Nutmeg to the Rescue!

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Nutmeg is quite the hero of the spice drawer. You never know when you’re going to need it for a recipe—or why—but it’s always there, and the container is never empty. It’s not like you’ll ever go bonkers with nutmeg—stuffing it into a rotary cheese grater and taking it from table to table like they do in the Olive Garden with the Parmesan cheese. It just doesn’t happen. Nutmeg simply takes an unassuming spot next to the cloves and hangs out until it’s time to do something unexpectedly strange—and it doesn’t mind. In fact, it’s all for it.

Just the other day, nutmeg found its way into a drink in the Fixin’ Leeks and Leaks kitchen. The drink consisted of ice, milk, an undisclosed amount of Disaronno, and a heaping smattering of nutmeg.

The result was creamy, soothing, sweet, and the perfect canvas for nutmeg, for some reason. I’m not sure what the proportions were for the drink. I didn’t keep track, but the key is to sprinkle that nutmeg with all the ambition of a server at the Olive Garden, armed with a rotary cheese grater. Proportionately speaking. In my wildest estimate (I am not a math person) servers at the aforementioned restaurant might grate about six, five-pound blocks of cheese a night. The amount of nutmeg used for the drink was probably about a tablespoon or so—which is a lot for nutmeg, as a topping, but it works here.

Pro-Tip: Serve it with the key lime pie from last week’s blog post.

Ways to take this drink up a notch:

–Use ice cream instead of milk.

–Add cream.

–Freeze it, purchase a rotary cheese grater, and crank out generous smatterings over various cakes and desserts.

Your Turn: What’s an overlooked spice in your spice cabinet and drawer? On what occasion do you use it?

28 thoughts on “Nutmeg to the Rescue!

  1. I don’t have any unused spices. I generally buy small quantities but seem to get through them pretty quickly, particularly smoked paprika, ground coriander, fennel seeds and origano.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Love, love nutmeg – on almost anything. Sprinkle on sweet potato, oats, use as a topping for ice-cream, milk drinks; the list is endless!
    I want a cheese grater like ‘siunkelan’s mom has’ (above)! Cool…

    Liked by 2 people

  3. There is a story about a young apprentice to a cook (here in Germany it means training for 3 years to become a journeyman cook) who, on his first day was given a nutmeg nut by the head chef with the admonishment that he wanted it back at the end of the apprenticeship. This of course drives home the point that nutmeg ought to be used sparingly 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  4. I love your description “heaping smattering.” Nutmeg is one of those ingredients that can really raise a flavour profile! I love it in cheese fondue or even a bit in the mac and cheese. It’s such a good cheese partner.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Very interesting. But even more so: Disaronno with milk? Disaronno is amaretto, right? I’m trying to wrap my head around that combination. I do milk and ice frequently with creamy liquors like Rumchata and Baileys. I also pour those over ice cream at times. I’ll have to try adding nutmeg. I too have it languishing next to cloves in my spice cupboard. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  6. An undisclosed amount of DiSaronno, eh? The whole bottle, perhaps? 🙂 Your drink looks delicious and of course the nutmeg adds so much to anything, but particularly here. I add it to mint juleps in the summer.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I agree, nutmeg is the queen of spices, or at least my favourite one. I always use it in besciamelle sauce, or anythin with milk or cream. Good idea your drink! You wrote Disaronno correctly, anyway, Di Saronno means “from Saronno”, that is a small town near Milan. Have a nice day 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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