421788 Mon Jul 16 18:49:17 -0700 2007 27 31 Home Cooking 0 2755685 My brother recently returned from Yemen and as a gift he brought me about a quarter of a pound of saffron. I have never seen this much in my life. I rarely cook with it because it is so expensive but now I could make a salad out of it if I wanted (just joking). I need help thinking of different recipes. PLEASE HELP! Mon Jul 16 18:49:17 -0700 2007 106025 nathanac 1 2755704 Well, my birthday is coming up. =) Actually, I've really enjoyed a couple seafood potpie/stew sort of dishes in creamy saffron broth. One at a tapas place was called Zarzuela, which google tells me is a traditional Catalan fish stew. The other was a deconstructed seafood pot pie my wife had at a little place by the ocean in Connecticut. Both were beautiful selections of shellfish, squid, and fish in that delicious rich broth. Mon Jul 16 18:54:52 -0700 2007 2755685 112262 novelgazer 1 2755707 dye stuff. Saffron is the new black, you know.... ;) Mon Jul 16 18:56:18 -0700 2007 2755685 86137 purple goddess 1 2755748 Just look towards Spanish food which utilizes saffron like mad. Paella, etc. check out recipes from Ilan Hall on season 2 of Top Chef, he used saffron in most of his dishes that he stole from Casa Mono. Apparently his Fideos with clams was good, or should I say Mario Batali's fideos recipe. Add saffron to your rice when you cook it, add a little to your soups. Saffron gives a nice background flavor to many dishes, use it sparingly though, it's an overwhelming flavor. And as novelgazer said, seafood goes wonderfully with saffron; try poaching your seafood in saffron broths or saffron butter. Mon Jul 16 19:08:53 -0700 2007 2755685 58855 digkv 1 2755795 paella and pilaf for all!!!! Mon Jul 16 19:24:44 -0700 2007 2755685 19113 Pylon 1 2755807 uncanny in its timing http://www.smh.com.au/news/interactive-cook/worth-its-weight-in-gold/2007/07/05/1183351363441.html Mon Jul 16 19:29:40 -0700 2007 2755685 104230 kmh 1 2755887 Saffron is brilliant - gorgeous in color, unique in taste, nasty if you use too much. I recommend grinding it in a mortar/pestle (the classic Spanish application is marble). Safrom LOVES seafood, as novelgazer points out. An easy, delicious version of a dish featuring saffron is Jamie Oliver's Seafood Tagliatelle - like so - (use GOOD seafood) - http://www.recipezaar.com/61663 Mon Jul 16 19:56:12 -0700 2007 2755685 54251 rcallner 1 2756323 Saffron/vanilla pound cake??, saffron/vanilla ice cream! Saffron hollandaise to pour over fresh asparagus. Maybe you can even freeze some. Saffron is so special and so expensive.. I'd invent a few uses, just for the specialty of it. Tue Jul 17 00:21:00 -0700 2007 2755685 11934 Kitchen Queen 2 2756340 open a saffron shop? Tue Jul 17 00:49:20 -0700 2007 2756323 104230 kmh 1 2756395 I'm surprised no one mentioned a bouillabaise; if you access to decent fish and shellfish, look up a recipe. Make sure you have lots of good garlic bread for dipping! Tue Jul 17 03:51:05 -0700 2007 2755685 48210 KevinB 1 2756430 A little goes a long way. As a general rule, I grind saffron into powder with a mortar and pestle, then add it to some hot water, at whatever ratio gets you a deep orange color. Add it to ice cream, with rose water: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/350037 Make risotto. There's a great Marcella Hazan saffron risotto recipe. Make Iranian rice: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/284520#1521260 Make rice pudding with saffron, +/- rose water. Top with pistachios. My aunts make a stewed chicken with loads of onion and saffron. It's supremely comforting. Enjoy it! And keep it in the fridge, in a ziploc bag, to keep it around longer. Tue Jul 17 04:42:59 -0700 2007 2755685 15695 rose water 1 2756471 If you are looking for something sweet, the Scandinavians make wonderful saffron flavored sweet breads. I once had a slice of an almond and saffron filled sweet bread that was almost, but not quite, like a long danish, and was surprisingly good. I'm sure recipes abound in Scandinavian cookbooks. Tue Jul 17 05:12:04 -0700 2007 2755685 81926 Roland Parker 1 2756628 Maybe it's me, but I cannot *taste* saffron! I bought a teeny container of saffron from Spain. I soaked it in hot water, or added it crumbled. I added a little, I added a lot. It certainly turns everything yellow, but I detect absolutely no unique taste in my food. I bought some saffron from another source and have not tried it yet. But I don't **ever** remember tasting saffron. Is it me, or does anyone else have that problem? Tue Jul 17 06:31:16 -0700 2007 2755685 70510 xnyorkr 2 2756707 Me too - does nothing for me. And my SO came home from a trip with 2 kilos of it (literally in a trash bag). I give it away. I cook with it. I all but hand it out at Halloween. It does nothing for me. I'll never get rid of it all. Tue Jul 17 06:59:27 -0700 2007 2756628 93624 alexajord 3 2758913 at $US10,000 per kg on the retail market (at least in Australia) that is one hellofa present. I suspect, unless he's got money to spare, you didn't get the real deal. sorry. recently good article in sydney newspaper on how it is so expensive, what to do, and not to over use it... http://www.smh.com.au/news/interactive-cook/worth-its-weight-in-gold/2007/07/05/1183351363441.html i think it has a very subtle flavour, and is most noticeable when you make risotto milanese - basically a plain risotto base cooked with saffron. then you can decipher its distinct flavour. Tue Jul 17 15:48:21 -0700 2007 2756707 104230 kmh 2 2760046 Wow, I cannot imagine not being able to taste saffron, as it has a very strong flavor... Wed Jul 18 04:34:45 -0700 2007 2756628 71851 jinet12 1 2756744 Not to rain on your parade, but are you sure this is the real thing? In many Middle Eastern countries, they sell another type of saffron very cheaply but it totally lacks the musky flavour and intense colour of good saffron. A friend gave me a plastic baggie filled with the stuff after a trip to Israel and it wasn't good for anything at all. In the spice bazaar in Istanbul they sell cheap cheap saffron from bins outside the shop stalls and good quality Iranian saffron packed in plastic boxes inside for considerably more money. If you have the wrong kind of saffron you can use a whole handful of it in a dish and you may as well be using grass clippings for all the effect you'll get. Saffron - even the good stuff - has a very subtle but quite unmistakeable flavour. Tue Jul 17 07:10:42 -0700 2007 2755685 12383 Nyleve 2 2756755 H-m-m, to further the idea that xnyorkr and alexaford can't taste the saffron they have, but it still has the power to colour the food-that is what happens when saffron is stale. I regret to say, but I suspect that this is what unscrupulous purveyors in both Spain and Italy do with leftover saffron, that is bundle it up to sell to unwary tourists. Tue Jul 17 07:16:03 -0700 2007 2756744 24738 LJS 3 2757202 It may just be stale but it really may be that other kind of saffron. I remember a fairly recent thread about saffron where someone (who?) had quite a lot of information about this bogus saffron. It isn't as deeply red as the good kind - more an orange colour - and fluffy as opposed to tiny, wiry threads. I don't know how else to describe it. When you buy the good stuff it's always packaged in either a plastic box or glass tube; it's very deep maroon and the threads are individual and wiry. The other stuff is generally sold in bulk and has a light feathery texture, yellow to orange in colour and entirely without aroma. Not sure if they are even from the same plant. Unwary tourists, for sure, buy it thinking they have found the bargain of the century. It's not. Tue Jul 17 09:10:35 -0700 2007 2756755 12383 Nyleve 4 2758472 I see what you're getting at, I thought the same thing when he gave it to me. I said that I usually avoid using saffron because its so exspensive, but, I have used it before. This is the real deal. Full of flavor and deep red. I think I'll put it in a shaker and keep it on my table, lol! No, all of these ideas are great. I'll prob. try all of them over the next year. Do you think it will affect my skin color? Tue Jul 17 13:46:56 -0700 2007 2757202 106025 nathanac 5 2758904 who knows? my mum once did weight watchers and ate so many carrots (point free) that her hands started to go orange! Tue Jul 17 15:45:36 -0700 2007 2758472 104230 kmh 5 2759098 Wow - so if it's the good stuff you are one lucky person! I just made an outstanding paella on Saturday night so the flavour is still very fresh for me. Enjoy! Tue Jul 17 16:57:34 -0700 2007 2758472 12383 Nyleve 5 2759206 every time you use a warm liquid in a recipe-- milk/cream, chicken stock, even water-- a pinch of saffron would be a hedonistic addition to the recipe (steeped in the warm liquid before adding it to the recipe), esp if not overpowered by acids, peppers, or other strong flavorings. if it is the real deal give it away as special gifts but by all means cook with it in everything while you can! Tue Jul 17 17:34:17 -0700 2007 2758472 46030 soupkitten 2 2759170 could it be "saffllower" I have a bunch of that too. Used it a few times, pretty color. Tue Jul 17 17:19:39 -0700 2007 2756744 50431 chef chicklet 1 2757228 When I was a child, my father would mix saffron with warm milk and sugar to help me sleep. Little did I know how extravagant my warm milk was. But either way, saffron+sugar and vanilla = delicious. Try it in desserts like the pound cake mentioned below or a flan. Other than desserts and the obvious paella, you can revive it in hot butter which can then be drizzled over vegetables, rice or chicken. Saffron aioli is a great dipping sauce for croquettes, crab cakes or veggies or fish. Also tagines and biryanis make good use of the spice. The earthy flavor might also lend itself to a duxelles of mushrooms. Tue Jul 17 09:15:26 -0700 2007 2755685 68363 JungMann 1 2758149 I made a delicious soup with cauliflower last night. Very tasty - fast and easy too! Recipe is here: http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.com/2007/07/simple-super-soup.html Tue Jul 17 12:39:52 -0700 2007 2755685 63783 mrbunsrocks 2 2759430 Say, I have a cauliflower, and some saffron, and some beautiful Walla Walla Sweet onions, and I"m wondering- cauliflower soup is delicious - I normally make it very similarly to your recipe, but with white pepper, some thyme, and a drizzle of truffle oil to finish, and no saffron. The color's pretty on your blog - did you taste the saffron? Tue Jul 17 19:05:38 -0700 2007 2758149 54251 rcallner 1 2759171 I recently made saffron orange butter from this recipe for grilled fish: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/238819 It was great, then we used the leftover fish for a chowder....to die for ;-). Other than that, Spanish dishes are probably the easiest and most delightful way to enjoy saffron. Invite guests over for some paella...they will absolutely love you. If seafood is not an option, remember that one of the authentic paella's main ingredient is rabbit...so be creative! Tue Jul 17 17:19:48 -0700 2007 2755685 79316 yomyb