šŸ„™ Just a tahini bit more


I need a favor! Mind filling out a quick survey? I'd like to learn more about you and what you think of Salt Sear Savor. Iā€™m going to randomly select 3 people who fill it out and send them each one of my favorite cookbooks! Take the survey here. Please and thank you!


Cooking with Tahini

Knowing more about ingredients makes you a better cook. The more you know, the more you can freestyle in the kitchen.

So letā€™s talk about one of my favorite ingredients lately: tahini.

Tahini is so much more than something you add to hummus.

It can be used across cuisines and in both savory and sweet applications. Best part? You can quickly turn it into one of my favorite sauces for roasted meats or charred vegetables. I especially love it for vegetarian meals because it instantly makes a dish more satisfying!

What is Tahini?

Itā€™s made from ground sesame seeds that may be soaked, hulled, and/or toasted. You can think of it like nut butter.

So whatā€™s it taste like?

On its own, tahini has a strong sesame flavor. Itā€™s nutty and creamy. And itā€™s a tahini bit bitter. šŸ˜‰ But in a bittersweet kind of way.

Ways to Use Tahini

We all know what itā€™s like to buy an ingredient for a recipe, use a tablespoon of it, and then never touch the jar again. And I bet youā€™ve done that with tahini after making hummus. But donā€™t worry! I got you.

First up, my favorite. Make a quick tahini sauce. Mix tahini with lemon juice and water, a grated garlic clove, and a pinch of salt. I like a ratio of 4 parts tahini to 1 part lemon juice to 1 part water. If itā€™s too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time to thin it out until itā€™s a drizzleable (I think thatā€™s a word) consistency.

Pour it over roasted cauliflower, charred eggplant, seared chicken breasts, or even a bowl of chickpeas.

Here are few more ideas:

  • Your tahini quick sauce can turn into a wonderful vinaigrette. Itā€™s perfect for hardy salads. Swap half of the tahini for olive oil and then replace the water with more acid.
  • Like you would sour cream or creme fraiche, add a tablespoon to soups or stews to add body, creaminess, and richness.
  • Try it with something sweet. Really? Yep! Think about where you use peanut butter in desserts. Then use tahini instead! Brownies, cookies, tahini and jelly sandwiches...
  • While tahini isnā€™t the same as the sesame paste youā€™d find in Asian markets, itā€™s a great substitute. Mix tahini, soy sauce, grated ginger, rice wine vinegar, and whatever else youā€™re feeling. Then pour over noodles or stir-fried veggies! It works for peanuts! Why not sesame?
  • Remember slash and char chicken? Use tahini in a rub for meats and vegetables before you cook themā€”letā€™s say tahini, honey, salt, cumin, coriander, and a little bit of lemon juice and oil. Rub that all over your meat or vegetables before throwing them in the oven.
Lots of flavoringsā€”like most herbs and spicesā€”mellow out as they cook. Tahini on the other hand becomes sweeter and more developed in flavor. Plus it promotes browning because itā€™s full of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat!

Picking a Good Tahini

Like most ingredients, brands differ. Some are thicker. Some are sweeter. The best way is to try a few different ones and pick your favorite.

I like to go for ones that are made using toasted sesame seeds. To me, they have a better flavor. šŸ˜‹

While separation is natural and going to happen, a good tahini should be easy to remix until it is smooth. If you grab a spoon and feel like youā€™ve hit rock bottom when you dive into the jar, it might be worth trying a different brand.

But remember this. Donā€™t feel the pressure to pick the ā€œperfectā€ tahini. Itā€™s more important that you find one you like and get used to using it. For example, you may want a tahini sauce to be thinner so itā€™s drizzeable. But you may use a thicker brand of tahini. All good! You just use more liquid than a recipe calls for to thin it out.

Storage

You can store tahini in a pantry or refrigerator! Either works. It will be thicker when stored in the fridge and be slower to separate. On the other hand, it will be more difficult to recombine.

The nice thing is that tahini lasts a while. Like months usually. How do you know if itā€™s gone bad? You can smell it when itā€™s rancid. šŸ‘ƒ

Where I learned this: Yotam Ottolenghiā€™s MasterClass and classes from Milk Streetā€‹
Email Facebook Twitter

I hope youā€™re inspired to grab that jar of tahini off the back shelf and put it to use. But if you havenā€™t used it in a while, sometimes the lid will stick. Just make sure to utter the magic phrase: ā€œopen sesameā€. šŸ˜œ

Luciano šŸ‘Øā€šŸ³

P.S. Please take the survey!

Salt Sear Savor

Learn to craft your own dishes, improve recipes, and just be a better cook with a free newsletter on cooking.

Read more from Salt Sear Savor

A Balancing Act: The 7 Elements of Taste Recipes are guidelines, not exact formulas. You can follow a recipe perfectly and get a different result than the recipe creator. From ingredients varying in taste to using another type of salt, there are many factors at play! Thatā€™s why you have to use your taste buds to be able to adjust or create a recipe on the fly. Iā€™m here to help. There are 7 elements of taste that impact how we enjoy food: salt, sweet, sour, bitter, umami, fat, and spicy. Just...

Do you live near the ocean? Lucky you. I do not. Here in Colorado, I couldnā€™t even drive to an ocean within the day if I wanted to. So think about it. When Iā€™m standing at the fish counter at the grocery store, how fresh could that salmon possibly be? It could have been caught yesterday and flown in this morning! Maybe. But probably not. How Fresh is ā€œFreshā€ Fish? There are loads of reasons fish can take a while to end up on a grocery store shelf: Boats spend days at sea before they bring...

I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and are off to a wonderful start to the new year! Itā€™s good to be back sharing some cooking knowledge. Thanks for letting me have two weeks off! I know yā€™all run a tight ship. šŸ˜‰ The Key to Sweeter Sweet Potatoes Ever roast sweet potatoes just to have them turn outā€¦not that sweet? Yep, me too. There is a trick to super-duper sweet, sweet potatoes. And no, itā€™s not adding maple syrup and marshmallows. Itā€™s all about how you cook them. Sweet Potatoesā€™ Magic...