People always ask me what my “schtick” with Recipe Schmecipe is and it usually takes me about a million round-about sentences to arrive at my point (if you’ve ever heard me explain ANYTHING, you will know what I mean) BUT the truth is that I just don’t use recipes, I keep certain things on hand at all times and then work different seasonal ingredients in with them to make something new essentially….. And when I finally convey that simple point, people always follow with, “then why the heck haven’t you posted your ‘Kitchen Essentials’ yet?”
So here we go…. I’m starting with the cold stuff. Fridge and freezer.
And I know it’s going to seem like a simple list, but these are my staples ONLY — this does not include said “seasonal ingredients” that I add in “to make something new”… That’s where you get to be creative depending on what you like!
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1) Lemons– (Some people store them at room temp which is totally great, I just find mine last longer in the fridge).
I use these in EVERYTHING, zest, juice, zest AND juice. They add a brightness to anything and really help round out the flavor. If you’re making a cream based sauce or soup, just zest a lemon in it to give it a bright, refreshing edge and the zest won’t curdle the cream like the juice does. I use lemon juice in a ton of my salad dressings or soups that I make and 9 times out of 10 end up adding it to my last minute sauce or veggie. The funny thing is that a lot of the time people will ask me what’s in a dish that we’re eating together that makes it taste so amazing and it will end up being just lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper… It’s actually kind of embarrassing because then the secret’s out that I did nothing exciting AT ALL.
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2) White Wine (for me: Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio)
You can see that this is the end of my most recent bottle and that is because I use it all the time. (I’m not kidding with this post, I didn’t even have to go to the store to prepare for it because I use all this stuff all the time). Basically, if I’m not using lemon in my soup or other hot dish then I’m using white wine. Especially when I pan-sear meat or fish or sauté a vegetable- I almost always deglaze the pan with white wine. What that means is that I raise the heat right after searing and right before pouring in the wine so that when it hits the pan it loosens up all the little bits that have collected on the pan, I then lower the heat to a simmer to cook the alcohol out- you get a real flavor boost this way. Now depending on the dish that I am using the wine in I will add other ingredients to make a unique sauce (fresh herbs, a touch of grainy mustard, chicken stock, greek yogurt, 1/2 &1/2 etc. all of these will be explained later on).
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3) Herbs (Now, you can go bottled or fresh… and even further you can go with sturdy or more fragile fresh herbs- I’ll explain, and I’ll show you how to keep fragile herbs for longer- by clicking on the TOWEL TRICK below)
When it comes to fresh herbs there are herbs that could be considered more sturdy and those that could be considered more fragile, which basically determines how long their shelf-life is (the sturdier, the longer).
Sturdy Herbs: Rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano etc.
Less Sturdy: Basil, dill, chives, cilantro etc. (I feel like parsley and mint are in a camp in the middle)
With all herbs and any leafy green item, however, I use a little TOWEL TRICK to keep them for longer than they usually keep. Another trick people do is keep their herbs perched in a shallow glass of water which works great too, but is too spillable for clumsy old me.
Anyway, I put these suckers in everything… Whichever herb I happen to have on hand is what makes its way into my dish. What’s fun is that sometimes cilantro will make it into my Italian dish and rosemary into my Mexican dish and I feel like that’s when I really get to be creative and discover something new!
When it comes to the bottled herbs, I only really use them in sauces and soups, but they last crazy long and really help add flavor. I am addicted to the ginger one actually.
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4) Onions (another one that people may keep at room temp, I just find that my eyes water less when I keep them cold)
I once heard one of my friends’ grandmothers say that whether or not she had figured out what she was making for dinner, she made sure to get some onions sautéing in olive oil just to fill the house with a smell that at least gave the impression that she had it figured out. Honestly, sautéed onions make it into even my cold salads. I use them non-stop, and if I have at least ONE other veggie on hand- I have a side dish dialed.
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5) Cheese (usually a hard or crumbled cheese- here I have parmigiano reggiano and feta, but I also love gorgonzola, goat, manchego, romano etc.)
I know it sounds silly, but adding a sprinkle of one of these really changes a dish. A farro salad with feta will have a completely different vibe than one with gorgonzola but both will be fabulous.
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6) Grainy mustard
Here is a non-fat low calorie flavor BOOST. Like I had mentioned in the wine bit, I add this to veggie sautés and sauces for meat dishes, not to mention as the base of many different salad dressings. The best part is that you really never sit back and think the dish tasted like mustard, it just tastes darn good I’m tellin ya.
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7) Greek Yogurt and non-fat 1/2 & 1/2
These are two cream based items that I use quite often when I want to add some body to my dishes but not a lot of fat. A tablespoon or two of either will add richness to any sauce, but what I like to do is a mixture of both. The non-fat 1/2 & 1/2 seems to tame the tangy flavor of the greek yogurt and together they turn any normal sauce into a cream sauce. You can add this to your white wine sauce, or your white wine and grainy mustard sauce, or your lemon zest and chicken stock sauce… the combinations are limitless.
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8) Frozen peas and/or corn
I know this seems like a no-brainer, but I am always amazed by how much these two items become the easiest ace-in-the-pocket ever. They are that final ingredient that add color and a touch of sweetness to any dish and really make it look like you put in a lot of effort. Bright green peas added at the end in a cream sauce are a GAME CHANGER… and sweet crisp corn in a your homemade soup or rice dish really make a difference.
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9) Last but not least: frozen protein (in this case I have shrimp)
Frozen ground turkey, chicken tenders, fish filets, or shrimp give any dish some serious substance. Just stick in the fridge before you leave for work and it will have thawed by the time you get home. OR run it under some luke warm water for a quicker thaw. For my seafood, I like to do a quick soak of about 3 parts water to 1 part dry vermouth, rinse and pat dry to get rid of any fishy smell or flavor that can come with freezing seafood.