The Well Stocked Pantry

Written by Chef Elisa Hindes, Sous Chef for Whole Foods Market and blogger, A Life in Pie

The Boy Scouts had it right when they coined their motto, “be prepared.” As with scouting, preparation is the key to success in cooking. While many an exciting new dish can be made by improvising with what you have laying around, preparation will save you precious time and money. The foundation of preparation in the kitchen starts with a well-stocked pantry. Keeping the essentials on hand will not only help you to avoid last minute problems (“I swear I had that!”), but enable you to cook a wide variety of foods without constant back-breaking trips to the grocery store.

When it comes to cooking, our mantra is fresh is best. But in the pantry, there are many dried, canned and boxed items that will prove invaluable to you. Here you will find a list of the essential items that will keep you cooking. Let’s assume that we all have flour, sugar, salt and pepper in our cupboards and build from there.

THE BASICS

Stock or broth – chicken at a minimum but beef and vegetable are also helpful. The low sodium variety is best so that your food is not overly salty.

Canned, diced tomatoes in juice.

Canned tomato paste.

Dried pasta – Try keeping several varieties, including a long noodle such as spaghetti or fettuccini and a short noodle, such as penne or elbow.

Soy sauce – a naturally brewed variety, called tamari, is preferable over the usual supermarket brands.

Worcestshire sauce – great for adding a meaty flavor and color to sauces, gravies and roasts.

Olive oil – extra virgin is your best friend for sautéing and making dressings and marinades.

Vegetable and/or canola oil – your second best friend for sautéing and making dressings and marinades.

Vinegar – cider and white wine are good versatile vinegars to have on hand but red wine, rice, and balsamic are so widely used it is hard to leave them out.

Cornstarch – used for thickening sauces and gravies and also comes in handy in some breading applications.

Canned beans – kidney, pinto and black beans can be used in a variety of cold and hot dishes.

Canned fruit – pineapple and mandarin oranges right out of the can are perfect for tossing into both green and fruit salads.

Rice – long or medium grain white rice and brown rice will cover your bases in everyday applications. If you like to get fancy once in a while, stock some Italian arborrio rice for making risotto.

Condiments -- ketchup, mustard (Dijon and yellow), mayonnaise, barbeque sauce and hot sauce. 

Honey- Sometimes just a few drizzles can add a little sweetness to a vinaigrette or a sauce.

Dried herbs and spices – OK, this one could be an article on its own but the essentials include rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, dill, tarragon, bay leaves, paprika, garlic powder, chile powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, and coriander. An all-purpose blend such as Jane’s Crazy Mixed-Up Salt or Mrs. Dash can also come in handy when you need to simply season a burger or piece of chicken. If you really want to go crazy, buy whole spices and grind them yourself in a coffee grinder (for spices only, please). Otherwise, try to buy small quantities from a store that sells bulk spices so you’re sure to use them up while they are still fresh.

Capers – these salty, tart little bundles of flavor are the berry of a flowering shrub. Use them in Italian and Mediterranean cooking.

Sundried tomatoes – they are one of the biggest food “fad” ingredients for a reason. You can’t beat them for adding concentrated, sweet tomato flavor to any dish.

Bread crumbs – Japanese panko crumbs create a light, crispy coating on anything fried. Standard dried breadcrumbs will do in a pinch. Or make your own by drying out the leftover odds and ends of bread in a low oven and grinding it in the food processor.

Peanut butter – not just for sandwiches, you can use it in Asian dishes and dressings.

FOR THE FOODIES

Here are a few extra ingredients for the gourmets out there.

Anchovies – much maligned salty little fish, essential in pasta puttanesca and many other Italian, French and Mediterranean dishes.

Olives – kalamata, Spanish, oil cured, the list goes on.

White truffle oil – when you really want to impress someone, drizzle a tiny amount over pasta or risotto with mushrooms.

Premium olive oil – it is well worth the high price when you want the flavor of the oil to come through, usually in uncooked applications. 

Ethnic spices and spice blends – such as garam masala, curry, fenugreek, smoked paprika, cardamom, star anise, Chinese five spice powder and Schezuan peppercorns.

Asian condiments – chili sauce, black bean sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, fish sauce, you get the picture.

Coconut milk – a must for Thai cooking.

Breakfast Burritos

My sister is a fabulous chef and she inspires me all the time.  As a side note, she's is the genius behind A Life In Pie.  Before she had her current job as a sous chef with Whole Foods, she was doing some catering and supplying several of her local coffee carts with breakfast burritos.  When my baby boy was born, she came to visit and supplied us with a bunch of burritos which provided me with easy breakfast for the family both on weekdays or when we're out the door early on the a weekend for a soccer game.  My husband loves to have them on hand at work because it can give him a filling start to a busy day where he often doesn't have a chance to eat until the late afternoon.  Ever since her visit in May, I've managed to usually have a supply of breakfast burritos in our freezer.
There are plenty of recipes out there for breakfast burritos.  I've had people ask me how I do it, so I thought I should finally take a moment to share.  So really I don't consider this a recipe so much as it's just a how-to.  Or more accurately, my how-to.  But the beauty of it, is it can become YOUR how-to.  Made them how you like, the sky is the limit on the combination of fillings.  Also, breakfast burritos are cheap!  For the size of tortillas I use, it's only a couple spoonfuls of filling and a pinch of cheese, so you can make a lot with not that much.  These aren't enormous restaurant breakfast burritos that put you in a coma, these are the perfect size to fuel your morning.

Breakfast Burritos
2 russet potatoes, diced fairly small
olive or canola oil
4 eggs, scrambled with about 1/4 cup milk
salt, pepper or seasoning salt
1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage
1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded cheese
12 tortillas (I use the Jumbo size sold at my local Costco)
Plastic wrap and zipper bags for storage

Heat a large pan over medium high, drizzle enough oil to coat the pan and add the potatoes.  Stir frequently and season as you like.  When the potatoes are cooked there and many are crispy, transfer them to a plate or bowl while you finish the other parts.  Using the same pan, add the breakfast sausage, breaking it apart into crumbles.  When that's cooked through, turn the heat to medium, you can spoon off any extra oil or grease and discard.  Then pour in the scrambled egg and milk mixture, stir constantly and quickly to cook the eggs.  Turn off the heat to avoid overcooking the eggs.  Add the potatoes back in, combine it all together and then set aside to cool for a bit.

See how much filling that makes?

Prepare to roll your tortillas- Take a dinner plate, stack about 4 tortillas on it, pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  (Unless your tortillas are at room temp which in that case you can skip that part and just stack them all on the plate)  Get your cheese ready and then take about 2 spoonfuls (I use a dinner spoon, which is bigger than a tea spoon), add a generous pinch of cheese, then fold the burrito.
Wrap the burrito tightly with some plastic wrap, then on to the next one.

Here's a little video I found to show you how to wrap a burrito- Burrito Wrapping Instructions

My finished burritos!  I made 12 with just that small inexpensive amount of filling

Place them all in a zipper bag or a airtight container and place them in your freezer.  When you want to eat one, a frozen one takes about 2-3 minutes in the microwave if it has a turn table, or if not, do it in one minute intervals just to be sure it heats evenly.  If it's not frozen, it takes about a minute.  We often stick them in to heat, go finish getting ready, then grab them on the way out the door.

So- The possibilities are endless.  Increase the "fuel-factor" and saute kale or spinach with mushroom in a little olive oil, then use 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites scrambled together and add some diced ham or use turkey sausage.  Or make it more authentic; black beans, eggs, salsa (or diced tomatoes) and cheese.  Sometimes when we have leftovers from tacos, like rice, beans and a little meat, I just use that with a a couple of eggs and the leftover cheese.  Leave a comment to let me know what combination of filling you make!