Why You Really Should Keep a Well Stocked Storecupboard

First a bit of backstory …

About 3 years ago my book, The Leftovers Handbook, was published. It is now undergoing a makeover and the new addition, which will be called Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers will be published next March.  It seems ages to wait but, on the other hand, time seems to pass so quickly it probably won’t take long!!

Whilst discussing this new edition the possibility of a follow up book, on Storecupboards, was mooted but now seems to have fallen by the wayside, maybe it will be taken up again later.  However, as I’ve started thinking about the matter I’ve decided to do some blog posts on the things I personally like to keep in stock and how I use them to spontaneously create all sorts of meals. 

Why Should You Keep a Well-Stocked Storecupboard?

A properly stocked pantry is very important if you want to cook spontaneously and make the most of lucky finds and leftovers.

It’s no good picking up a bargain or a wonderful food discovery, being inspired and then not having the wherewithal! A well-stocked storecupboard (and fridge) allows you to be both spontaneous and creative.

Say, for instance, you are lucky enough to find some lovely fish. A very simple preparation that might please the whole family is ...

Roasted Fish

This is fine for one or several pieces of fish so long as they are all similar sizes, otherwise some will cook faster than others.

~   Preheat oven to 180ºC/350°F/160ºC fan/gas 4.
~   Season the fish with salt and pepper and rub with a little oil or butter.
~   Place, not touching, on a baking tray and roast for 10-15 minutes till the fish flakes easily if you poke it – the timing will depend on the thickness of the fish so keep an eye on it.

Now then, according to your storecupboard you could vary this wildly simply by adding ginger, garlic, chilli or Thai green curry paste, sumac, chipotle, blackening spice, herbs, lemon zest, chopped capers etc. to the butter before rubbing it on the fish.  See more about flavoured and compound butters here.  (I accidentally typed compound buggers at first, there, but I think you need a different type of blog for information on those!)

Once you have coated the fish in oil or butter, seasoned just how you like it, you could, if you wished, roll it in a little flour before roasting to give a fragile crust.

Panko Crusted Fish

Fish is often served with a crisp coating such as breadcrumbs or a batter (lots of coatings for fried food here) but the best coating to use at home (in my opinion), is lovely crunchy Japanese panko crumbs, which I always have in stock.  Just roll the buttered fish in the crumbs and bake till crisp. 

Incidentally panko crumbs are a storecupboard staple for me and I have already written about them in this appropriately titled post ~ Panko! 

I often serve this with sautéed potatoes and Green Chilli Mayonnaise – simply made by stirring together a very little Patak’s Green Chilli Pickle (storecupboard), Mayonnaise (fridge) and a squeeze of lemon (fridge or fruit bowl) but you might have Tartare Sauce in your cupboard, or you could mix something else into the mayonnaise such tomato ketchup to make a simple Marie Rose sauce (if you happen to have a little brandy in your storecupboard it is a great addition to this), or how about Sweet Chilli Sauce or go all exotic and add chopped preserved lemons or tapenade – the list is endless and it’s up to you! 

Another quickly impressive way to cook your fish in the oven is in a parcel as with this ...

Baked Fish with Tomato & Coconut

For this I use creamed coconut, another of my storecupboard staples.

1 can chopped tomatoes – perhaps with chilli
100g creamed coconut
½ tsp green chilli pickle (mentioned above) or curry paste or chilli powder or whatever you fancy to make the mixture taste gorgeous to you
grated zest and juice of ½ a lime or lemon, maybe

~   Gently heat together the tomatoes and creamed coconut and stir together till melted.
~   Add the chilli pickle/curry paste/seasoning plus maybe lime or lemon zest and juice to taste.
~   Cool. (That is an instruction, not a comment).
~   Season a nice piece of fish per person and sear in a little oil till browning on both sides – this is because, being wrapped in a parcel, it won’t brown in the oven.
~   Place on a piece of buttered foil.
~   Spread a tablespoon or a little more of the coconut stuff over each piece of fish.
~   Fold the foil loosely round the fish and filling.
~   Bake as above, maybe for slightly less time as it has already been seared.

When I worked as a chef in the Caribbean I used to bake this in a banana leaf but a piece of foil works just as well, it just doesn’t look so impressive!

Now for me I would have all these options (and then some) without having to give it another thought or buy anything else, because I am always prepared. You can build up your storecupboard over time, it doesn’t have to be a one off big expense and, with many of these things, not only do they have a long shelf life but also a little goes a long way.

So, the above was by way of an introduction to this occasional series which I shall be writing quite randomly, i.e. in no particular order. I have no intention of writing about such storecupboard basics as flour, sugar etc. but rather the things that I always keep in and the many ways I use them. Think I’ll start with mayonnaise – coming soon!

Lunch Responsibly ~ Use a Condiment!

I have started doing a lovely thing – one day a week I sort out literally hundreds of books that have been donated to Cornwall Hospice Care, dividing them into ones that can be sold on Amazon and therefore get a good price, those that are in good condition but readily available so can be sent out to the 30 or so Cornwall Hospice shops in the Duchy and those, sadly, that are in one helluva state so go to be pulped.

If you are a reader you can imagine my excitement each time I open a new box or bag of books and through the day I set aside several of the Amazon rejects to buy myself. The other day, among the books, was a little sign ...

Good advice, in fact I have been known to carry a few readily portable condiments about with me in case I chance upon a bland meal.

A condiment is defined as “a seasoning or other edible substance used to improve the taste of food.” Salt and pepper qualify, of course, and flavoured salts can be wonderful (make your own such as bacon salt and others) and freshly ground black pepper gives a boost to most things.

Here is a list of other condiments together with some ideas of how to use them, do bear in mind that several of these are very powerful tasting and act accordingly.

Apple Sauce

Famously good with pork dishes but here are lots of other apple sauce ideas – I have also made apple ice cream with it using my genius recipe (see end of post for info about this).

Balsamic Glaze 

This is a wonderful tasting and attractive looking drizzle to add to all sorts of meals. I used to make my own balsamic glaze by boiling down balsamic vinegar and then adding a little honey but it makes the place stink and it’s so much easier to buy a bottle these days. It goes particularly well with mushrooms, roasted root veg, caramelised onion dishes, certain pizzas, beef (and kangaroo, apparently), cheese and I always drizzle some on hummus. Oh, and strawberries, of course!

Black Garlic 

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that this is my favourite “new” ingredient ever. I have written about black garlic here and all over the blog!  I’ve even made surprisingly delicious ice cream with this (same genius recipe, see below)! 

Black garlic goes well with lots of things and exceptionally well with blue cheese, mushrooms, beef and other umami-ish tastes.

Capers (which are horrid, aren’t they?)

If you like them then sprinkle over smoked salmon, stir into mayonnaise (another condiment) together with some lemon zest and juice to serve with fish dishes in general and oily or smoked fish in particular. Coarsely chop and add to potato salad. Add a few chopped capers to breadcrumbs for coating fried fish, add to fish pâtés and salads or sprinkle a few on pizza (particularly if it include anchovies, they get on very well together).

Chutney and Pickles in general

Add to toasted cheese sandwiches, mix into cream cheese, enhance a salad dressing or mayonnaise, perk up a sauce with a spoonful of chutney (eg. apple chutney in apple sauce or in pork gravy), brush onto grilled meats as a glaze, and Two in Particular ...

1.   Patak’s Chilli Pickle

I know this is a bit specific but it's so deliciously useful and I find the “sludge”; the oil and spices including mustard seeds, more useful than the whole pieces of chilli so when I open a new jar I purée the lot! 

It goes into a good deal of my cooking and I have sometimes been unfairly complimented (compliments which I gracefully accepted) on the complexity of a dish, which complexity I owe entirely to Pataks. 

Add to cheese on toast, mayonnaise, seafood salads, chicken dishes, mashed potatoes and potato cakes, etc., but always abstemiously! Stir into plain yogurt as a sauce or dip. A little of the thick coconut milk from the top of a can together with a soupçon of chilli pickle sludge and a squeeze of lemon or lime makes a super sauce for scallops and other shellfish. Or simply stir though cooked rice.

2.   Mango Chutney

Stir into chicken curry a few minutes before serving to upgrade the flavour. Purée with roasted red pepper to make an excellent sauce, brush on grilled chicken to glaze just before serving, drizzle the runnier bit of chutney onto appropriate soups (eg curried lentil), stir into yogurt as a dip or accoutrement.

Cranberry Sauce

This is a good side to turkey and chicken, obviously, and duck, goose and sometimes pork, less obviously. It is also a natural accompaniment to Brie and is good with goat cheese too. Add to brie and bacon sandwiches, serve with fried or baked Brie etc. Use to glaze chicken, sausages, pork chops etc. Stir a little into braised red cabbage. Warm a little to drizzle onto pumpkin or butternut squash soup.

Horseradish

Season up mashed potato, add to fish cakes, add a tad to Yorkshire pudding batter to serve with roast beef and/or a little is good in beef gravy. It’s a great addition to smoked mackerel pate and other smoked or oily fish dishes, Add to dumplings to go with beef dishes, stir into a cream sauce to serve with steak or Bloody Mary, of course. You will notice I have used such words as “a little” or “a tad”; be cautious, you can always add more. Stir together with sour cream as an accompaniment to fish.

Hot Sauce 

This is, of course, a biggie in the Caribbean where it is so popular that it is placed on restaurant table alongside the salt and pepper and OFF (which can be confusing to those unfamiliar with the last product – it is mosquito repellent!).  

Add a drip or two of hot sauce judiciously anywhere you fancy to spice up mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheese on toast, pasta sauce, soups, chillies and stews, tomato ketchup and lots more.

Mayonnaise

Mayo makes a good alternative to butter or other spread in sandwiches, use instead of milk or cream when mashing potatoes, mix with vinaigrette to make a creamy dressing, use in fishcakes,

Mustard

Stir ready made mustard (maybe Dijon for this) into a cream sauce for steak, add a little mustard to beef gravy, use to season dumplings to go with beef dishes.  Beef loves mustard but so does pork and rabbit and cheese and ham. 

Mix together about equal parts of (wholegrain, if possible) mustard and mayonnaise and then add a little honey to taste for a fabulous accompaniment to ham or spread for ham sandwiches. Stir into the cream before pouring over potatoes when making a gratin, adding little hot English mustard makes for a very good cheese sauce,Add a little mustard powder to flour or breadcrumbs when coating appropriate things to fry.

Oils

Interesting ones such as extra virgin olive, sesame, avocado, walnut, truffle, etc. or those flavoured with lemon, chilli or basil, for instance.

Drizzle a tasty oil on top of an appropriate soup eg. basil oil on tomato soup or pumpkin seed oil on pumpkin soup (what a surprise), or salad such as, pizza edges are nice brushed with a little roasted garlic oil before baking, truffle oil is great on mushroom or mashed into potatoes and so on and so forth. Good extra virgin olive oil is good all over the place!

(See here for some excellent flavoured oils which can be used to liven up all sorts of dishes. 

Red Onion Marmalade

This is something else that is easy to make at home but easier still to buy. Not only is it a delicious cheese enhancing chutney-like thing it is also great in quite a variety of dishes, stir a little into the pan juices together with a knob of butter to sauce steak or pork, serve with meat pâtés, sausages, cheese, charcuterie and so on.

Sweet Chilli Sauce

I use this a lot to add a certain je ne sais quoi to my meals. It goes very well indeed with Asian dishes ad shellfish but with lots of other things too. Often a tomato dish will require a little sweetness and sweet chilli sauce adds this and a little spice perfectly. If your chilli con carne is lacking add this. Stir into mayonnaise or salad dressings. Add to fishcakes, fish salads and fish dishes in general. (A delicious meal can be made by cooking a piece of fish in butter, setting aside the fish, adding another knob of butter, a dash of sweet chilli sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime to make a sauce).

Tomato Ketchup 

You probably already know a lot of ways to use this, some people like to put it on everything! Sauce Marie Rose for Prawn Cocktail can be made simply by mixing 1 tbsp ketchup into 100ml mayonnaise and seasoning with a little cayenne or hot sauce and/or Worcestershire sauce (and, not normally considered a condiment, but a splash of brandy is good in this too!). Tomato ketchup can also be used to add a little sweetness to tomato soup, pasta sauces, chill or Bolognese type sauces. I actually make a very cheaty sauce for pizza using 50:50 ish tomato ketchup and tomato paste and no-on has complained so far!

Vinegars 

Of all descriptions; balsamic (for cheese, salad greens, mushrooms, beef etc.), cider (pork, chicken, apples), fruit (add a little to fruit salads), sherry (delicious drizzled onto asparagus and other green veggies), red wine (beef, pork, cheese), white wine (chicken, seafood, rabbit), rice (Asian dishes, cucumber), malt (for fish and chips) but not distilled, I don’t think. Match your vinegar to your meal to drizzle, add to pan juices, dress salads, make marinades, highlight dishes and so on, a drip here and a drop there can do wonders.

Vinaigrettes 

See here for 5 Unusual Salad Dressings to keep in your Handbag!

 

Worcestershire Sauce

Remember, my American friends, in the UK we pronounce this Wooster Sauce which saves a lot of bother (or you could say Lea and Perrins as that is the traditional make). See here for an Italian guy’s attempt to pronounce it.  

This is great with beef (eg. in burgers or on steaks) and is famous in a Bloody Mary so naturally goes well added to tomato dishes such as soup.  Other good ideas include adding it to Welsh Rarebit  and Cheese on Toast. Caesar salad dressing often includes Wooster Sauce, add a little sautéed kidneys and if you make a prawn cocktail (you old fashioned thing, you!) try a splash of the Wooster sauce in that. It is also very good in beef stews and mushroom dishes

In Other News ...

Apropos of my opening paragraph please don’t be shy about donating to charity – on my first day someone dropped off a complete set of “gentleman’s’ apparel” comprising a pair of size 12 thigh high lace up patent leather stiletto boots, a rubbery coat, a strange bra-like thingy and studded leather collar and cuffs. This fetched £250 on eBay so thank you, Sir!

21 Ways Chorizo can Enhance your Life!

Cooking and eating is more fun if you always keep in stock, as I do, a few long keeping ingredients that you love and which can used to add deliciousness to your spontaneous (or routine) creations.

I often turn to chorizo, actually a recent addition to my stores which is turning out to be invaluable. A pack of about 30 slices from Tesco costs £1.20 and the pack I bought a couple of weeks ago, at least, is dated “use by 6^th April” so that’s about 5 weeks shelf life. Mostly I only use 2 or 3 slices at a time to enhance my dishes so that’s about 10 meals for lucky old me (my real man being so conservative in his tastes).

Here are 21 of the many ways I have enjoyed chorizo  …

1.   When sautéing potatoes crispen a little chopped or shredded chorizo in the oil first then set it aside whist cooking the potatoes and stir back in towards the end

2.   Add to pizza, this is one I ate earlier topped with roasted butternut squash  (incidentally, the charred bits are on purpose!) and chorizo.

3.   Add to pasta dishes, obviously, either by cooking it into the sauce or adding to a bake. Ditto for gnocchi.

4.   Mix finely chopped chorizo into breadcrumbs to top a gratin.

5.   Chorizo Croutons 

Tear bread into pieces (better than dicing as you get lots of crispy points and edges), toss with a little shredded chorizo, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in a hot oven for a few minutes till crisp.  Good with both soups and salads. See here for lots of useful tips when making croutons.

6.   Many egg dishes benefit from a smoky spicy addition, add a little to omelettes, frittatas or scrambled eggs, baked eggs  and, of course, Spanish Omelette.

7.   White Fish with Beans and Chorizo

Finely chop a small red onion and soften in a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add come coarsely chopped chorizo and continue to cook till they have exuded some pretty red oil.  Now toss in diced white fish (cod or haddock or even monkfish if you are that lucky) and turn in the oil to colour. Add a few spoons of cannellini beans, a splash of white wine and 2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped tinned tomatoes (with chilli are good). Simmer all together till the fish is tender.  I love this topped with roasted garlic mayonnaise (something else I always have in stock, sometimes homemade, sometimes bought in).

This recipe is the meal I alluded to when interviewed by The Independent (I’m very slightly almost coming up to might be a bit famous one day!) 

8.   Baked Chicken with Chorizo and Tomatoes

~    Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6
~    Toss together chicken pieces (eg. thighs, drumsticks, quarters etc.), diced red onion, garlic, a little olive oil, salt, pepper and coarsely chopped chorizo. 
~   Roast till the chicken is tender and brown. 

    Tomatoes are also good in this so maybe add few cherry tomatoes for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

9.   I used to make a fabulous pork burger (basically just minced raw pork seasoned and formed into a burger) into which I munged a lot of crispy bits of bacon. I recently discovered that this is just as good with crisp bits of chorizo!

10. When making Bubble and Squeak or other hash gently fry some chorizo in a little oil to start the dish, it will release some delicious red oil.  Set the chorizo aside, make the hash in the pan and add the crispy set aside bits of chorizo at the end.  Try sweet potato and chorizo hash with salmon (for instance)!

11.  Chorizo Butter

Mix finely chopped chorizo and red onion into soft butter together flavourings of your choice (for instance garlic, orange zest, black pepper, paprika) and see here for lots of info on making and using flavoured butters. Depending on what else you have included try serving pan fried chicken or fish with a couple of slices of chorizo butter melting over it. Mash into jacket potatoes or use the butter to sauté prawns or scallops. Another idea is to make chorizo bread, like garlic bread only different!

12.   With cheese I am partial to sliced tomatoes and a little red onion drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, dribble of balsamic vinegar – that sort of thing.  This is extra special with a slice or two of chorizo chopped into it.

13.  Add some to stuffing for chicken etc.

14.   I think in Britain we tend to think of chorizo as Spanish which, of course it is and should be pronounced tchoreetho (and maybe accompanied by a glass of sherry!). It is also, however, a major player in South American food so add it to nachos, tacos, burritos, quesadillas etc. according to your will and pronounce it tchoreezo.

15.  Add chorizo to bread dough – fry a small red onion, diced, and a few slices of chorizo, shredded, in a dry pan. This is because chorizo is oily and you don’t want to add too my fat to the dough.  When the onion is soft cool a little and then knead into the dough.  Continue with your bread.

16.  Use in paella, of course, and risottos (risotti?).

17.  Chorizo Puffs

       These are a great way use for puff pastry scraps (for more ideas for passtry scraps see here.) 

~     Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6.
~     Roll out puff pastry and cut into rounds. 
~     Mix together about equal parts of coarsely chopped chorizo an grated cheese (strong cheddar is good).
~    Put a spoonful of this on each pastry round, brush the edge with egg, fold and seal into crescents.

17.  Cheese & Chorizo Bread Pud aka Strata - serves 4

150g stale bread, torn into pieces
4 slices chorizo – shredded
120g grated mature cheddar + a little more
(or other cheese of your choice)
salt and pepper
200ml milk
100ml double cream
3 eggs

~   Put the bread, 120g cheese and chorizo into a greased shallow ovenproof dish, season and toss all together.
~   Whisk together the eggs, milk and cream and pour over the bread mixture pushing the bread under the surface to soak thoroughly.
~   Set aside for half an hour or more (quite a lot more will be fine, even overnight in the fridge).
~   Preheat the oven to 350°F/180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4
~   Sprinkle the strata thingy with the rest of the grated cheese and bake for 40 minutes until risen, golden and wobbly when nudged.

18.  A little chorizo adds a lovely smokiness to chilli of any persuasion; bean, beef, chicken or turkey.

19.  Salad of course – chorizo is good with cheese, tomatoes, avocado, beans and more so see what you’ve got and take it from there.

Pin for easy reference!

20.  Chorizo Oil

lll
1 small red onion – finely chopped
1 crushed clove of garlic
3 slices of chorizo – coarsely chopped
100ml olive oil

~   Gently fry the onion, garlic and chorizo in a tablespoon of the oil till the onion is softening.
~   Stir in the remaining oil and allow to warm through.
~   Cover the pan and set aside to cool and take flavour.
~   Drizzle (with or without the lumps!) on things such as this fine bean soup which I just had for my sudden lunch.

21.  Mussels and Chorizo in Saffron Garlic Broth – serves 4

a pinch of saffron threads
1 medium onion – finely chopped
2 finely minced garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
100g shredded chorizo
120ml chopped tomatoes – the ones with chilli are good here
(tinned or from a carton)
1 kg fresh mussels

~   Firstly toast the saffron threads for a few seconds in a dry pan, this helps it yield more of its expensive flavour and colour.
~   Set the saffron aside, add the olive oil to the pan and soften the onion and garlic in this.
~   Stir in the chorizo and cook a couple of minutes then crumble in the saffron and add 250ml water (or fish stock if you have some) and the tomatoes.
~   Bring to a boil and add the mussels. 
~   Cover the pan and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes by which time the mussels should have opened.  Any that haven’t should be discarded.

Serve with crusty bread, a glass of wine and a grin.

Preparing Mussels

This post is long enough so if you need to know how to prepare mussels go here and the lovely people from Waitrose will explain it to you. 

Not washing up pays off in the Bacon Fat Department!

~  Menu  ~

Sweet potato cooked in bacon fat!
Crunchy topped Baked Plaice

  

Yesterday lunchtime, when I hunger struck, I prowled around the kitchen (as much as one can prowl in a 19” caravan) uninspired when suddenly I found a cooked sweet potato in the fridge.  I put it there myself so I wasn’t too startled.  

I decided to fry it till crisp on the outside and was then downhearted to realise I hadn’t washed the frying pan.  However … it had bacon fat in it.  Hurrah!  Let me tell you sweet potato fried in bacon fat and eaten with copious black pepper and some crunchy sea salt is nothing to be sad about.

Later in the day, about 5, I decided to clear out my food cupboard a bit and when I opened the door a packet with a single seeded Ryvita fell out, so I ate it.  I was left with a collection of crumbs and seeds in the packet and wondered what to do with them.  I then found some scraps of hazelnuts and flaked almonds and remembered there were some plaice fillets in the freezer so my meal became clear ...

Baked Plaice with Store-cupboard Leavings Crust

a few seeds and nuts and cracker crumbs and what have you

a handful of fresh breadcrumbs

olive oil

seasonings

fish fillets

~    Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/180ºC fan/gas 6.

~    Mix together all the dry ingredients and season to you liking – I, of course, added a few chilli flakes.

~    Moisten with the olive oil, stirring till the crumbs are soaked.

~    Season the fish and place on an oiled tray – skin side down if it’s got skin.

~    Smear the top of the fish with oil or butter.

~    Spread the crumb mixture on the fish and bake till cooked – only a few minutes for plaice, longer for a thicker fish.

I had a little piece of butternut squash and a small sweet potato in the fridge so I also made homefries, similar to the ones I used to do for brunch when I was cheffing in the BVI.  Not quite the same because then I used to add Red Bliss potatoes with their skin on which made the dish even prettier but the little potatoes I used are fine too.  

Pretty Homefries

an assortment of potatoes and squash

olive oil

salt & pepper

~   Peel and cut the potatoes and squash into even sized pieces.

~   Cover the potatoes only in cold water, salt the water, and bring to a boil.

~   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

~   Add sweet potato and cook covered another 5 minutes.

~   Add squash and cook a further 10-15 minutes till all are tender.

~   Drain thoroughly and allow to steam dry.

~   Shallow fry in olive oil, turning occasionally, till all crisp and golden.

~   Season and eat.

When frying potatoes like this it is important not to disturb them too frequently so that they have time to form crisp crusts. Let them sit a while after adding to the pan before turning them.

Actually when I served the meal it  looked a bit dry and boring, but it was so good I’d have been happy to have eaten it at Rick Stein’s or similar! 

17 more great ideas for bacon fat in my book 

mentioned below.

Speaking of Rick Stein!

Read More Here!