What ingredients do you use? everytime Is it in your kitchen? I love asking my friends this question. You can enjoy peeking into someone’s daily life. Cookbook author Dan Pelosi once gave me a list of olive oil, rigatoni, Castelvetrano olives, lemon, and anchovies. (Just reading this made me wonder how I could get invited to dinner.) Poet Kate Bear’s list includes tortilla chips, feta cheese, roadside fruit, frozen peas, and “sourdough bread from my sister-in-law,” which is somehow Kate Bear’s most fun answer yet. So this year, I would like to introduce you to 5 essential items for my own kitchen…
white wine vinegar
There are usually anywhere from 6 to 200 different types of vinegar floating around my cupboard, but the one I always have on hand is white wine vinegar. I don’t know how balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar became a staple, or how this made them even easier to use. It’s great as a base flavor for vinaigrettes and chicken salad dressings, as well as for recipes that call for white. wine (I don’t always have one). Sumiton Kitchens dijon chickenfor example? It’s one of my favorite meals. Don’t tell Deb, but I think it tastes even better if you replace 3/4 cup of wine with 1/3 cup of vinegar.
frozen edamame
in particular, Edamame with shell. If you leave the shelled ones in the freezer for several months, they may become powdery or bland. But shelled edamame seem to last forever, coming out of the steamer brightly colored, plump and tender. Edamame is the hero ingredient that saves me from every dinner predicament. When the broccoli I was planning to make turned yellow. When you’re looking for an after-school snack. When you need lunch but don’t have time to make it. Edamame, help me!
kerrygold butter
I know there are higher quality butters out there, but sometimes I buy them just for fun. Let’s all have fun! I’ll think about it in my own way. Then I’ll guard it like a wolf the next week and make sure no one finishes my Berry Fancy Special Butter with flaky salt bits. Yeah, it’s fun for everyone, right? The problem is, Kerrygold isn’t just good; consistently Good (and fairly consistent prices). It’s rich, creamy, and has just the right amount of salt.
passata tomato puree
A few years ago, when my husband started adding this to his shopping cart, I was confused. Why not buy the same canned tomatoes you always have? They looked the same, except that they came in tall glass bottles. But I quickly learned that it’s better. Passata is pureed, uncooked tomato puree that is more flavorful and smoother than canned cooked tomato puree. It can be used as a sauce without any modification. And when I started substituting it with my usual tomato-based recipes, wow, I noticed a difference. Is the price somehow better? (wegmans store brands ($3.49 for a 24-ounce bottle!) Also, unlike canned tomatoes, you can open the bottle, use the cup, and immediately put it back in the fridge without transferring it to another container. Win, win.
Dutch cocoa
When I was growing up, my mother worked as a chef and caterer, and there was always a box of “Dutch” cocoa nearby. Now that I’m an adult, I use cocoa powder in just about any recipe that calls for it, including hot fudge, cakes, brownies, and hot chocolate. The flavor is chocolate turned up to 11. It’s rich, intense, and pure chocolate. I used to carry both Dutch cocoa and regular cocoa, but at some point I stopped using the latter and found myself going completely Dutch. How you like cocoa is a matter of personal preference (and in some cases it also depends on the compatibility of the recipe), but in my house, if we’re making chocolate cake, we make chocolate cake.
Wow! It felt oddly weak to share! So, if you don’t mind, please let me know. What is the one thing you have in your kitchen that you can never live without?
PS Kitchen gadgets to upgrade everything, and the secret to great dinners with friends. (Plus, Joanna first asked this question 10 years ago!)
Source: Cup of Jo – cupofjo.com
