Santa Barbara Spice Blog

BBQ Central Radio: New El Capitan Seasoning Giveaway Promotion!

2010-06-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara Spice Company would like to announce a promotion of our El Capitan Seasoning on the BBQ Central Radio show! Weekly for the next couple of months, we'll be giving away jars of El Cap to BBQ Central listeners.

Hosted by Greg Rempe, BBQ Central radio show is the only live weekly show on ANY radio that talks about the art and sport of bbq and grilling. You can also check out their radio show archives to listen to tips and techniques from pros and backyard grillers alike.

The show airs every Tuesday at 9pm EST on The BBQ Central Radio Network.

Thanks to all our friends for your continued support!
Santa Barbara Spice Company

Review of El Cap on TooBusyToCook.com!

2010-06-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

Thanks to toobusytocook.com for the pictures and links back to El Capitan Seasoning!

Check out their review here

Three Basic Needs

2010-06-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

"It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love,
are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think
of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I
am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the
love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness
and fine reality of hunger satisfied… and it is all one."

~ M.F.K. Fisher, from The Art of Eating

Thoughts From the Kitchen

2010-02-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

I’m in my kitchen a lot and I love it. Kitchens really are the heart of every home. We think about our food here. We make lists to stock our pantry with ingredients we love. We plan days to feast and days to use up delicious leftovers while we live our busy lives. We clean. All this gives us a self-nourishing routine as a part of our living life. I love that about cooking.

Tonight, I’ll be cooking fish tacos on the stove in a cast iron skillet, using El Capitan Seasoning, of course! They’re an easy dish for the end of a busy week. I’ll dip tilapia filets in flour, then beaten egg, and then grill them lightly in olive oil over medium-high heat for nice color in a heavy skillet. El Cap makes these delicious. Warm some corn tortillas in foil in the oven, using two per taco. Some finely shredded cabbage, sliced onion, avocado and shredded cheese. A green sauce, or your favorite sauce, and a little sliced lime finishes off delicious fish tacos!

Friday finds me in the kitchen once again. It’s been a busy week and fish tacos are on the menu! I hope your Friday is a good one. What are you cooking this weekend? Whatever it is, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your time in the kitchen. In there, we are the heartbeat of the home.

Jane

El Capitan Chex Party Mix

2009-12-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. Richard here with a party snack that is easy to make and sure to be a hit. I’ve been enjoying Chex party mix since I can remember. My grandmother used to make it for us every Christmas. Try some for your next party or as a good crunchy snack to have around the house. Here’s our version of this longtime family favorite recipe…

4 cups Corn Chex cereal
4 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup Wheat Chex cereal
2 cups pretzels
1 cup mixed nuts

6 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp El Capitan Seasoning
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 dashes of Tapatio or your favorite hot sauce

Heat your oven to 250 degrees. Mix the Chex, pretzels, & nuts in a large roasting pan or cookie sheet with sides. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, then stir in the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and spices. Coat the Chex mixture evenly with the spiced butter mixture by pouring it on and stirring the mix with a wood spoon or spatula. Bake the mix for 1 hour or until coated pieces are crisp. Stir it every 15 minutes. When done, let the mix cool then store it in an air tight container. When you are ready to serve, place the party mix in a bowl and share it with your friends and family or… scarf it all yourself. Either way, it will disappear quickly.

If you are out of El Cap or running low, you can find more at the Santa Barbara area retailers listed on our website at www.sbspice.com.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones from us at Santa Barbara Spice Company!

The Finest Ingredients

2009-12-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

When we started Santa Barbara Spice Company we knew we had to make the purest, most delicious seasoning blends possible. The only way to do that is to be very select about ingredients. We use the best salt, herbs, spices and vegetables available domestically and import wild-crafted spices from India. This commitment to artisan quality brings you the most delicious ALL NATURAL seasoning blend and grilling rub you’ve ever tasted!

Using wild-crafted spices means families in India harvest from plants in their natural habitat, often from pristine areas. Wildcrafting is a sustainable practice of harvesting from the wild with respect, making sure the plant itself is not stressed and remains healthy and strong. Wildcrafting is done at the optimal time of harvest and allows for habitat protection for future generations.

These superior ingredients combine to bring delicious flavor to your family’s food. El Capitan is All NATURAL and the perfect all purpose blend to keep in your kitchen.

El Capitan Seasoning makes a perfect gift!

For locations you can buy El Cap, just visit www.SBSpice.com.

When I Walk Into My Kitchen Today

2009-11-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

"When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we've ever eaten. Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be." ~ Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life

Stretch your Food Budget by Grilling!

2009-08-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone is watching their budget these days. Interest in saving money and finding value are driving consumer food sales. In this tight economy it’s no surprise that a full 71% of American families are planning on using leftovers in their weekly menu. Here’s a great tip on how to save money; when you fire up your grill, plan on putting some extra meat or vegetables on to cook for flavorful, healthful leftovers!

Grilled and roasted meats and vegetables make perfect leftovers and will add delicious flavor to your favorite dishes. We use El Capitan Seasoning for grilling (www.SBSpice.com) and the flavor it gives leftover grilled foods is wonderful! For example, roasted red bell peppers and green chilies from the grill will keep in the fridge for several days and taste incredible sliced on a sandwich or diced in eggs.

One meal made with leftover grilled food that’s VERY popular in our house is enchiladas. They’re easy to make and delicious! Here's how:

• Soften a corn tortilla by quick-frying it in canola oil and transferring it to a small plate for rolling.
• Start with thin slices of your leftover grilled meat and a little cheese. From here you can add whatever you have and would like to use! Some ideas for grilled fillings include onions, green chilies and red peppers. Add a little salsa or hot sauce to taste.
• Roll up each enchilada and arrange them in a baking dish on top of a little enchilada sauce with the rolled seam down. (If your enchiladas won’t stay rolled, try a broken piece of spaghetti to skewer it together. Safer than a toothpick!)
• When all the enchiladas are made, top with sauce and a little cheese and you’re done!
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Uncover for about 10 minutes to finish, or until lightly browned and bubbly.

We like to serve this dish with some rice and fresh sliced tomato from the garden. Adding some homemade beans makes it a hearty meal.

Planning ahead a little with your food menu like this will not only save your family money, it will give you delicious food to cook with. So, next time you fire up your grill, grab your El Capitan Seasoning and cook up some extra food for delicious leftovers!

Salt and the Migration of Civilizations

2009-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Salt has a very interesting history and is closely connected to the growth of migration of civilizations. Consider that it was only about 100 years ago, with the knowledge gained through modern geology, that we realized salt was common and easy to obtain. One hundred years! Prior to this modern science breakthrough, salt was considered one of the most sought-after and treasured resources in human history.

Before modern refrigeration and canning processes, salt was used to preserve food. Once large amounts of meats could be preserved with salt, empires could go on the march and feed their armies. Some of the first conquests were salt-rich regions.

Throughout the course of human civilizations many of the great cities have been built near salt mines or evaporation mining operations in coastal areas. Salt has been used as currency in ancient times, including as payment to Roman soldiers. The word salax (salt) is the base for the word ‘salary’ and this is also the beginning of the old saying ‘worth his salt’.

Cool stuff, huh? It’s amazing to study how closely the placement of powerful civilizations in history is linked geographically to salt sources.

Here’s one example of a city built on the industry of salt; Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg’s salt mines sit protected by this fortress, which was originally built for archbishops of the Roman Catholic Church. “Salzburg” translates to “Salt castle” and enormous wealth came from these mines. Not only did Salzburg have the valuable salt resource itself, but a toll was charged for all barges that passed by on the Salzach river below.

Eat This Rock!

2009-07-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

In chemical terms, salt is the substance produced by the reaction of an acid with a base. When the unstable metal sodium, which can suddenly burst in to flames, is combined with the deadly poisonous gas chlorine, it becomes the food staple we call sodium chloride, or NaCl, and is from the only family of rocks eaten by humans! The mineral salt is one sodium ion and one chlorine ion. It is 40% sodium and 60% chloride by weight.

I know this all sounds kind of geeky, but science is fun and edible!

Of the many different salts, the one we most enjoy eating and identify as ‘salty flavor’ is sodium chloride. Many of the other salts will convey a bitter, sour or other unwelcome taste, though they contribute value to the human diet.

So, why would a person want to eat a rock? Our bodies need it. We lose salt through body functions and we need to replace it. Chloride is essential to our respiration and digestion. The human body does not manufacture sodium but needs it to carry important nutrients, oxygen, nerve impulses and to move muscles (including the heart).

How much salt should we eat? The experts differ in opinions on how much salt a person needs to be healthy and their estimates range from two-thirds of a pound to more than sixteen pounds per year. People who live in hot climates or who do physical labor will need more salt to replace what is lost through sweating.

Believe it or not, the adult human has about 250 grams of salt in their body. That’s about 4 salt shakers worth!