Tag: all-purpose seasoning recipe

Sometimes I’m all about speed and efficiency in the kitchen. That’s why I like to mix up my own spice blends ahead of time. On a busy night, there’s nothing better than a handy spice mix that you can snag for just about anything. (You all know that when I say “there’s nothing better,” I’m not counting cookies and pie and salvation and family, right? Just so we’re on the same page.)

That’s why I love this all-purpose seasoning we’ve made for years and named Mama’s All-Purpose Seasoning for Chicken, Fish, Rice, Veggies, and Just About Anything Else, or Mama’s APSFCFRVAJAAE. Catchy, eh? Fine, let’s just call it APS. Happy? Good.

I use APS on my roasted chicken, baked fish, pan fried fish, pan-fried chicken, veggies, and plain rice or quinoa. I’ve used it with flour to make a breading. Sometimes I sprinkle it on baked taters or home fries. APS is versatile enough to be used with just about anything. The only thing I haven’t used it for yet is dessert, although it might be good on popcorn. Hmmmm.

The original recipe comes from AllRecipes.com. My version is simplified, because that’s what I do...just in case you haven’t noticed by now.

As with all recipes, adjust the seasonings to your tastes and totally make it your own.

All-Purpose Seasoning for Chicken, Fish, Rice, Veggies, and Just About Everything Else

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons salt (start at 2 and adjust up (or down) according to your tastes)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• a scant teaspoon pepper (adjust according to your peppery mood; sometimes I use 1/2)
• 1 heaping huge teaspoon garlic powder (or 2)
• 2 teaspoons paprika

Optional ingredients

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust as desired)
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon thyme (I like to use this for roast meats and sometimes for other cooked dishes, but I leave it out when I make a big batch to have on hand for general sprinkling)

Instructions

1 – Measure.

2 – Mix.

3 – Taste and adjust to your liking.

4 – Store APS in an empty spice container or in a mason jar in your pantry.

Cooking with APS

What to do with it:

Sprinkle APS wherever you want…within reason. (I don’t think I’d like it on ice cream.) I usually put it on potatoes and meats before cooking, and grains and veggies after cooking…but that’s just me. My hubby sprinkles it on anything as a table seasoning, especially rice.

How much to use:

About 2-3 teaspoons seasons a roasted chicken before cooking. If you add the additional ingredients (cayenne and thyme) or use extra pepper, it will be closer to two. Otherwise, just sprinkle lightly as with any salt.

This chicken was thinly sliced, tossed in a pan with olive oil, and sprinkled lightly with APS–that’s it! It was fantastic. All the best pieces were eaten before I remembered my camera, but these leftovers don’t look too bad! I call dibs!

Notes and hints:

We make this in bulk so it’s on hand to sprinkle on my roast chicken or anything else we feel needs a little more flavor. The simplest way to make it in bulk is to change the teaspoons to tablespoons, or just do a little math and multiply by, say, 20. It’s good for the ol’ noggin. Don’t mix it up in bulk until you’ve tried the recipe and tweaked it to your liking.

Sometimes we add thyme, but not usually when we make it in bulk, because I don’t want it in the big container for sprinkling on already cooked food. I really like the thyme for potato dishes and roast chicken, but I leave it out when I’m in a thyme-less mood.

We like salt. Adjust the salt to your personal preferences. When you’re making it, start with half the amount of salt and adjust up (or down if you’re really a low-salter). Some salts (like our Redmond’s Real Salt) taste more or less salty than others (like the Morton’s sea salt my chef used this time), so keep that in mind when adding salt. You can always add more.

The same goes for the pepper, garlic, and cayenne. Go with your mood, or find something that works for your family. We tend to enjoy a little extra heap to our garlic, but I generally save the cayenne for my cajun spice mix.

Once you get it adjusted to your liking, write the recipe down on a piece of paper and attach it to the container you store it in, so you can easily replenish as needed.

Here’s the boring printable version:

 

So, I suppose, like my hubby, you’re wondering why this is better than Lawry’s (or any other brand of) season-all salt. Mine has a cooler acronym.

 

Let me know how you adjust APS to your family’s liking…and what you call your version!  I’d love to hear.