Basic Taco Seasoning

 My take on the taco seasoning that you get in little pouches to mix with ground beef only, you know, not horrible.  I don't call for onion or garlic, because sauteing actual onion and garlic gives a much better result; you can add onion and garlic powder if you want to skip that.  I also don't specify the amount of salt, both because it should be done to taste, and because I usually add some soy or fish sauce to up the flavor.

2 T cumin, ground
2 t dried oregano
2 t coriander, ground
1 t smoked paprika or ground dried chipotle
2 ancho chiles, ground
1 guajillo chile, ground
1 t pepper, ground

Seasoned Ghee

This is a ghee enriched with herbs and spices suitable for seasoning most  Ethiopian dishes (or wherever you feel like getting creative).  You can save yourself some money by rendering butter down in to ghee, but I'll save that for another time.  Note, however, that since some of the things we're infusing in to the ghee have quite a bit of moisture they have to be cooked off for long enough to not have any moisture left to prevent the end product from going bad (I've actually seen a moisture rich layer on the bottom mold under the ghee).  You also don't want to brown the mixture, so it's low heat with a lot of attention.

12 oz ghee
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t kalonji, ground
thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 t cardamom
1 t oregano
handfull of fresh basil
dash of turmeric

Heat everything together over low heat until all the moisture has cooked off, but without letting it brown.  Strain it and refrigerate in an air tight container where it should keep for months if you got all the moisture out.

Berbere

An Ethiopian blend of spices that combines influences from all over.  You'll need a pretty serious collection of spices to make this, so you might want to shell out the extra money for commercially prepared if you don't do a lot of global cooking, though accept that it won't be as fresh.  This version is fairly spicy, so you can substitute out some of the hotter ground chiles for paprika as needed, and recipes for this spice mix can vary wildly.

3/4 C ground dried hot red chiles
1/4 C paprika
2 T salt
2 t onion powder
2 t ground ginger
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground allspice
1 1/4 t ground cardamom
1 t grated nutmeg
1 t ground fenugreek seeds
1/2 t ground kalonji

Mix it all together, with a spice grinder being the easiest way of dealing with the whole spices.  Store them in an airtight container.

Infused Olive Oil

Garlicky olive oil with basil and crushed red pepper.  I use this stuff when making tomato sauce, but it's great for salad dressing and just dipping bread.  It will seem a little strong if just tasted plain (and you might want to dilute it out slightly with other olive oil for bread), but it's something to keep on hand.

1 C olive oil
6 sprigs basil, rinsed
15 (or as many as 20) cloves garlic, lightly crushed
2 t crushed red pepper, or to taste

Combine all the ingredients and heat over medium low; cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden brown and the basil has crisped.  Strain the oil.

Basic Rib Rub

This is my basic rub for pork when I'm making BBQ, and it's especially good on ribs - the recipe makes enough for a typical rack of baby back ribs.  You can easily change out ingredients or change amounts to get a different flavor, but this base is pretty well rounded; just make sure to put it on fairly heavily and at least half an hour before transferring the meat to the smoker so the rub has a chance to adhere.  I've also included a quadrupled recipe which makes enough for a serious smoking session.

1 T pepper
1.5 T garlic powder
1/2 T mustard powder
1 T onion powder
1/2 T cumin
1 T paprika
5-6 T brown sugar
1 T cayenne, or to taste (this makes it moderately spicy)
1.5 T salt

4x recipe (makes about a quart)
4 T pepper
6 T garlic powder
2 T mustard powder
4 T onion powder
2 T cumin
4 T paprika
20 T brown sugar
4 T cayenne, or to taste (this makes it moderately spicy)
6 T salt