Cloves are unique, intense, extremely aromatic, and a little goes a long way. Most of us are familiar with them as an ingredient in pumpkin pie spice and other holiday baking, but these spiky little beauties are so much more versatile than that! This month I’m sharing two recipes, one sweet and one savory, but I hope you’ll decide to experiment a bit on your own as well. To learn more about cloves you can check out this video. If you’d like to participate in future herb/spice of the month features you can sign up on the CRDL website.
Clove Pudding
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk or unsweetened non-dairy alternative (I used coconut)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- pinch of salt
Combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well-mixed. Heat the milk and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium heat until just beginning to steam. Whisk in the dry ingredients and continue whisking until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat. You can now chill the pudding and it will thicken further. Try topping with a few of your favorite berries or a scoop of whipped cream.
Alternatively, I decided to use it hot as a warm topping for waffles. This would also be tasty over pancakes or pound cake. It has the texture of a creamy gravy when served warm.
Simple BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (this can be doubled if you like a sweet BBQ sauce)
- 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce (or liquid aminos)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (slightly heaping)
Making the sauce is as simple as mixing all the ingredients until well-combined. From here, you can use the sauce in many different ways on all sorts of grilled, baked, or sauteed goodies. It was raining on the day when I tested this sauce out, so I decided to make baked skewers (mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and Beyond Original sausage). Essentially, place the items you want on your skewers (be sure to soak them first if using wood) and brush them liberally on all sides with the sauce mixture. I baked my skewers at 375F for about 18 minutes, brushing on more sauce about halfway through. The cooking time will vary depending on what you put on your skewers. Just be sure that all items have reached their minimum safe cooking temperature before consuming. I had a bit of sauce left over so the next day I used it to saute some breakfast sausages and served them with cut fruit and toast.