Urban Accent Spices

Yes, October is when I clear out the spice rack to make way for fresh herbs and spices for the holidays. It is also a great time to experiment with new spices to learn some new moves for entertaining. Urban Accents is a line I came across at the Fancy Food show and I’m experimenting with now. Well, actually, it was hard to miss, since it was show award winner. The Mango Masala Seasoned Salt has proved to be a good transitional seasoning from summer to fall. It blends Greek sea salt, curry and mango. The first time using it the idea was to season pineapple with the spicy salt and grill. We found that dousing the fresh pineapple with the salt before eating resulted in the best flavor; spicy but still refreshing. With curry and mango flavors it is natural in most Indian inspired dishes. True, but after keeping a dish on the table I’ve learned it does quite well in less complicated settings. Sprinkled on eggs cooking in olive oil right before they go over easy, and the oil, spice and salt create a warm liquid glaze over the eggs. It really blends well with avocado whether mashed on toast, in a salad or in a slightly curried guacamole. This weekend’s green market experiments will match Athenian Dryglaze -- a sugar, spice and sun dried tomato blend -- with butternut squash or whatever autumn vegetable is in its prime and the Gourmet Gobbler Kit, a brine and rub kit for a 20 lb turkey. In the meantime, there are plenty of gourmet gift ideas at the Urban Accents site. Right now they are running a buy three of the same and get 10% off” promotion. (So far, I love their products, but 10% off the same three is not the incentive that 10% off any three would be. Oh well.)

$7.50  AT URBAN ACCENTS