for in the recipe because brown sugar has the upper hand in moistness and depth of flavor. And since this recipe called for eggs and regular wheat flour, I did not have time to improvise with proper gluten-free and vegan ingredients to make it “Mandy-friendly,” so I was not able to taste the cake myself; however, my hubby and Bible study family seemed to enjoy the gingerbread-like creation, with the notation that it was a “peppery” gingerbread.

Finally, the Licorice Salt. This was an interesting blend to use. A combination of exactly that, licorice and salt, I teetered back and forth between a sweet or savory adaptation. Licorice itself lends notes of natural sweetness, whether it’s from actual licorice root, or from star anise or fennel or anise seed. While all of these Icelandic spice blends could indeed be used in either sweet or savory dishes, I chose savory for all three. I used the Licorice salt to flavor big pot of lentils. Stewed together with fresh ginger root, garlic, and onions, this aromatic pot of pulses was the perfect remedy for a cold winter evening. Much to my dismay, I think I used too much ginger in the stew, so it slightly overpowered the delicate taste of the licorice; nevertheless, the lentils were very flavorful and delicious!

Roasted salmon with Icelandic spice blend

2 lbs. wild salmon
olive oil
1 packet of Raw Spice Bar German Gingerbread or Quatre Epices spice blend
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Serve with steamed organic potatoes and broccoli, both drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Place salmon skin-side down on a baking sheet, covered with foil for easy clean up. Sprinkle the spice blend of your choice (either German Gingerbread or Quatre Epices – both are similar and would taste great on the salmon), then drizzle olive oil all over the salmon. Using your hands, rub the oil and spice blend all over the salmon. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. When the salmon comes out of the oven, squeeze a fresh lemon all over the fish. Serve with steamed organic potatoes and broccoli, both drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Quatre Epices Cake

1 packet of Raw Spice Bar Quatre Epices spice blend
¾ cup flour
1 cup sugar (the recipe calls for white sugar, but I used brown sugar)
½ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 eggs
1 stick of butter
¾ cup strong black coffee
½ tsp baking soda
3 Tbs. honey
Sea salt to taste (I omitted the salt)

Oil an 8×10 cake pan or glass baking dish and preheat the oven to 375 F. In a sauce pan, melt the butter with the honey and coffee on low heat. Once melted, stir all together and set aside to cool. Beat the eggs in a bowl and slowly combine the eggs with the cooled melted butter mixture. (If the butter is still warm, be careful to not “scramble” the eggs when the warm liquid is added – this is called tempering, when a small portion of the warm liquid is added to the cold/room-temperature substance to bring it to equilibrium. Once the temperature of the eggs is slightly raised to that of the melted butter mixture, it is safe to continue slowly adding the rest of the melted butter mixture. Again, be sure to stir constantly to prevent any lumps from forming.) In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, including the spice packet. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together until uniformly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Stewed lentils with licorice salt

1 lb. green French lentils
½ onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1-inch piece of ginger
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 packet of Raw Spice Bar Licorice Salt
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Add salt and black pepper and stir. Allow the onions to sweat and reduce the heat to medium. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the lentils. Add the lentils to the pot and stir. Add in the licorice salt and stir once more to combine the ingredients. Add in the vegetable broth and the water. Turn the heat up to high and bring the lentils to a boil. Once brought to a boil, reduce the heat back to medium and allow the lentils to simmer, keeping the lid off the pot to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Stir occasionally and allow the lentils to cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with rice or quinoa and enjoy!