I had an incredible opportunity to go to the McCormick Gourmet Kitchens last week with some other wonderful bloggers: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, Shauna of Gluten Free Girl and Nicole of Pinch My Salt. I am really excited to work with these talented women and McCormick Gourmet.
We all met for dinner where the Chef mixed up some drinks and prepared a gorgeous dinner. After not eating all day from traveling this was quite the treat. I snapped some photos of our time with McCormick Gourmet, take a look 🙂
When we arrived to the McCormick Kitchens we were greeted by the lovely McCormick staff. Chef Len fed us some delicious appetizers. Tale a look below 🙂
Here is our menu for the evening.
Curried Chicken and Mushroom Spring Rolls. INCREDIBLE! Will definitely be making these again.
Marinated Shrimp with Mango and Radishes. Perfect little appetizer.
Dirty Martini Steak Kabobs and Salad. What a creative recipe for kabobs, full of flavor. Loved these.
Sweet and Smoky “Pork and Beans.” I think we all had a few helpings of this one 🙂
Cheesecake Tart with Popcorn Crust and Berries. This cheesecake caused quite the uproar, not kidding. The flavor combinations here are unreal. This will be made at my house very soon.
The next morning, we met for breakfast and enjoyed: Tomato Zucchini Frittata, Cinnamon Apple Nut Muffins, Pepita Pumpkin Bread.
How good does this look?!
…and this?
This was one of my favorite parts of the trip…..along with the incredible meals, but learning about the history of the McCormick Spices was so fascinating. Made me appreciate what goes into each jar I see at the store.
We also got to sample and smell a variety of spices. The vanilla test was the most interesting. If you’ve ever doubted buying pure vanilla….don’t. It wasn’t even a comparison when sampled side by side.
Later in the day, we each whipped up 2 simple recipes that used a regular spice and then a roasted spice to sample and see the difference in taste. I had a creamy cinnamon dip that I wanted to bottle up and eat with a spoon. It was delicious!
Making my dip!
The other ladies Jaden, a sweet McCormick rep, Shauna and Nicole making their recipes 🙂
It was time for lunch and talk about a feast. This salmon was one of the best salmon I have ever had. Will be making it for my family. Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon
Will be making these too! Harvest Vegetables with Roasted Ginger & Cumin
This was another recipe that we couldn’t stop eating, so delicious and I think it was unanimous that we will all be making these ribs! Chipotle Cinnamon Baby Back Ribs
As if we hadn’t had enough food, we ended our meal with these cute “cup” cakes with a bite. Loved the heat that came through with each bite . Mexican Hot Chocolate “Cup” Cakes
Giveaway: An assortment of McCormick Spices with Spice Rack
3 winners!
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, Winners have been emailed 🙂
Here’s How To Enter:
1. Leave a comment and tell us, what are your favorite McCormick Spices?
2. For extra entries, Follow Picky Palate on Twitter, RSS Feed and Like us on Facebook. Leave 3 separate comments for this.
3. Contest ends Monday January 24th 8pm PST. Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be notified by email. Giveaway provided by McCormick Gourmet.
*Spices will not be exactly as pictured in Photo 🙂
Good Luck!
*Disclaimer: I have been hired to work with McCormick Gourmet as part of their McCormick Real Gourmet Program and am being compensated however the thoughts are my very own :)
Cumin, chili powder, garlic…those are the most loved and most used. Although I have a bazillion others! Probably should rotate the stock
My favorite McCormick spice….smoked paprika. Just plain good.
I follow in google reader!
I recently tried the new roasted coriander and absolutely love it!
I am a fan on Facebook!
Cumin, definitely!
I follow you in my RSS reader.
I follow you on Facebook.
I follow you on Twitter.
Lemon pepper!
Garam Masala is my new favorite McCormick spice-tried it with a shrimp dish last week-yum!
Love the cinnamon!
I love their Apple Pie Spice and Pumpkin Pie Spice blends. They offer exactly the flavor I hope for in those two pies and are really usseful in other recipes, too!
I am really getting to love dried rosemary. I used it on my Turkey at Thanksgiving and it was heavenly delicious!
Heather H.
I am already a fan on FB
I am already a subscriber
I follow you on twitter
I cannot live without my sea salt from mccormick
And I subscribe via Google Reader
I follow you on twitter
I use basil, thyme, and rosemary the most when I cook.
My favorite McCormick spice is cinnamon. So good on so many things!
Since I have been on a no salt diet, I find McCormick spices give a lot of flavor to my food. I use the Roasted Siagon Cinnamin in my oatmeal,ground roasted Cumin,ground roasted Ginger and ground Coriander to spice up vegatables and chicken dishes. I find that all the McCormick spices bring out all the natural flavor in food.
I am a big user of cinnamon. It just adds a little extra something to many different dishes.
I follow Picky Palate on Facebook…much to the displeasure of my waistline! 🙂
I LOVE McCormick! My mom works with them regularly with her job and is always coming home with gift baskets full of McCormick spices. My favorite McCormick spice mix is unfortunately no longer available…it was the Vegetable Supreme. They tell us that the new Perfect Pinch is the same…but it’s definitely not! 🙂
I’d certainly love to win a spice rack of my very own…instead of always being jealous of Mom’s. 🙂
curry powder! we can’t get enough!
I’m a fan of Herbes de Provence, Garam Masala, and Curry Powder, Hot Madras. Great stuff!
For baking, it’s the cinnamon… hands down! For cooking, I love anything with dill seed in it. YUM!
It seems I frequently use dried thyme, bay leaves, basil…. My most recent McCormick purchase was poppy seeds. I don’t really have a favorite spice, but McCormick is definately my “go to” brand.
Thanks!
I sub through google reader.
Cinnamon!
I love any of their roasted spices. I feel so professional when I use them, they always elevate the flavor of my dishes.
I love smoked paprika and cardamom.
I like picky palate on facebook
I subscribe to your RSS feed