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!

Ras al Hanout ~ Posh Spice!

This might say Ras al Hanout!

~  Menu  ~

Trout & Avocado Salad with Ras al Hanout Mayonnaise

Vicky’s Bread

White Wine Spritzer

A week or so ago I was in Truro where, lo and behold, Ally from Nature Kitchen was there with a stall selling her spices.  She had some tasters one of which was a dip made from ras al hanout – it was so good I felt like testing the whole lot!  

I didn’t get any spices at the time because I was distracted by a handmade jumper on the next stall so yesterday I popped into St. A and got myself a small modicum of the stuff.

Ras al Hanout 

Nice one for Pinterest!

A Moroccan spice blend whose name translates as head or top of the shop or as we would similarly say “top shelf”, so pretty special (posh spice!), made up of a large and variable range of spices including in some cases hashish and Spanish fly!  I asked Ally if her mix contained such delights and she said …

“No those herbs (hashish and Spanish fly), although much sort after, are too expensive to add to the ras. 26 spices altogether in this deeply secret blend. ….. No two ras al hanouts should be the same as they are the individual spicer’s personal recipe.” 

Whatever Ally puts in her ras is fine with me, it’s delicious; a kind of floral garam marsala, a bit like curry but not, if you see what I mean.

Having tasted Ally’s delicious dip I tried mixing the ras with mayonnaise (delish), with Greek yogurt (delish) and with both (delish) – so there you have it!

I then had three bowls of ras al hanout-ish dips so mixed some leftover cooked trout and half a perfectly ripe avocado in with the mayo one – and hey presto; my sudden lunch.

My friend Debs lived in Morocco for a year or so and she tells me that Ras al Hanout is good in rice dishes, as a rub on chicken, in lamb tagine, with cous cous, chickpeas and that sort of thing.  

I think I shall try it soon as a rub on fish before pan frying because it certainly went well with the trout.  I also imagine it would be good in lentil or split pea soup.  In fact I have so many ideas I want to try I think I'll get a great big modicum next time!

When I was at the little market in Truro I also saw a stand selling some pretty impressive looking pork products.  I didn’t buy any as I wasn’t going home for ages and I didn’t get any info but I think the company was called Cornish Black Pig.  Anyhoo, here’s a photo of their stuff.

Hasn’t the weather been fab, here in Cornwall at least, considering how late in the year it is?  We went for a drive, fish ‘n’ chips and a pint yesterday lunchtime and saw people with no shirts on, kite surfers (you can just make one out in this quick pic I took from the moving car), flowers still flowering and sun-bathers still sun bathing.