On the Menu: In winter blahs, it's spices to the rescue

Technically winter has barely begun, but in kitchens we're deep into the season, and I find I'm already in need of a new twist to perk up all those braising greens, thick-skinned squash and sweet root vegetables. Many of my favorite winter recipes, such as Moroccan-inspired stews or Indian-style curries, feature fragrant spices, but when it comes to cooking without a recipe, or making changes to one that calls for ingredients I don't have, I'm wary of experimentation.

Spices are powerful stuff -- too much cinnamon, aleppo pepper or fennel can ruin a dish. But most of the time, I simply don't think the spices I've used have much of an impact.

Happily, my jumbled collection recently expanded to include some secret weapons: Spice blends, ready-made combinations that have stood the test of time. Almost every culinary culture has at least one beloved spice blend, from Chinese five-spice to Ethiopian berbere to Tunisian harissa, which is both a spice blend and a spicy condiment. These blends are both a shortcut to complex flavors and a good introduction to how groups of spices interact.

The ingredients and ratios of spice blends can vary widely. Take Ras el Hanout, the famous Moroccan blend. Spices are an essential element of Moroccan cooking, and are typically purchased from specialized merchants. Abdel Khila, the chef-owner of Kous Kous Cafe in Mt. Lebanon, imports all of his spices directly from a trusted supplier in Morocco. Every merchant has his Ras el Hanout, which translates to "head of the shop," a top secret recipe that incorporates distinctive, personal elements into the fundamental flavors of the blend.

My Ras el Hanout, along with a few other blends, came from Le Sanctuaire, a specialty shop in California that supplies tools and ingredients, including a variety of spices, to some of the country's best restaurants. Le Sanctuaire buys its spices directly from farmers around the world, including an Indonesian farm that is owned and run by the family of Fany Setiyo, Le Sanctuaire's product specialist.

While Le Sanctuaire works primarily with chefs, it also sells many of its spices and all of its blends through its website ( www.le-sanctuaire.com ) in small containers suitable for the home cook. By working directly with the farms, and holding them to the highest possible standards, Le Sanctuaire is able to process and sell its spices far more quickly than most retailers, resulting in incredibly fresh and vibrant flavors.

Spice blends are created by chefs, then tweaked through blind taste tests until they're perfected. "The [shichimi togarashi] took about 20 experiments to get what it is right now," said Ms. Setiyo. This finishing includes mustard seed, orange peel, Sichuan peppercorns, lemon myrtle and dry chiles, and impart both spice and wonderful citrus notes.

Vadouvan, which originated in Southern India, is Ms. Setiyo's best selling item, and also took more than 20 experiments to perfect. "It's not just a spice blend," she explained, "it involves other processes, like low-temperature frying and fermentation."

Adding a blend to even the simplest recipes resulted in wonderful aromas and flavors. A half-teaspoon of vadouvan simmered in a can of coconut milk turned the milk a pale yellow and suffused it with complex layers of flavor, dominated by garlic, shallots and onion, an incredible base for a simple chicken curry. Just a pinch of harissa combined with oil and lemon juice was a lively, flavorful dressing for a roasted carrot and almond salad. Fried or poached eggs were one of the best ways to test out a new blend, either incorporating a small amount into butter, or simply sprinkling some on top of each egg as it finished cooking.

I looked through my cookbooks, too, in search of those recipes that I'd avoided when I wasn't well stocked in spice blends, like the roasted cauliflower with fish sauce vinaigrette from the "Momofuku" cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2009; $40) and Tunisian winter squash salad with coriander and harissa from "Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" by Joan Nathan (Knopf, 2010; $40).

You can make your own spice blends, and if you're interested, Mourad Lahlou's "New Moroccan" (Artisan, 2011; $40) is worth the cover price for the spice-blend recipes alone. But it's a substantial project, one I wasn't quite ready to tackle. While Le Sanctuaire spices aren't cheap (0.8 ounce container of vadouvan -- the most expensive blend -- is $14), small amounts go a long way, making them worth the investment. Spice blends are also available from other retail and mail-order sources, but keep in mind that you get what you pay for, and that it's best to buy in small quantities.

Rainbow chard with Ras El Hanout

I streamlined Mourad Lahlou's original recipe and offer some easier-to-find substitutes for several of the ingredients. While it might be even better with the Urfa pepper, preserved lemon rind and swiss chard stems cut into two different sizes, the simpler version was a delicious way to highlight the complex flavors of Ras el Hanout.

-- China Millman

?4 bunches rainbow chard (about 10 ounces each), preferably with red and gold stalks
?1/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil
?1/2 cup diced onion
?Kosher salt
?1 tablespoon Ras el Hanout
?1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, preferably Meyer lemon
?1 1/2 teaspoons Urfa pepper or Aleppo pepper
?1/4 cup diced preserved lemon rind (optional)
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. As it comes to temperature, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water and set aside. Prep the chard. Cut the chard greens off the stalks and rinse the greens (no need to dry). Trim the stalks, cutting away the narrow tops, the two edges and about 1 to 2 inches off the bottom of the stem. Cut stalks into 1/4-inch dice, or into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Working in batches, blanch the chard leaves in boiling water for 2 to 21/2 minutes, until tender. Remove the leaves and place them in the ice water. Once they are chilled, remove them from the water, squeeze them well to remove the excess water, and coarsely chop them. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften. Add the chard stems, Ras el Hanout, and another pinch of salt and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the chard stems are tender. Stir in the leaves and continue cooking just until they're heated through.

Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, Urfa or Aleppo pepper and preserved lemon rind if using.

Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from "Mourad New Moroccan" by Mourad Lahlou (Artisan, 2011, $40)

Roasted cauliflower with fish sauce vinaigrette

At Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York, this dish is made with deep-fried cauliflower and cilantro leaves. The cookbook offers a modified version, in which the cauliflower is roasted, but the cilantro leaves were still fried. I simply tossed the cilantro in raw, along with the mint. I'm not sure I've tasted a better cauliflower recipe, and I can't wait to try the version with Brussels sprouts.

-- China Millman

Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
?1/2 cup fish sauce
?1/4 cup water
?2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
?Juice of 1 lime
?1/4 cup sugar
?1 garlic clove, minced
?1 to 3 red bird's-eye chiles, thinly sliced, seeds intact
Roasted cauliflower
?4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
?Grapeseed or other neutral oil, as needed
?1/2 cup puffed rice tossed with 1/2 teaspoon grapeseed oil
?1/2 teaspoon shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder)
?2 tablespoons very thinly sliced cilantro stems, plus 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
?3 tablespoons chopped mint
Make the fish sauce vinaigrette by combining the fish sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, minced garlic and sliced chiles in a jar or glass container with a tight-fitting lid. Stir or shake to combine. The vinaigrette will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the florets in a large mixing bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of oil and toss to coat. Add oil as desired. Spread the cauliflower out on a rimmed baking sheet (or two if the florets look crowded). Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and well browned in spots.

Toast the puffed rice in a small skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes, until it is very lightly browned. Add the shichimi togarashi and toss to combine, then turn off the heat.

When the cauliflower is roasted, in a large bowl, combine it with the minced cilantro stems, cilantro leaves and chopped mint. Add 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of the fish sauce vinaigrette and toss to combine. There should be plenty of vinaigrette in the bottom of the bowl. Serve the cauliflower garnished with the puffed rice and with an extra pinch of shichimi togarashi.

Serves 4.

-- Adapted from "Momofuku" by David Chang and Peter Meehan (Clarkson Potter, 2009, $40)

Vadouvan-spiced deviled eggs

Deviled eggs are a hit at any party, from the Super Bowl to a black-tie event. If you'd like to take these up another notch, try making them with quail eggs.

-- China Millman

?6 large eggs
?1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
?1 tablespoon butter
?1 1/2 teaspoons vadouvan
?2 tablespoons heavy cream
?1 teaspoon salt
?Shaved carrot for garnish
Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cool water by about an inch. Bring to a boil. Remove pot from heat and let eggs stand in water, covered, for 12 minutes. Run eggs under cold water (or place in an ice bath) to stop the cooking.

Once cool, peel the eggs, cut them in half, scoop the yolks out into a bowl, and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small pan, saute onions in butter over a very low flame until soft. Add vadouvan and cream and stir vigorously for about a minute until it becomes a paste. Let cool and add to the yolks. Season with salt and fill the egg whites with this mixture using a pastry tube. Garnish with a shaved carrot sliver.

-- From www.jamesbeard.org .

Tunisian winter squash salad with coriander and harissa

Instead of simmering the squash and garlic, I cut a small butternut squash in half, rubbed the cut-side with oil and tucked the garlic cloves into the cavity, then roasted it (cut side down) at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I scooped the softened flesh out of the squash, then proceeded with the recipe as directed.

-- China Millman

?1 pound butternut or kabocha squash, peeled and cut into large chunks
?1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
?1 clove garlic, unpeeled
?1 teaspoon harissa
?1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
?Juice of 1/2 lemon
?1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Bring about 6 cups water to a boil in a large pot. Then add the squash, salt and garlic clove. Lower the heat and simmer until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove the squash to a mesh strainer and squeeze the garlic out of its skin into the strainer. Mash the two together to get rid of any water. Transfer them to a large bowl and stir in the harissa, salt to taste, the coriander, lemon juice and olive oil. Taste, adjust the seasonings, then serve.

Serves 4.

Adapted from "Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" by Joan Nathan (Alfred A Knopf, 2010, $40)