Sunday Spices - Nutmeg

I've always wondered about poor nutmeg - not as exciting as cloves, not as popular as cinnamon. A little research online told me that it was believed during the Middle Ages that nutmeg could ward off plague - and given that just about everyone I know has a cold of some sort at the moment, I figured I should cook something with it this weekend.

Admittedly I got distracted today - I slept very late (hurrah!) and then went out to the Norton Simon Gallery in Pasadena to see the Hiroshige exhibit. (More on him in another post). So, I got home rather later than I thought, and was a bit too tired to be going TOO fancy in my quest for a nutmeg recipe. Instead, keeping in line perhaps with this delicate spice's humble position on the spice-rack totem pole, I made two gentle but very comforting dishes - a Quiche Lorraine and some honey & nutmeg cornbread muffins.

Nutmeg is the key ingredient in a good quiche - no more than a good pinch of it is enough to elevate your custard to a really warm, rich flavour. And a whole teaspoon added to my cornbread batter meant that they came out of the oven warm, golden and quite delicious.