Brian and Jim Eat

I made this year as part of my Christmas gifts to family.  This is a concoction that my great grandmother used to make and use mixed into the egg dip when she fried chicken.  After all the chicken was ready to go, she would fry the egg dip for her grandchildren to eat while she cooked (and later, this great grandchild who spent hours in the kitchen cooking with her).

The color and taste will never be exact because decades have passed and things change…this batch was a giant purchase from  Penzeys and she always used Spice Islands.  The exact ingredients have been hotly debated but I have transcribed my version from one that she wrote—however I think she took some liberties….(this is the same woman who taught me to cook by measuring things by her hand/eyebal).

I don’t make fried chicken but I love this on fried eggs and in deviled eggs (I assume that’s the mental connection with eggs).

She used to make it and give it away freely but in today’s dollars from penzeys it ran me about 17.65 a jar to make.

Below you see another actual mise en place from me which is rare.

  

It’s equal parts of onion and garlic and thyme and cumin and marjoram and more for a total of thirteen ingredients.  The mace and cloves need to be half portions though.
  

It all gets combined

  

Jarred in handy penzeys jars
  

And labelled!

 

I also dated the jars so it doesn’t get stale dated …however, after she died, I nursed my last jar for years and it still tastes like childhood:-)