A well-stocked Kitchen
What does having a well-stocked kitchen mean?
It means having the basics in your cupboards, at your disposal, from which almost any meal could spring. To me, this means onions, garlic, carrots, and celery to provide the base for just about anything from soup to sauces; proteins like bacon, eggs and cheese; legumes, pasta in various shapes, and my favorite grains like basmati rice, farro, and quinoa as side dishes or the base of any vegetarian cooking; flavorings such as dried herbs and spices, salt in 5-6 different varieties, black pepper, and chili powders; baking basics like sweeteners (sugar, honey and maple syrup to name a few), flour (all-purpose, spelt, whole wheat, bread flour), various nuts such as walnuts, pecans and almonds; fats such as butter (both unsalted for baking and salted Kerrygold for everything else), extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, toasted sesame oil and avocado oil; a variety of vinegars such as rice wine, white wine, red wine, herb and balsamic; and let’s not forget the condiments like mayonnaise, hot sauce, salsa, mustard, and soy sauce.
With these basics you can create almost anything. Never be without them. Restock them immediately when you run out! The key is to be ready for nearly anything. Consider doing this like making an emergency preparedness kit, except the “emergency” is dinner.
Take note of what you cook regularly. You’ll see a pattern emerge. I gravitate towards Italian and Mediterranean dishes, so I always have ingredients on hand that are typical for that kind of cuisine. Things like pasta, kalamata olives, cans of tomatoes in all their various forms, sundried tomatoes in oil, chicken broth in the freezer, and lots of fresh vegetables. This makes me fairly ready to make just about anything I may be in the mood for. I find it easier to do my weekly shopping when I already have the basics on hand. It saves time. To make something, I usually only need a few more things to complete the dish. When I shop, it’s really just the perishable items like fruit, vegetables and protein that are needed.
Also, by stocking your kitchen with the basics, you could be buying in larger quantities, which will save you money. “Bulk” shopping or getting ingredients in larger quantities at a store like Costco, for instance, is definitely worth it if you use these things regularly or can split them with a family member or friend that lives nearby. It’s easy to go overboard with buying in larger quantities - not everything has an infinite shelf life. Spices, for instance, shouldn’t be kept longer than 6-9 months. They lose their potency. Other stuff just gets rancid (nuts, for instance, and anything else containing oil. Make sure you turn these items over with a fair amount of frequency). And no, just because you put something in the freezer does not mean it will be held in suspended animation forever! Stuff in there should be recycled every 3-6 months as well.
A well-stocked kitchen should also contain the tools you’ll need to get the job done: pots, pans, and knives, for instance, but I’ll cover that in another post soon.
The “well-stocked kitchen” makes cooking more fun and a whole lot easier. Have the basic ingredients you need at your disposal and future culinary creations now are only limited by your imagination.
Happy cooking!
#kitchentools #wellstockedkitchen
