Standard Kitchen Items
 

So, Rachael Ray has a new magazine out, and it's honestly not that bad... design needs a little help but the content is good... attached to the magazine, there's also a website..

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/

One of the things on the website, and in the magazine as well, is a bunch of standard items that no kitchen cupboard or fridge should be without...

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/content...T&wtID=kitchen

SPICE RACK
cayenne pepper
bay leaves
ground cinnamon
sweet paprika
dried rosemary
crushed red pepper flakes
dried thyme
dried oregano
kosher salt
black peppercorns
fine sea salt

FRIDGE
soy sauce
Tabasco sauce
ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
pure maple syrup
mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
milk
unsalted butter
large eggs
cheddar cheese
bacon

MISC.
garlic
onions (yellow, red, shallots)

CUPBOARDS
extra-virgin olive oil
vegetable (or canola) oil
chicken broth
dried pasta
red wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar
arborio rice
long-grain rice
canned tomatoes (whole, crushed, tomato sauce)
canned beans (black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, etc.)
dried lentils
canned tuna (olive oil- and water-packed)
bread crumbs
granulated sugar
brown sugar (light or dark)
baking soda
baking powder
pure vanilla extract
cornstarch
semisweet chocolate
chips
unsweetened cocoa powder
golden raisins

FREEZER
nuts (almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, etc.)
frozen vegetables (broccoli, corn, peas, spinach, etc.)
frozen fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.)
all-purpose flour
bread (wrap in plastic before freezing)


I think I actually have most of those items in my cupboard at all times
- including a bunch of different hot sauces (not just tabasco) I'd also add in wasabi powder to the list of standard items...

What are some of your standard items that you are never without...

You know, I don't keep my ketchup in the refrigerator. I looked really carefully at the bottle, and it doesn't say it needs to be refrigerated - in fact I think it tastes better when it's not. I've got bottles that are months old that have been open and unrefrigerated. Am I the only person in the world that does this?

i saw her fridge list and really was appalled that syrup would be kept in the fridge -- that just seemed wrong to me... Worcestshire, tabasco, soy sauce are all kept in the cupboard... ketchup - I keep in the fridge cause i use it very little... mayo and mustard i always keep i the fridge... though there should be enough vinegar in mustard that it shouldn't matter...

I'm glad you two noticed the weird refrigerator things. I was about to start reading labels again.

BTW, she forgot mushrooms. Gotta have mushrooms. Honey, oranges, bananas for flavor. Wine & sherry for sauces.

I've never kept ketchup in the fridge

I dont keep my soy sauce, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce in there either

funny how she forgot all the spices on the spice rack.

she generally doesnt cook with a lot of dried herbs and spices - mainly fresh basil/cilantro/parsley - and those seasoning mixes that are mostly salt... What spices and herbs would you suggest

hmmm not a bad start but...
Chili powder
and what about Vegies? I always have lettuce, tomatos, carrots at home
Also pretty much always have Frozen Chicken Breasts, and ground Turkey at home.

Also Stone Ground mustard I keep around

Yeah, I saw that refigerated stuff and scratched my head.

Did you know that the label of Grey Poupon recomends refrigerating it? I have worked in many resturants and none of them - nor I - have ever refrigerated it.

Pure maple syrup must be kept in the fridge if you believe the label. It's the fake stuff - log cabin and the like, that doesn't require it.

I checked my bottle of pure maple syrup at home, and never noticed the refridgeration suggestion.. so i let my fingers do the googling...

Cooking for engineers
Learn something new every day...

I think she left stuff like mushrooms, lettuce, etc off the list because they are more perishable. These are things you would purchase as needed rather than keeping on hand all the time.

I always refridgerate my mustard, soy, ketchup... don't know why, just always have (I'm sure my Mom did so so do I).

Other staples:
peanut butter (my cupboard is never without)
jam (always a must)
curries (I keep a few cans or jars of prepared stuff)
baking chocolate
chocolate chips (and other spinkles and such)
Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
basmati rice
raisins and various dried fruit
yogurt

various cheeses... always on hand

How else can you make home made Irish cream :) gotta have that on hand...

Lately, i also have Unsweetened Cocoanut milk on hand (the lite version) makes a great curry sauce base...

Around here we refrigerate most things that have sugar in them, as leaving them out means attracting ants. No thanks.

Her list is pretty good. I'm surprised she forgot chili powder; she cooks with it a lot in her show.

slaps head...

Coconut Milk is in my cupboard

Also a few Chutneys...

start with the basics...you should also have a spice grinder (small electric coffee grinder), so you can toast and grind fresh. just grind a piece of white bread between spices to clean out the inside of the grinder.

- cumin seed
- fennel seed
- coriander seed
- caraway seed
- clove
- dried ginger powder
- nutmeg
- turmeric

that's all I can think of at the moment. but a well-equipped spice rack can be a huuuuge list of stuff.

She forgot the cream; I always have cream on hand, heavy cream (If I need something lighter, I can cut it with milk). I use a ton of cream in my cooking, everything from eggs (makes them fluffy and rich) to soups, pastas and it’s always nice to have fresh whipping cream for hot cocoa, especialy the home made kind, not from a powder.

Also food extracts, almond, vanilla (the real stuff), mint, peppermint, etc. lastly, bags of frozen raspberries (Trader Joes has some really good ones, I normally hate frozen fruit, but these are wonderfully juicy) I never know when I want raspberry sorbet.

Real vanilla extract, from a gourmet kitchen store- I don't use it a lot, but when I do I TOTALLY notice the difference!

Kosher salt! None of this fancy-schmancy sea salt crap... didn't she watch Alton Brown's one hour special on salt??? :crazy:

Panko... I don't cook with it a whole lot, but I make chicken parmesian with it- learned that trick from Rachael herself! Makes it super crispy and extra good!

Brick of good parmesian in the fridge at ALL TIMES!

:thumbsup:

... You're supposed to put flour in the freezer? :confused:

I like to have sesame oil on hand for cooking meat, because I love the bit of flavour it adds, but that's all I would probably add to her list and the additions others have suggested. These are great ideas for me, since I'm moving into my first single apartment next month and I'm looking forward to establishing a well-stocked kitchen of my very own!

I have always kept flour in the freezer or fridge because I don't ever use enough of it to finish a bag, and other palces I've lived I've run into nasty problems with meal worms -- nothing worse than opening your container of flour ands seeing creepy crawly things in it.. :hmm:

Good list although the only frozen veg that I use are peas, most others don't freeze well. I would add Pitta bread as a frozen food, always good for a quick snack.

Marmalade and Marmite are essentials in my cupboard as well as a selection of pickles and chutneys. Also treacle, golden syrup and demerera sugar (for porridge) aren't optional :D

For the fridge I always keep some chillis, yoghurt, cottage cheese.

Potatoes and apples keep for *ages* in the dark wrapped in news paper.

Perhaps for you, but for us Yanks (and Rachael Ray is one), those are specialty items. You'd be hard-pressed to find any of those items (except cucumber pickles) in a regular American grocery store--even the chutneys.

Remember, Rachael Ray's ideas are centered around cooking for the common American--not someone who is going to toast their own spices or hunt down specialty items.

Marmalade is common in my Mom's house but not mine. As for Vegimite or Marmite... nasty stuff.

I like to have marmalade on hand when I'm baking...it makes a good cake filling. But if I had to choose a jam or jelly to always have on hand--it would be raspberry. You can use it on toast, as a cake filling, or to make a quick raspberry sauce.

This is what Kikkoman says about storage of their soy sauce:

It's true. Once it's open it starts to oxidize. The odor gets stronger and the color darkens. I bought a gallon of it and the last quarter of it was much stronger than the stuff at the beginning. It was a great deal but since I don't have room for a gallon of soy sauce in my fridge, I'll stick to smaller bottles.

This is more for natually brewed soy sauce like Kikkoman. Other brands (La Choy, for example) are fake soy sauce and preseve better. Natural soy sauce is made of soybean, wheat and salt only. Fake soy sauces are made from water, hydrolyzed soy protein, corn syrup, caramel color and potassium sorbate.

http://www.albalagh.net/halal/col3.shtml

We always have other dried fruits:
sultanas
dates
apricots

Plus 4 types of flour (normal and wholemeal, both plain and self raising - which you call All Purpose). I've never kept flour anywhere but the cupboard - perhaps I've been lucky but these are also a pretty high use item in our kitchen.

Minced beef (ground beef) is also a freezer must - easy base for quick meals, whether it is tacos/burritos/bolognese/meat patties on the BBQ.
mustard - I much prefer hot english. In any case, there are about 4 mustards we use semi-regularly.
potatoes - easy base for many things and don't go off very quickly - there are *always* potatoes in our cupboard.

edit - and of course I wouldn't be an aussie if there was not always a jar of vegemite in the cupboard - not really a cooking thing as such, but definitely a kitchen essential :)

Things on her list I rarely have:
maple syrup - more likely to have golden syrup which is actually made from sugar - good ingredient for making cookies etc.
bread crumbs - you should make them when you want to use them - soooo much better than store bought...

Sorry I said anything, is this forum just for yanks then?

Self rising flour is cake flour -- plain flour is all purpose flour..

No, I was just explaining her perspective. It's interesting to see what you guys eat that we don't, but understand that it's unlikely she would put that on her list.

beer wine bourbon

My mistake - luckily they are labelled correctly in my local supermarket :)

ah terminology - when the previous poster mentioned pickles, he is probably not talking about pickled cucumbers.

Pickles in UK and Oz is really a vegetable spread, like this:
http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/stories/s1008198.htm

mmmm - ham sandwich with pickles - yummy!

EDIT - and the pickles look like this.

My wife does most of the cooking and keeps an extensive stock of basics.

I do my part by contributing the staples of a bachelor's diet: Mac & Cheese, Frozen Pizza, Canned Soup, Crackers, Tuna and Frozen Peas. :)

Good tip about the flour, something I can't believe I never thought of now. I'll never keep flour in the cupboard again. At least not without putting it in some kind of container. There's absolutely nothing worse than bugs in your food!!

Especially when you were hoping to bake a cake.

What about a bottle each of a good red and white wine? Maybe not necessarily for cooking, but what if someone drops by?

Also, beans are necessary.

I tend to not drink more than a glass or two out of a bottle... and wine that's more than a a few days old (even in the fridge) just doesn't taste very good - so my trick there... is put the left over wine into an ice cube tray and freeze it... then put the frozen cubes into a ziplock bag for use whenever you want... that way you always have good wine for cooking and it's not taking up much space and you don't have to open a bottle for a small amount..

OH and The Frugal Gourmet taught me decades ago... DO NOT COOK WIHT SOMETHING YOU WOULDN'T DRINK... cooking concentrates the flavor so if it's bad in the glass it's gonna be worse in the pot...