Peggy's 8-seed Spice Blend

[buttoni]

I’ve grown quite fond of a spice mixture I stumbled upon in my local Marshall’s last year. It is called 7-Seed Crust by Victoria Gourmet. I absolutely adore this flavor in or on the tops of my low-carb rolls, focaccia and flax crackers. As it fairly expensive, I decided to try and reproduce it myself at home. I poured it out on a sheet of white paper to compare what I can see with the naked eye and what is listed on the back of the bottle. I can clearly see all the listed ingredients except fennel. I see it neither whole or crushed. There is also no licorice fennel flavor to this blend, so I’m assuming it doesn’t really have fennel in it.

Next problem is how much of each item should I use? This is proprietary information, so it’s a sheer guess really. Visibly, there appear to be equal amounts of the various colored/shaped seeds in this mix, but I find the taste of onion and garlic to be decidedly pronounced, so I am going to opt to use a little more of these than the other seeds and spices. I also decided to add Nigella (also known as onion seed, black caraway, kalongi or charnushka). It has a nutty, peppery, caraway flavor and I think it will enhance this blend for use on savory baked goods. Calculating the nutritional information was extremely difficult, as number for spices are difficult to obtain. The amount of carbs in 1 tsp. in under 1, so I’m not going to worry about using 1-2 tsp. of this in future. My end spice blend is very close to the VG brand product, perhaps a little more black/red peppery, but overall, I’m very pleased. Mine isn’t exactly the same, but when DH and I finger taste tested it against the VG mix, it was darn close! I think you'll like this spice blend on your savory low-carb rolls, focaccia bread and crackers.

PEGGY'S 8-SEED SPICE BLEND

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. coriander seeds
1 T. black peppercorns (I use a mixture of black and red)
2 T. dehydrated onion (I used dried shallot)
1 T. sesame seeds
1 T. caraway seeds
1 T. Nigella Seeds (I ordered from Penzey's)
1 T. dark whole flax seeds
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. poppy seeds
2 T. dried minced garlic (I found mine at Sam’s Club)
1 T. quinoa seeds

DIRECTIONS: Put the first 3 ingredients into a grinder. I have a dedicated coffee grinder I use just for spices. Pulse the grinder 8-10, checking often, breaking these larger items up a bit, DO NOT reduce them to a powder. You want them coarse ground. Place this mix into a medium bowl. Measure and add all remaining ingredients and spoon into a lidded jar. Always store spices in a dark, cool cabinet away from heat sources.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes about 3/4 c., 12 T. or 36 tsp. Each tsp. of the spice blend contains:

9.2 calories
.49 g fat
1.04 g carbs, .39 g fiber, .65 g NET CARBS
.31 g protein

[rosethorns]

This sounds great Peggy.
What are Nigella seeds ?
Thanks

[buttoni]

"Nigella (also known as onion seed, black caraway, kalongi or charnushka". They have a nutty, peppery, caraway flavor". They are predominantly used in Indian cuisine, Esther. That's about all I can tell you about the little black seeds. I use them in several of my Indian dishes and think they bring something subtle to a dish.

[Criosa]

This looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

[rosethorns]

Yhanks Peggy. That would be a great crust on roast.

[buttoni]

Interesting idea, Esther. I had thought about it for possibly oven-fried fish.

[Nigel]

I like your spice blend recipe.

Years ago, I used to take boneless chicken breast, pounded thinner and cut into strips and mix up a bunch of spices and use that as a crust for the chicken and deep fry them. I used lots of pepper, chili powder, etc. The spices made a sort of crust for them. This was way back before we had so many low carb choices and back when I still ate meat, but I thought I'd mention it if anyone wants to try your recipe that way.

[rosethorns]

Fish is great idea too. I have a lot of these seeds and your recipe puts in good form.I will skip the flax.


Thanks again.

[buttoni]

Yes, Nigel, chicken would work for this as well, I think. Thank you both for your ideas. I'll have to try it that way, maybe with a little Parmesan added to that scenario.

[buttoni]

Author deleting duplicate post

[buttoni]

I tried a coating of 2 T. of this spice blend, 2 T. Parmesan and 8 crushed pork rinds tonight and it was fantastic! Here's what it looked like. Hubby liked the coating, too, and he's not very fond of fish!

[Tilly]

Making this tonight. Used Peggy's 8 seed mixture on top of her almond crackers this past weekend, oh my so good! And now bought some cod to use it for this recipe. Hope mine turns out as good as this picture!!!!

[Jennifer Eloff]

Wow, Peggy, that looks awesome!! You are the Queen of spice blends as I mentioned before. Very amazing!

[buttoni]

Aw, thanks, Jen. Tilly, I'm going to try the seed mixture on my crackers tomorrow. I just can't be without these Almond Flax Crackers. They are soooo good!

[Tilly]

Originally Posted by buttoni

Aw, thanks, Jen. Tilly, I'm going to try the seed mixture on my crackers tomorrow. I just can't be without these Almond Flax Crackers. They are soooo good!

The fish turned out every bit as good as the photo. I baked the pieces in my toater oven lined with foil. It was sooo good and lucky me, I have another piece leftover for tonight! Thank you for sharing.

[buttoni]

Oh, GREAT! I'm so glad it was a hit! I know I'll be doing it again soon. SO EASY!