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?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
The unsung hero nutmeg… My mom has a special jar for them with a tiny grater attached. She whips that thing out and nutmegs all sorts of stuff!
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That sounds awesome! I love freshly grated nutmeg.
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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.
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That sounds great!
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Thanks
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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…
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I do, too! That grater sounds amazing. And putting nutmeg on sweet potatoes sounds so good right now!
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If I’m not mistaken, the nutmeg in my spice cabinet dates from the ’80s (1980s, not 1880s).
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Yes! It lasts a long time–it’s hardly ever used.
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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 🙂
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Ha! Love that story!
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I agree; nutmeg is a must-have, especially freshly grated using one of the micro planes. It enhances and accentuates so many dishes, from savoury to dessert.
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Well-said! 🙂
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Coriander used to be overlooked and only dug out for certain holiday cookies. Now I use it in chicken frequently, when I want a warm mildly-lemony flavor but don’t have any 🍋 lemons around.
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Ah, yes–I love coriander too–and I never thought about it before, but yes–there is a kind of lemon flavor that comes with it.
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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.
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Yes! I did have a recipe for macaroni and cheese once that called for nutmeg–it was soo good!
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We toured a nutmeg factory once on a trip–the smell was incredible and delicious!
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No way! That’s amazing–I would love to tour a nutmeg factory.
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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. 🙂
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Yep–it’s amaretto–the whole drink is a little chocolatey, nutty–sweet and creamy. Cheers!
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Definitely going to have to try this now.
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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.
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Well, no-not the whole bottle–we still have plenty left 🙂 I never thought to add nutmeg to mint juleps, but now I’ll have to try!
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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 🙂
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Very cool! I will have to visit Saronno some day 🙂
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