In the last article I waxed poetic about salts, but first I teased you about my pantry staples (again, I mean the big boxes of flavorings, not not the big box store). Today I dive into all the other things I think are essential to cooking at home.
Unless you are a vampire, it is a good idea to keep garlic around – fresh and dry. When making a stir fry, I like to slice fresh garlic into thin slices and use it as a vegetable. For sautéing I mince it, or chop it very finely, by first cutting it into chunks and making it progressively smaller and smaller with a knife. For sauces and dressings I am a fan of a garlic press or grater. My favorite garlic press is one that has removable inserts. OXO and Good Grips make versions, and if you search you can find ones with both fine and coarse inserts. The “hopper” (love that word) is big and can handle multiple cloves at once. When I am impatient, regardless of what I am making, I reach for a garlic press because better pressed than having no garlic at all.
I use dry garlic when I am making a rub for meat, or a salt mix, or when there is no other option.
Garlic grows in a few delicious stages. It is planted in the fall, and when it comes up in the spring it is thinned; the little new garlic plants are great for mincing. As the plant gets bigger it sends up a stem with a bud on top, all of which is mild and edible. Cutting this stem, called a garlic scape, forces the plant’s energy into the bulb. Curly garlic scapes are great on the grill and make excellent pesto, as well as an addition to dressings. Next is young garlic, a bulb that is not entirely formed. You can see the divisions that will become cloves, but the papery covering has not developed, and you can mince it. It will render the flavor of garlic without the hassle of peeling. Peeling garlic is a drag, especially if it is local and not super dry. (If you pick up garlic that is super dry, there is a great trick for removing the paper: Separate the cloves, put them in two metal bowls held together to form a kind of orb – and shake like crazy. The peels will slip off. Hopefully.)
My last hot garlic tip is this one, which I have been told is a French style, though who knows: I like to mix a garlic salad dressing in the bottom of a salad bowl and let it sit for several minutes before I toss in the greens. It gives the garlic a chance to mellow in the oil and vinegar (2 parts to one part, respectively) and to infuse the dressing. I often will mix in diced pears or green onions while it sits.
Next up is oils. There is olive oil, and there is neutral oil. Olive oil is worth investing in, and you need to try a few to find the ones you like. It can range from very pungent – I do not recommend cooking with a pungent one – to quite mild. Think of this as a finishing oil, and good for dressings. The way to taste the flavor of an olive oil is to place a little on your tongue and breathe in, allowing the air to pass over the oil. Choose the one you like. Italian, Turkish, Greek or other. It’s a matter of taste. Olive oil has a lower “smoking point” than other vegetable oils, so while it is good for cooking, you might not want to choose it for stir fry. And definitely not for deep frying.
For those things, reach for a neutral oil such as canola, safflower or mixed vegetable oil. (What we call canola in the United States is called rapeseed in Europe.) With a very high smoking point, peanut oil is the gold standard for deep frying things such as chicken, but it is an allergy risk in group situations. Avocado oil also has a very high smoking point, but it is expensive and not particularly economical in quantity.
Vinegars come in many different styles and flavors, but be not fooled; white vinegar is not vinegar, but rather an acid concoction that is not fermented but rather mixed. It is excellent for cleaning and making science project volcanoes, not so much for eating. White wine vinegar is a different thing, made by fermenting white wine, and champagne vinegar is the one you use in a mignonette – a combination of that vinegar with finely minced shallots, often served on raw oysters.
For salad dressings I love red wine vinegar or cider vinegar. I also use cider vinegar for quick pickling. It makes the vegetables a little bit browner than if you use white vinegar, but I prefer the flavor. Balsamic vinegar, popular for drizzling on vegetables, especially a caprese salad of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, is aged in barrels. The longer it is aged, the thicker it becomes. To make a balsamic glaze you can simply use a younger balsamic and reduce it in a pan, keeping an eye on it. When the bubbles start to become fine, get it off the heat before it burns.
Spices are generally toasted and ground seeds, but an exception is paprika, a spice I do not want to live without. It is made by drying sweet peppers, sometimes smoked, and grinding them up finely. This is not the same as ground cayenne pepper. I might be the only person who does not love cayenne. For heat I will reach for a fresh hot pepper such as jalapeño, dried ghost pepper or one of the millions of hot sauces that crowd my fridge door. An exception? I like Mcilhenny’s hot sauce, which is made from fermented cayenne, which is why it is vinegary.
Black pepper is a classic spice in that it is a dry seed that is ground up. I have a little bit of a peeve about how recipes often call for salt and pepper. Like other spices, I feel that pepper has its place. If you do want to use it ubiquitously, though, consider one that is not Pondicherry, or the classic black peppercorn. Red peppercorns, long peppercorns and others can lend an exciting twist of flavor. White pepper is another animal altogether and similar to mace, or the outside shell of nutmeg. I love it in egg dishes such as quiche, but I find it to be “bossy” and use it sparingly.
Cumin is a seed I love, as is coriander. Cumin is so distinctive that I try to use it with intention, but I certainly know people who feel it belongs in pretty much every dish. Cumin and ground coriander are found often in curry recipes and Mexican food. Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant, but they taste nothing alike and people who hate cilantro often are just A-okay with ground coriander.
I always keep a lemon and a lime in my fridge, so they do not really quality as pantry staples, but they are important to me. I love lime as an alternative to lemon in a chicken dish or in an apple pie.
Onion is another one that is not in the cupboard but I always keep around. Red, white and green – all different, all have their applications. I like red best raw, in salads; white can be bitey or mild. The sweet one is sometimes called Vidalia, which is regional, and can be eaten raw. Most white, or yellow, onions are best cooked. Green onions and scallions are all the same thing. Chopped up and sprinkled on many dishes, they are mild and fresh. Sometimes you can find spring onions, which are a more mature green onion or an immature white onion. They are great grilled, or chopped up like scallions.
To wrap this up, another thing I hoard is jams and jellies, and not just for spreading on toast. I use them often in cooking, particularly in the deglazing of pans after I have sauteed meat such as pork chops. After the meat has come off heat, and while it rests, you can first stir a bit of jam and add the juice that has run off the resting meat to create a sauce.
I”m going to leave you with my favorite pork chop recipe, which I found in Cooks Illustrated back when people had subscriptions to paper magazines. Now we have the ease of finding this excellent recipe here, on America’s Test Kitchen’s site. This is a recipe for which I use jam to make a finishing sauce. Starting pork chops in a cold pan is a fail-safe way to keep them from turning into shoe leather, and has the benefit of not spitting pork fat all over your stove.
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