The Pantry

STUFF TO BUY (OR ACQUIRE) REGULARLY & HAVE ON HAND

-       Herbs: Parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, tarragon, and other herbs that are best used fresh. Keep them in a glass of water for a few days on the counter or in the fridge. After that you can dry or freeze them. Olive oil mixed in with tender herbs like basil will protect against freezer burn.

-       Ginger

-       Bread (or tortilla)

-       Garlic (the best kind is found at farmer’s markets or specialty grocery stores)

-       Eggs (make sure they are as fresh as you can find)

-       Limes/lemons (it’s good to always have some citrus on hand)

-       Nuts (pine nuts, almonds, mixed)

-       Plain yogurt (preferably the Greek kind whereas the whey is removed)

-       Hot peppers

-       Onions

-       Cabbage

-       Yeast

-       In season vegetables and fruits

-       Potatoes

-       Plantains

-       Apples

­-       Turnips or Rutabaga

-       Squashes

FRIDGE

-       Lard, bacon, and a stash of bacon fat

-       Duck fat

-       Mustard

-       Parm. Cheese

-       Cheeses of choice

-       “Milk” (could be soy, half&half, rice milk, parmalat)

-       Creaminess: cream, sour cream, cream cheese.

-       Olives

-       Nut butters

-       Sour preserves (kraut, pickles, kim chi)

-       Sweet preserves (jellies, jams)

-       Catsup

-       Asian hot sauce

-       Parsley (fresh)

-       Tahini

-       Capers

-       Carrots and/or other root veggies like beets or parsnip

-       Celery

-       Butter: Both quality and cheap butter. Quality is used on toast and sauces, and the cheap stuff is used in recipes.

-       Anchovy paste in tube

-       Tomato paste in tube (or an opened can)

-       Horseradish

-       Mayo: it’s always fun to make your own, think garlic, basil or chipotle flavored

-       Black Bean Paste: Good for a veggie marinade

-       Lemon and/or lime juice.

FREEZER

-       Can of apple juice: On hand to use in Anne Marie Colbin’s recipe for sick folks.

-       Can of orange juice

-       Butter

-       Sausages and ground meats (ground in fat helps protect against freezer burn)

-       Stock of any sort

-       Soybeans (ideal for mixing with Mac & Cheese)

-       Animal parts

-       Fish

-       Spinach or other similar greens, blanched/made freezable

-       Berries

-       Nuts can be stored here and kept longer

-       Doughs of sorts

-       Tortillas of sorts or dumpling wrappers of sorts

-       Breadcrumbs

CUPBOARD

-       Parmalat

-       Soymilk or ricemilk (the small lunch-sized ones are great to have on hand)

-       Powered milk

-       Kudzu root starch (or cornstarch)

-       Salt: smoked, other flavored salts, sea salt both rock and ground (rock salt needs mortar and pestle)

-       Peppercorns (needs pepper mill)

-       Miso

-       Currants, raisins, cranberries

-       Other dried fruit

-       Canned tomatoes, particularly plum tomatoes as well as tomato paste

-       Canned fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, clams, octopus, anchovies… your choice)

-       Condensed soups, dried soups

-      Sweet stuff: honey, agave nectar or stevia for sugar substitution, molasses, brown sugar

-       Actual Vanilla extract

-      Dried seaweeds

-       Soak-able Asian noodles

-       Instant coffee

-       Espresso

-       Chipotle (comes canned, once opened, put in a jar in the fridge)

-       Dried herbs (bay leaves, thyme, oregano, dill, rosemary, sage, tarragon, etc.)

-       Various Spices (pepper, chili flakes, cinnamon, coriander, fennel seed, celery seed, minced garlic, mustard seed, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, etc.)

-       Spice mixes: Herbes de Provence, Chinese 5-spice blend

-       Smoked paprika (to the awesome level)

-       Bragg’s or soy sauce

-       Worcestershire sauce

-       Quality cocoa

-       Falafel mix

-       Pastas

-       Mac & Cheese and some other quick meal items

-       Dried mushrooms

-       Canned and/or dried beans (chickpeas, black beans, lentils, cannelloni, etc.)

-       Grains (rice, spelt, couscous, bulgur, oatmeal, barley, quinoa, etc.)

-       Flour (white, wheat, cornmeal)

-       Baking stuff: powder, soda, sugar, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa

-       Vinegar (white wine, rice, cider, balsamic)

-       Wine (white, red)

-       Spirits (brandy, vermouth, sherry, rum, gin)

-       Oil (sesame, olive, extra virgin olive, canola/safflower, choose what you like)

-       Cooking spray

-       Sun dried tomatoes

-       Dried mushrooms

-       Crackers

-       Stock or bouillon cubes (Beef, Poultry, Vegetable, Fish)

SURVIVAL STASH

A large portion of the pantry list is survival stash, be it turnips, powdered milk or dried seaweed. The point of this auxiliary list, the survival stash, is that this food is to be stored for emergency, or camping, and as well as when the time calls for it. That may be the time you forgot to buy bread/crackers for the headcheese. In such a case you may use…

-             German packaged bread

… and the list goes on with all sorts of useful larder items

-            Well-sealed wheat wafers, and/or vanilla wafers and definitely ginger snaps

-            Soy grits

-            Tomato flakes

-            Dried veggies and fruit leather

-            Ginger chews/candy

-            Jerky of all sorts

-            Tinned beef and canned beef gravy

-            Easy cheese or some other non-refrigerated cheese

-            Small packages of dry miso soup

-            Bottled juice concentrate

-            Canned veggies and tomato juice

-            Vitamin C powder and rose hip powder

-            Wheat germ, flaxseed

-            Packaged puddings

-            Tea

-            Whiskey

-            WATER

If you like this list, you may also like this post: http://laurelthelarder.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/fruit-cakes