So, now the kitchen has all the hardware essentials. Now I have to stock it with pantry essentials.
Most of what I brought with us from California were remnants--partial bottles/containers of essentials that I couldn't bear to get rid of. If I'd had the opportunity to eat down everything until there was nothing left, and then restock from scratch on the other side, I would have done that. But because we had to move so quickly, there were a lot of things making the trip with us I wouldn't have bothered with otherwise.
Here's what I brought:
2 half-bulk bags of flour (1 all-purpose, 1 bread)
about 10 pounds of potatoes
the rest of all the dried bulk stuff: quinoa, barley, bulgur wheat, several kinds of beans, lentils, rice, etc.
a representative portion of all the spices
balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, tarragon vinegar
olive oil, truffle oil
vanilla
non-stick spray
the rest of the garlic and the picked tomatoes
sundried tomatoes, dried mushrooms
cornmeal
bread crumbs
sugar (regular, brown, confectioner's)
the rest of the spaghetti and penne
a box of crackers
a bag of whole almonds
chicken broth
baking chocolate
peanut butter, half a jar of Nutella
pine nuts
tea
red curry paste
ziploc bags, foil, parchment paper, wax paper
Here's what came in the cooler:
2 packs Italian sausage
3 big blocks of parmesan
1 big block mozzarella
the last of my barbecue sauce
anchovy paste
soy sauce
worchestershire sauce
proscuitto
Sriracha
Tabasco
Memmi
lime juice
Bought once we arrived:
onions, shallots
whole wheat flour
yeast
vegetable oil
mustard, ketchup, mayo
eggs
puff pastry
frozen corn, peas, spinach, lima beans
bacon
andouille
baking soda
ricotta
cream
limes
tonic water
canned tomatoes
coconut milk
goat cheese
feta cheese
And, of course, we restocked the liquor supply. Plus we brought two cases of wine. (That was all I could cram in the car. The rest had to go with the movers, surreptitiously.)
So far I've done fine with just those things.
Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basics. Show all posts
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Cooking in a hotel room, part 1
...is a bit complicated, but doable. The room comes with the basics: a full-size stovetop/oven, toaster, microwave, coffeemaker, and the bare minimum of kitchen accoutrements (4 plates; 4 glasses; 4 mugs; a colander; a cutting board; and so on). The trick was figuring out what to bring from my own kitchen, in order to make the thing full-service.
So here's what I brought:
1 big skillet
1 4.5 qt copper-core dutch oven
1 13.25 qt Le Creuset dutch oven
1 pizza stone
1 big cookie sheet
1 large casserole dish
1 large Crockpot
1 food processor, with attachments
my recipes
Joy of Cooking
all my knives, plus sharpener
pepper grinder
Utensils: 1 flat whisk, 1 rubber spatula, 1 pair tongs, a couple of measuring cups and spoons, 1 cooking thermometer, 1 vegetable peeler, 1 ladle, 1 microplaner (used for zesting), 1 bottle opener, 1 wine corkscrew, 1 egg separater (the hotel provided 1 spatula, 1 serving spoon and 1 slotted serving spoon, plus can opener)
So far that's served all my cooking needs. I really miss my wooden spoons, bench knife/scraper thingey, and my pizza wheel cutter thingey, but I can work around their absence. I had to run out to the dollar store and buy a very large plastic mixing bowl, since the hotel's one provided mixing bowl is pretty small. I can use the dutch ovens as both cooking tool and mixing bowl. I also brought some tupperware, and supplemented that with Gladware when we arrived.
So, the lesson here is that you can throw together a fully functional kitchen with just the above. (The hotel provided a couple of smaller pots and pans, but they're so crappy I'm trying not to use them.) The "specialty" stuff (pie pans, loaf pans, etc.) is all in storage, so I just won't make any cakes or pies or whatever in the meantime. Though I may need a pie pan anyway, so I can make quiches and tarts and things.
Next up: a hotel room pantry.
So here's what I brought:
1 big skillet
1 4.5 qt copper-core dutch oven
1 13.25 qt Le Creuset dutch oven
1 pizza stone
1 big cookie sheet
1 large casserole dish
1 large Crockpot
1 food processor, with attachments
my recipes
Joy of Cooking
all my knives, plus sharpener
pepper grinder
Utensils: 1 flat whisk, 1 rubber spatula, 1 pair tongs, a couple of measuring cups and spoons, 1 cooking thermometer, 1 vegetable peeler, 1 ladle, 1 microplaner (used for zesting), 1 bottle opener, 1 wine corkscrew, 1 egg separater (the hotel provided 1 spatula, 1 serving spoon and 1 slotted serving spoon, plus can opener)
So far that's served all my cooking needs. I really miss my wooden spoons, bench knife/scraper thingey, and my pizza wheel cutter thingey, but I can work around their absence. I had to run out to the dollar store and buy a very large plastic mixing bowl, since the hotel's one provided mixing bowl is pretty small. I can use the dutch ovens as both cooking tool and mixing bowl. I also brought some tupperware, and supplemented that with Gladware when we arrived.
So, the lesson here is that you can throw together a fully functional kitchen with just the above. (The hotel provided a couple of smaller pots and pans, but they're so crappy I'm trying not to use them.) The "specialty" stuff (pie pans, loaf pans, etc.) is all in storage, so I just won't make any cakes or pies or whatever in the meantime. Though I may need a pie pan anyway, so I can make quiches and tarts and things.
Next up: a hotel room pantry.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
What's not on this blog
1. Chicken breasts. The most boring, tasteless meat known to man. And completely overpriced.
2. A lot of beef, either ground or in steak form. After a particularly virulent case of food poisoning from a restaurant hamburger, I no longer trust ground beef in any pre-packaged form--whether it's from a restaurant (even a good one) or the meat counter at the supermarket.
The ONLY way I'll eat ground beef these days is to buy a whole, organic, grass-fed piece of meat at a reputable butcher and watch them grind it in front of me.
And frankly, for that amount of money, I might as well have the steak.
I use sausage meat, ground pork and ground turkey in recipes to substitute for the beef, and when I want a burger, I use the above or make veggie burgers.
3. Seafood. You'd think you could get good, fresh seafood in Southern California. But noooooooo. Apparently it is impossible to find fresh-never-frozen shellfish of ANY kind, and finding fresh-never-frozen fish (of any sort) is a crapshoot. Previously frozen shrimp is just as tasteless as chicken breasts, so I don't bother.
It breaks my heart, because I love seafood, I really do. I'll try to post more seafood recipes, even though I may not be making those recipes in my own kitchen right now.
4. "Ingredients." I put the word in quotations because I see a lot of these recipes, based around pre-made convenience crap. There will be no recipes posted here utilizing any of the following:
Plus it's expensive.
What IS on this blog:
1. Eating well, really well, on a hard-core budget.
2. Lots of creative ways to use fresh vegetables.
3. More pizza and soup combinations than you ever thought possible.
4. Really flavorful, cheap cuts of meat. Oxtail, pork shoulder, short ribs--the stuff you cook down on low heat for hours at a time, and then tastes amazing. So much more flavor than steak, and cheaper, too.
5. Bacon chocolate.
Need I say more?
2. A lot of beef, either ground or in steak form. After a particularly virulent case of food poisoning from a restaurant hamburger, I no longer trust ground beef in any pre-packaged form--whether it's from a restaurant (even a good one) or the meat counter at the supermarket.
The ONLY way I'll eat ground beef these days is to buy a whole, organic, grass-fed piece of meat at a reputable butcher and watch them grind it in front of me.
And frankly, for that amount of money, I might as well have the steak.
I use sausage meat, ground pork and ground turkey in recipes to substitute for the beef, and when I want a burger, I use the above or make veggie burgers.
3. Seafood. You'd think you could get good, fresh seafood in Southern California. But noooooooo. Apparently it is impossible to find fresh-never-frozen shellfish of ANY kind, and finding fresh-never-frozen fish (of any sort) is a crapshoot. Previously frozen shrimp is just as tasteless as chicken breasts, so I don't bother.
It breaks my heart, because I love seafood, I really do. I'll try to post more seafood recipes, even though I may not be making those recipes in my own kitchen right now.
4. "Ingredients." I put the word in quotations because I see a lot of these recipes, based around pre-made convenience crap. There will be no recipes posted here utilizing any of the following:
- condensed cream-of-anything soup
- canned fruits or vegetables (especially green beans)
- "pie filling," whatever the hell that is
- frozen, pre-made pie crusts or pizza crusts
- brand names (Bisquick, Oreos, Jell-O, Rice Krispies, etc.)
- lunch meat
- Spam
- "cheese product" (think Velveeta and that cheese-flavored dandruff that passes as Kraft parmesan cheese, in the green can)
- biscuits in a can
- pre-made cookie dough (seriously, it tastes like chemicals)
- cake or brownie mixes
- icing in a can
- soda
- potato chips
- tater tots
- and so on. Basically, anything that comes from the middle of the supermarket.
Plus it's expensive.
What IS on this blog:
1. Eating well, really well, on a hard-core budget.
2. Lots of creative ways to use fresh vegetables.
3. More pizza and soup combinations than you ever thought possible.
4. Really flavorful, cheap cuts of meat. Oxtail, pork shoulder, short ribs--the stuff you cook down on low heat for hours at a time, and then tastes amazing. So much more flavor than steak, and cheaper, too.
5. Bacon chocolate.
Need I say more?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Can't cook? How to get started
This post neatly sums up all the obstacles new cooks face. Don't worry--no one is born a gourmet chef. Everyone on the Food Network had to learn how to boil water, once.
Monday, November 16, 2009
My story
I firmly believe that anyone can cook, and more importantly, that everyone should cook. It seems intimidating at first. Believe me, I know--I did not spring fully formed as a gourmet chef from my mother's womb. In fact, in my early adulthood (read: college), I actively avoided cooking. Gradually I realized that I didn't like eating crap, that I wanted my food to taste good, that I could make something that tasted better than fast food. What cooking knowledge I have has been hard-won, built from years of forced frugality and experimentation. Yes, I too have purchased and eaten Hamburger Helper and Kraft Mac n' Cheese (though not for many years, thank God). I too have cooked with dull knives and tin pans. I too have mangled recipes, burnt dinner, been forced to eat my mistakes because I couldn't afford to throw it away. Somewhere along the way, cooking turned from something I did because I couldn't afford to eat out to an actual passion.
I was bored stiff, at the time, and like most teenagers thought it grossly unfair that we couldn’t afford MTV or Froot Loops. I didn’t begin cooking in earnest until well into my twenties, largely as a reaction against my rural childhood; but when I did, it came naturally to me. And I’d grown up in the cooking school of “take two handfuls of flour and add enough butter ‘til it looks right,” so experimentation came naturally as well. While my pantry contains many staples my grandmother’s never heard of (miso, truffle oil, anchovy paste, couscous), my cooking still depends heavily on bacon grease, homemade bread, and fresh vegetables. I have the most adventurous palate of anyone I know (“Tripe soup? Bring it on!”), but I would no more eat Hamburger Helper again than I would stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork. My father and brother still consider Twinkies and Mountain Dew to be a perfectly acceptable breakfast; I didn't want that to be my fate, didn't want to squander my calories on bland, sugary, overly processed junk. Why eat Twinkies, I reasoned, when foie gras tasted so much better?
Tastes change, people change. Despite an advanced degree in theatre, and years spent freelancing as a theatre critic, at some point theatre had ceased to be the draw for me it once was. Instead, I was spending all free time and brain power thinking about food—cooking, collecting cookbooks, experimenting with recipes, eating at restaurants, reading about wine, going to wine tastings, etc. I planned my vacations around cities with a vibrant food culture and cuisine—Rome, Buenos Aires. I threw elaborate dinner parties for my friends, just because I liked entertaining. I sought out underground restaurants, and started hanging out with people who considered liquid nitrogen machines to be standard home kitchen equipment. I daydreamed about winning the lottery and opening a seaside barbecue shack somewhere. Yes, folks—I had become A New York Foodie. Even on my limited budget. (See above re: theatre.)
The roots of my food obsession were deep. I grew up in the rural South, which meant I spent my childhood eating from scratch. My father and brother were avid hunters, so most of our meat came out of the woods—venison, squirrel, rabbit, wild turkey, fresh fish. Everything could be cooked in bacon grease, even the bread. (I never knew a household that didn’t keep an old coffee can on the stove, full to overflowing with bacon grease, until I got to college.) My mom kept a backyard garden that was almost an acre, and canned or froze the bounty. Fresh corn, tomatoes, all manner of beans and potatoes and squash and melons, greens, cabbage, peppers, okra, and of course an enormous herb garden. We lived so far back in the country that my parents still can’t get cable or wireless internet; which meant that growing up, I was mostly a stranger to the luxuries of color TV, dishwashers, automatic dryers or junk food. (Well, until adolescence anyway, when we got a color TV, dishwasher and automatic dryer. Still no cable, though.)
I was bored stiff, at the time, and like most teenagers thought it grossly unfair that we couldn’t afford MTV or Froot Loops. I didn’t begin cooking in earnest until well into my twenties, largely as a reaction against my rural childhood; but when I did, it came naturally to me. And I’d grown up in the cooking school of “take two handfuls of flour and add enough butter ‘til it looks right,” so experimentation came naturally as well. While my pantry contains many staples my grandmother’s never heard of (miso, truffle oil, anchovy paste, couscous), my cooking still depends heavily on bacon grease, homemade bread, and fresh vegetables. I have the most adventurous palate of anyone I know (“Tripe soup? Bring it on!”), but I would no more eat Hamburger Helper again than I would stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork. My father and brother still consider Twinkies and Mountain Dew to be a perfectly acceptable breakfast; I didn't want that to be my fate, didn't want to squander my calories on bland, sugary, overly processed junk. Why eat Twinkies, I reasoned, when foie gras tasted so much better?
So, what does this mean for you? It means that anyone can teach themselves to cook. At its most basic, cooking is just following directions. Anyone can follow directions. Get a good cookbook, find a recipe that sounds good, try it. If you make a mistake, if something doesn't turn out right, make notes in the margin. Try again. It will take time and effort, at first. But once you get the hang of it, conjuring dinner from scratch will take no more time and effort than Kraft Mac n' Cheese does now. My best-loved cookbooks are falling apart, cracking away from the binding, pages littered with all manner of stains, some pages literally loved out of existence. They all have notes in the margin--"More garlic," "ground pork not ground beef," "25 minutes!!," "try cranberries instead?" Once you get the basic recipe down, it's easy to start experimenting with it, to play with the seasonings, to substitute other things.
The cost of accumulating a real kitchen--cookbooks, good knives, exotic spices--is daunting. I know, I've been building mine for years. But once you start getting the good stuff, its cost amortizes. Think of how much money the average family spends on lunches at work, pizza, Lean Cuisine dinners, processed crap. Think how much you'll save when you stop buying all that stuff. Now you can put that money--slowly--toward building a pantry. Cost of knives and pans aside, I spend less than $200 a month feeding two people. I can spend that little because I spent so much over the years buying good kitchen stuff on sale, on eBay, on craigslist. And practicing, practicing, practicing.
This is my gospel: that anyone could cook. That everyone should cook. Even if you're poor. Even if you don't know the difference between sugar and flour. Even if you work three jobs and have twelve kids. Cooking from scratch tastes better. It's cheaper. It's better for you. Most importantly, it tastes better.
Now that I know what I'm doing, cooking is fun. It's relaxing. When you're cooking, you can only think about cooking. The rest of the world fades away. I can spend a couple of hours banging around in the kitchen, wielding my knives, singing along to good music, trying things out, and at the end, my brain has been cleared out. And I have this really great thing to eat. That's so awesome.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Bar Basics
Once again, this is just what I consider to be essential. I know plenty of people that wouldn't consider a bar complete without Midori and Kahlua, but I think of those as strictly optional. Then again, I'm the only person I know that considers Tuaca essential, so there you go.
Plenty of red and white wine and champagne/sparkling wine
Vodka (Grey Goose)
Gin (Hendrick’s)
Rum (Gosling’s and a white rum)
Bourbon (Woodford Reserve)
A good scotch
A good tequila
Vermouth (sweet and dry)
Triple sec
Tuaca
Chartreuse
Eau de vie
Grappa
Calvados
Grand Marnier
St. Germain
Bitters (regular and Peychaud’s)
Optional:
Absinthe
Cointreau
Campari
Kahlua
Chambord
Cachaça
Cassis, framboise, amaretto, or Frangelico
This is a great website that breaks it down:
www.chow.com/stories/10490
Bar supplies:
Cocktail shaker
Corkscrew
Wine stoppers, champagne stopper
Red and white wine glasses
Highball glasses
Champagne flutes
Dessert wine glasses
Martini glasses
Shot glasses
Kitchen Basics
This list is not intended to be completely comprehensive, as it represents my kitchen. For example: I don’t own cookie cutters, because I don’t have kids. I never saw the point of a breadmaker, and I use my food processor instead of a blender. If you make a lot of mixed drinks or smoothies, a blender will be more useful for you. I use an egg separator, because I’m no good at separating them by hand. I also have a lot of specialty devices (deep fryer, ice cream maker) that other people may not find nearly as useful. So adapt as you see fit.
A really, really good set of knives – I have the Shun Ken Onion set. You can’t pay too much for knives.
KitchenAid stand mixer (I have the pasta making attachments as well)
Coffee maker
Espresso machine
Microwave
Toaster oven
Food processor
Crock pot
Deep fryer
Ice cream maker
Waffle iron
Coffee grinder
Immersion blender (a.k.a. stick blender)
Pots and Pans
Cast iron skillet (various sizes)
One good big all-purpose skillet
Saucepans, with lids, of various sizes
Large stockpot
Large Dutch oven
Teakettle
For baking
Lasagna pan (this doubles as a roasting pan, with removable roasting rack
Casserole dishes of various sizes
Griddle
Crepe pan
Cookie sheets/baking sheets, various sizes
Tart pan
Pie pans (2)
Cake pans (3)
Soufflé pan
Pizza stones (2)
Springform pan
Muffin pan
Ramekins (12)
Bundt pan (fluted and plain)
The little stuff
Baster and a basting brush
Bottle opener
Butter dish
Cake server
Can opener
Champagne stopper
Chopsticks
Coasters
Colander(s)
Corkscrew
Corn holders
Creamer and sugar dishes
Crème brulee torch
Cutting boards, various sizes
Decorative pie cutters
Egg separator
Extra squeeze bottles
Flour sifter
Funnel
Gnocchi paddle
Gravy boat
Icing palette
Instant thermometer
Kitchen scissors
Kitchen towels and washcloths
Measuring cups and spoons
Meat tenderizer
Melon baller
Metal skewers
Microplane, hand grater, six-sided stand grater
Mixing bowls of various sizes
Nutcracker
Pasta cutter
Pastry bags and tips
Pastry wheel
Pie weights
Pitcher
Pizza wheel
Pot holders
Potato masher and potato ricer
Rolling pin
Rubber spatulas of various sizes
Salad tongs
Salt and pepper grinders (or a salt pig)
Serving trays, olive tray
Spatulas of various sizes, and a fish spatula
Steak knives
Tea ball
Tongs of various sizes
Trivets
Tupperware (lots and lots)
Vase
Vegetable peeler
Whisks, flat whisk
Wooden spoons and serving spoons of various sizes
A really, really good set of knives – I have the Shun Ken Onion set. You can’t pay too much for knives.
KitchenAid stand mixer (I have the pasta making attachments as well)
Coffee maker
Espresso machine
Microwave
Toaster oven
Food processor
Crock pot
Deep fryer
Ice cream maker
Waffle iron
Coffee grinder
Immersion blender (a.k.a. stick blender)
Pots and Pans
Cast iron skillet (various sizes)
One good big all-purpose skillet
Saucepans, with lids, of various sizes
Large stockpot
Large Dutch oven
Teakettle
For baking
Lasagna pan (this doubles as a roasting pan, with removable roasting rack
Casserole dishes of various sizes
Griddle
Crepe pan
Cookie sheets/baking sheets, various sizes
Tart pan
Pie pans (2)
Cake pans (3)
Soufflé pan
Pizza stones (2)
Springform pan
Muffin pan
Ramekins (12)
Bundt pan (fluted and plain)
The little stuff
Baster and a basting brush
Bottle opener
Butter dish
Cake server
Can opener
Champagne stopper
Chopsticks
Coasters
Colander(s)
Corkscrew
Corn holders
Creamer and sugar dishes
Crème brulee torch
Cutting boards, various sizes
Decorative pie cutters
Egg separator
Extra squeeze bottles
Flour sifter
Funnel
Gnocchi paddle
Gravy boat
Icing palette
Instant thermometer
Kitchen scissors
Kitchen towels and washcloths
Measuring cups and spoons
Meat tenderizer
Melon baller
Metal skewers
Microplane, hand grater, six-sided stand grater
Mixing bowls of various sizes
Nutcracker
Pasta cutter
Pastry bags and tips
Pastry wheel
Pie weights
Pitcher
Pizza wheel
Pot holders
Potato masher and potato ricer
Rolling pin
Rubber spatulas of various sizes
Salad tongs
Salt and pepper grinders (or a salt pig)
Serving trays, olive tray
Spatulas of various sizes, and a fish spatula
Steak knives
Tea ball
Tongs of various sizes
Trivets
Tupperware (lots and lots)
Vase
Vegetable peeler
Whisks, flat whisk
Wooden spoons and serving spoons of various sizes
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Pantry Basics
My pantry is more than just food storage. A good pantry takes time (and money) to build, so don’t try to get everything at once. Get what’s most important to you to start, gradually adding things as they’re on sale, and gradually phasing out all the crap (junk food, sugary cereals, soda, etc.). There are probably several things on here that are unfamiliar (fish sauce, for example) or that other people would never consider essential (Nutella, truffle oil). Again, feel free to adapt this list to your own purposes. I have all these things because with this pantry, I can make or fake almost any recipe out there.
Here’s what I consider to be essential:
Basics
Flour (all-purpose; bread; White Lily Self-Rising, for biscuits; semolina; whole wheat and rye flours)
Sugar (regular, brown, confectioner’s)
Baking soda
Baking powder
Cornmeal
Cornstarch
Onions
Shallots
Garlic
Potatoes
Powdered milk
Baking chocolate (cocoa powder; semisweet; bittersweet; chips)
Bread crumbs
Panko
Crisco
Karo syrup (light and dark)
Crackers
Graham crackers
Croutons (homemade)
Pasta
Spaghetti and/or linguine
Penne
Elbow macaroni
Lasagna noodles
Orzo
Rice
Brown
Basmati
Arborio
Grains and beans
Black beans
Black-eyed peas
Garbanzo beans
Red beans
White beans
Pinto beans
Grits (the slow-cooking kind)
Israeli couscous
Lentils (green and red)
Steel-cut oats
Pearled barley
Bulgur wheat
Quinoa
Dried
Dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, assorted other)
Sundried tomatoes
Dried peppers, various kinds
Dried mushrooms, various kinds
Vanilla beans
Nuts
Almonds (whole and sliced)
Peanuts
Pecans
Pine nuts
Pistachios
Walnuts
Oils and vinegars
Apple cider vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Champagne wine vinegar
Chili oil
Grapeseed oil
Olive oil, the best you can afford
Peanut oil
Red wine vinegar
Rice wine vinegar
Tarragon vinegar
Truffle oil
Walnut oil
Vegetable oil
White vinegar
White wine vinegar
Extracts
Vanilla
Lemon
Almond
Orange
Sauces and Condiments
Fish sauce
Honey
Hot pepper sauces
Maple syrup (REAL maple syrup)
Memmi sauce
Molasses
Nutella
Oyster sauce
Peanut butter
Peanut sauce
Soy sauce
Sriracha chili sauce
Teriyaki
Worchestershire sauce
Thai curry paste (green and red)
Spices
Allspice (ground and whole)
Arrowroot
Barbecue seasonings (a variety)
Basil
Bay leaves
Cardamom (ground and whole)
Cayenne pepper
Celery salt
Chili powder
Cinnamon (ground and whole)
Cloves (ground and whole)
Coriander
Cream of tartar
Cumin (regular and whole)
Curry paste
Curry powder
Dill
Dried mustard
Dried pepper flakes
Fennel seeds
Filé powder
Garam masala
Garlic powder
Ginger (ground, crystallized and whole ginger root)
Ground pepper
Lavender
Liquid smoke
Marjoram
Mint
Mustard (ground and whole mustard seeds)
Nutmeg
Old Bay
Onion powder
Oregano
Paprika (regular, Hungarian sweet, and Spanish smoked)
Parsley
Poppy seeds
Rosemary
Saffron
Sage
Salt (sea salt, regular table salt, and various flavors of smoked salt)
Sesame seeds
Star anise
Tarragon
Thyme
Turmeric
Wasabi powder
Whole peppercorns
Canned items
Anchovies (in tins and anchovy paste, in tube form)
Beef broth (as a backup)
Capers
Clams
Coconut milk
Crab
Evaporated milk
Olives
Tomato paste (also in tube form)
Tomato sauce
Whole tomatoes
Tea and coffee
Black tea
Cold-brew iced tea bags
Espresso
Green tea
Peppermint tea
Various herbal teas
Whole bean coffee
In the fridge
Bacon
Bacon fat
Butter
Cornichons (little French pickles)
Cream
Cream cheese
Duck fat
Eggs
Feta cheese
Goat cheese
Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
Horseradish
Jalapenos or other hot peppers
Jam
Ketchup
Lemon juice
Lime juice
Mayo
Mozzarella
Mustard (regular and Dijon)
Parmesan
Plain yogurt
Ricotta
Sour cream
Tofu
Yeast
In the freezer
Andouille sausage
Broth (chicken or vegetable)
Frozen corn
Frozen peas
Frozen spinach
Ground beef or turkey or pork
Italian sausage
Peppers (green or red, chopped, plus chopped hot peppers)
Phyllo
Puff pastry
Whole chickens
Chicken parts (whatever's on sale)
Other
A good supply of dish towels and dish rags
A good supply of jars/Tupperware (to put homemade broth into)
Disposable latex gloves, for chopping hot peppers
Kitchen matches
Paper towels
Twine
Ziploc bags
Foil
Parchment paper
Wax paper
Cheesecloth
Here’s what I consider to be essential:
Basics
Flour (all-purpose; bread; White Lily Self-Rising, for biscuits; semolina; whole wheat and rye flours)
Sugar (regular, brown, confectioner’s)
Baking soda
Baking powder
Cornmeal
Cornstarch
Onions
Shallots
Garlic
Potatoes
Powdered milk
Baking chocolate (cocoa powder; semisweet; bittersweet; chips)
Bread crumbs
Panko
Crisco
Karo syrup (light and dark)
Crackers
Graham crackers
Croutons (homemade)
Pasta
Spaghetti and/or linguine
Penne
Elbow macaroni
Lasagna noodles
Orzo
Rice
Brown
Basmati
Arborio
Grains and beans
Black beans
Black-eyed peas
Garbanzo beans
Red beans
White beans
Pinto beans
Grits (the slow-cooking kind)
Israeli couscous
Lentils (green and red)
Steel-cut oats
Pearled barley
Bulgur wheat
Quinoa
Dried
Dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, assorted other)
Sundried tomatoes
Dried peppers, various kinds
Dried mushrooms, various kinds
Vanilla beans
Nuts
Almonds (whole and sliced)
Peanuts
Pecans
Pine nuts
Pistachios
Walnuts
Oils and vinegars
Apple cider vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Champagne wine vinegar
Chili oil
Grapeseed oil
Olive oil, the best you can afford
Peanut oil
Red wine vinegar
Rice wine vinegar
Tarragon vinegar
Truffle oil
Walnut oil
Vegetable oil
White vinegar
White wine vinegar
Extracts
Vanilla
Lemon
Almond
Orange
Sauces and Condiments
Fish sauce
Honey
Hot pepper sauces
Maple syrup (REAL maple syrup)
Memmi sauce
Molasses
Nutella
Oyster sauce
Peanut butter
Peanut sauce
Soy sauce
Sriracha chili sauce
Teriyaki
Worchestershire sauce
Thai curry paste (green and red)
Spices
Allspice (ground and whole)
Arrowroot
Barbecue seasonings (a variety)
Basil
Bay leaves
Cardamom (ground and whole)
Cayenne pepper
Celery salt
Chili powder
Cinnamon (ground and whole)
Cloves (ground and whole)
Coriander
Cream of tartar
Cumin (regular and whole)
Curry paste
Curry powder
Dill
Dried mustard
Dried pepper flakes
Fennel seeds
Filé powder
Garam masala
Garlic powder
Ginger (ground, crystallized and whole ginger root)
Ground pepper
Lavender
Liquid smoke
Marjoram
Mint
Mustard (ground and whole mustard seeds)
Nutmeg
Old Bay
Onion powder
Oregano
Paprika (regular, Hungarian sweet, and Spanish smoked)
Parsley
Poppy seeds
Rosemary
Saffron
Sage
Salt (sea salt, regular table salt, and various flavors of smoked salt)
Sesame seeds
Star anise
Tarragon
Thyme
Turmeric
Wasabi powder
Whole peppercorns
Canned items
Anchovies (in tins and anchovy paste, in tube form)
Beef broth (as a backup)
Capers
Clams
Coconut milk
Crab
Evaporated milk
Olives
Tomato paste (also in tube form)
Tomato sauce
Whole tomatoes
Tea and coffee
Black tea
Cold-brew iced tea bags
Espresso
Green tea
Peppermint tea
Various herbal teas
Whole bean coffee
In the fridge
Bacon
Bacon fat
Butter
Cornichons (little French pickles)
Cream
Cream cheese
Duck fat
Eggs
Feta cheese
Goat cheese
Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
Horseradish
Jalapenos or other hot peppers
Jam
Ketchup
Lemon juice
Lime juice
Mayo
Mozzarella
Mustard (regular and Dijon)
Parmesan
Plain yogurt
Ricotta
Sour cream
Tofu
Yeast
In the freezer
Andouille sausage
Broth (chicken or vegetable)
Frozen corn
Frozen peas
Frozen spinach
Ground beef or turkey or pork
Italian sausage
Peppers (green or red, chopped, plus chopped hot peppers)
Phyllo
Puff pastry
Whole chickens
Chicken parts (whatever's on sale)
Other
A good supply of dish towels and dish rags
A good supply of jars/Tupperware (to put homemade broth into)
Disposable latex gloves, for chopping hot peppers
Kitchen matches
Paper towels
Twine
Ziploc bags
Foil
Parchment paper
Wax paper
Cheesecloth
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog! Here, I'll be sharing recipes and techniques for enjoying great food and wine on a minimal budget.
Cooking is not and should not be intimidating. If you don't have any experience in the kitchen, well, now's a great time to get in there. Like someone once said, "First, start by facing the stove." At the beginning, cooking is really just following directions. Any decent cookbook (I particularly enjoy The Joy of Cooking) should provide a plethora of recipes and inspiration. Start by making a few simple things that you know you'll enjoy (spaghetti, cookies, burgers) and branch out from there. Most of my cooking experience has been of the improvisational nature, and you'll notice from my recipes that I don't pay much attention to proportions. Don't let that throw you--it's nearly impossible to over-season a dish (with the possible exception of hot peppers).
I try to use only whole foods in my cooking. And no, that's not a reference to the grocery store chain. Processed food and processed ingredients are just that--processed. If you've ever had a tomato fresh off the vine, still warm from the sun and slowly ripened, you know that it bears absolutely no resemblance, in either taste or texture, to a supermarket tomato purchased in January. Compare the taste of wild strawberries to supermarket strawberries, of fresh green beans to canned, of free-range, grass-fed beef to a prefrozen fast food hamburger.
The only canned food I use on a regular basis are canned tomatoes (whole and organic when possible). I use frozen corn, peas and spinach, but all other fruit and veggies are purchased fresh. There is a substantial and noticeable taste difference, as well as a sizeable nutrition difference. Fresh veggies are full of vitamins; canned veggies are not (with the exception of tomatoes). Plus the canned ones are full of preservatives and added sodium. I'm not a health nut by any stretch of the imagination; I just want my food to taste good. Here, my brother would say, "But McDonald's tastes good. And they have a dollar menu." It's true, McDonald's is engineered (literally) to press all our evolutionary buttons for fat, sugar and starch. But again, if you've ever had a burger made from fresh grass-fed beef, with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, on a freshly made sourdough bun, then any McDonald's burger will forever after taste like dirty dishwater. Throw in some hand-cut home fries, ideally fried in duck fat, and you'll be glad you spent that twenty minutes making your own burger instead of going through the drive-thru.
You may think, "I don't have time or money to deal with fresh veggies! I barely have time to heat my frozen Lean Cuisine meal every night for dinner!" Which is what this blog is all about--sharing my tricks and recipes to get healthy, simple, yummy-good meals on the table. It takes no more time to make biscuits from scratch than it does to open a can of biscuits, peel them apart, and put them in the oven. Seriously. It doesn't. Plus it's cheaper. And they taste better.
Cooking is not and should not be intimidating. If you don't have any experience in the kitchen, well, now's a great time to get in there. Like someone once said, "First, start by facing the stove." At the beginning, cooking is really just following directions. Any decent cookbook (I particularly enjoy The Joy of Cooking) should provide a plethora of recipes and inspiration. Start by making a few simple things that you know you'll enjoy (spaghetti, cookies, burgers) and branch out from there. Most of my cooking experience has been of the improvisational nature, and you'll notice from my recipes that I don't pay much attention to proportions. Don't let that throw you--it's nearly impossible to over-season a dish (with the possible exception of hot peppers).
I try to use only whole foods in my cooking. And no, that's not a reference to the grocery store chain. Processed food and processed ingredients are just that--processed. If you've ever had a tomato fresh off the vine, still warm from the sun and slowly ripened, you know that it bears absolutely no resemblance, in either taste or texture, to a supermarket tomato purchased in January. Compare the taste of wild strawberries to supermarket strawberries, of fresh green beans to canned, of free-range, grass-fed beef to a prefrozen fast food hamburger.
The only canned food I use on a regular basis are canned tomatoes (whole and organic when possible). I use frozen corn, peas and spinach, but all other fruit and veggies are purchased fresh. There is a substantial and noticeable taste difference, as well as a sizeable nutrition difference. Fresh veggies are full of vitamins; canned veggies are not (with the exception of tomatoes). Plus the canned ones are full of preservatives and added sodium. I'm not a health nut by any stretch of the imagination; I just want my food to taste good. Here, my brother would say, "But McDonald's tastes good. And they have a dollar menu." It's true, McDonald's is engineered (literally) to press all our evolutionary buttons for fat, sugar and starch. But again, if you've ever had a burger made from fresh grass-fed beef, with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, on a freshly made sourdough bun, then any McDonald's burger will forever after taste like dirty dishwater. Throw in some hand-cut home fries, ideally fried in duck fat, and you'll be glad you spent that twenty minutes making your own burger instead of going through the drive-thru.
You may think, "I don't have time or money to deal with fresh veggies! I barely have time to heat my frozen Lean Cuisine meal every night for dinner!" Which is what this blog is all about--sharing my tricks and recipes to get healthy, simple, yummy-good meals on the table. It takes no more time to make biscuits from scratch than it does to open a can of biscuits, peel them apart, and put them in the oven. Seriously. It doesn't. Plus it's cheaper. And they taste better.
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