Pantry

STOCKING THE MYTHICAL PANTRY
Right, more like stuffing the free nooks of my cabinets and piling anything extra onto a table in my basement. If you do have a pantry, you also probably have a cook and don’t really need this blog but you’re welcome to read on. For good, quick meals it is absolutely essential to have a well-stocked if mythical pantry. There is nothing more annoying than seeing a quick and easy recipe that calls for some chicken stock or nutmeg and having to scrap the whole idea because you don’t have a core ingredient on hand. This book is very shopping focused because for me that is the hardest part of cooking. If you had all sorts of wonderful fresh ingredients on hand you could adlib every night, but that is neither practical nor cost effective. Below are some essentials to stock up on. Keep a look out for our PANTRY ALERTS for local sales.

Brown Sugar
Honey
Peanut Butter
Tahini (Sesame Paste)

Olive Oil ---lots of it (buy the tin gallon)
Vegetable Oil
Peanut Oil
Sesame Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar—lots of it
Red Wine Vinegar---made by mixing Apple Cider Vinegar with leftover red wine
Sherry or Port (I know this seems fancy but $10 here goes a LONG way to vastly improve meals)
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire

Vermouth
Chicken Stock
Pasta- many different kinds so no one gets bored
Rice- white, brown, wild
Couscous

Beans – Cannellini, Black
Stewed or Crushed Tomatoes

Bay Leaves
Black Peppercorns
Bay Leaves
Thyme
Tarragon
Rosemary
Madras Curry Powder
Ground Ginger