Weekend Cook and Tell: What's In Your Pantry?
Welcome back to our weekly community cooking feature, Weekend Cook and Tell. Each Wednesday we'll scour the various food sections of national newspapers to find an article or recipe to inspire a weekend cooking project. We want all of you serious eaters to use this idea to make a great weekend meal, and we want to hear all about it!
This week's Cook and Tell is all about cleaning out your pantry. The Chicago Sun-Times ran this great piece today about making meals out of what ever you have on hand. Food editor Janet Rausa Fuller invites chef and culinary school instructor John Bubala into her home and asks him to make a meal out of the contents of her pantry and fridge, no shopping allowed. The results? Delicious pan fried salmon cakes (made out of canned salmon) and fried rice that using the leftovers from the fridge.
If you are anything like me you have a pantry full of miscellaneous items just waiting to be used. Over the weekend we are going to be cooking up something good without a trip to the grocery store. Delve into the dark, dusty regions of your pantry and see what's back there, probably something worth cooking!
Check back with us over the weekend to show us your photos on Photograzing (make sure to include "Cook and Tell" in your submission title) and tell us about your recipes in Talk with comments on this thread! If you'd like to blog along from home, leave a link to your Cook and Tell blog post in the comments. We'll round up all your photos and ideas in a post early next week. Let's get cookin'!
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46 Comments:
I've got a can of mushy peas and some quinoa that have been in my pantry for ages. Hmm. . .
Caroline Russock at 4:46PM on 05/06/09
I have several kinds of beans. Cannellini, red, black and chick peas.
Several cuts of tomato. Diced, whole peeled, and paste.
Macaroni - lots of it. Barilla whole grain mostly - penne, farfalle, and some other artisan dry pastas.
Coconut milk (And if I could drag my butt to the international grocer and get curry paste, we'd have some Thai food around here...)
Thai rice noodles (more incentive to get to the int'l grocer)
Cereal - Raisin bran, Kashi and Fiber One.
Oatmeal - Plain oats (old fashioned and minute but nothing flavored)
This is what's in the closet I call my pantry. In my cupboards is where I keep all my other cooking stuff.
Pacific or Kitchen Basics Stocks
Things like salted capers (not often used but occasionally)
Chinese Black Bean paste
Hoisin paste
Tons of hot sauces
Tons of spices
In the baking station I have...
1/2 shelf of different flour
1 shelf of sugar (confectioner's, granulated) or sweeteners (like honey and agave)
1/2 shelf of chocolate (from white to coco powder and semi sweet, unsweetened)
1/2 shelf of fruits like raisins, dates, apricots
1/2 shelf of nuts
I like a stocked pantry because I can whip something together on a moment's notice - like when we return from errands and are starving or when the weather is nasty and neither of us wants to go out.
therealchiffonade at 5:39PM on 05/06/09
My freezer is like a giant Jenga of food.
simon at 5:52PM on 05/06/09
This is fun.. I want to clean out my fridge and pantry... good assignment to do so.
MadelynRodriguez at 6:21PM on 05/06/09
@ MadelynRodriguez: Clean the fridge and pantry?!? Wow! I love that idea!!
@ Caroline: What do you think of the idea of doing a different pantry/freezer/staple category over a several weeks? Categories could include dry grain items (rice, pasta, quinoa, teff, etc.), canned items, refrigerator staples, root drawer (potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger), odd condiments, frozen foods, bread box, and so on. A little spring kitchen clean-up, say? Hey, that would make a good title!
It's just a thought - no pressure. I am a font of ideas, so I rant them sometimes.
I do think it would be a great feature, though. Especially since this particular challenge is a bit broad, as many of us foodies have a lot of goods stocked in our pantries. My pantry list reads like therealchiffonade's x 30, and I have two freezer/fridge combos that read like simon's Jenga of food. I am guessing we could survive a few weeks on the stuff and feed half the block a the same time, assuming we had enough water. But mostly, I just like having lots of options.
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 7:39PM on 05/06/09
Fridge and freeze is a giant Chinese wood box, I won't even go there. Other stuff is a bunch of soups, pastas, rice, crackers, spices, oils, cookies, chips, canned things and that is AFTER I cleaned out everything when we had to move and I saw that the exp date was way over.
pjracz10 at 7:40PM on 05/06/09
Long grain rice, about 10 different kinds of pasta, cinnamon Life, canned tomatoes, canned red and white beans, catsup, mustard, mayo (unopened!), saltines, club crackers, creamy and chunky peanut butter, sugar, confec. sugar, food dye, cornstarch, brown sugar (light and dark), flour, baking soda, baking powder, 1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 bag butterscotch chips, vanilla extract, evapor. cond. milk, sweetend cond. milk, honey, 1/2 box of Spenda, cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, olive oil, canola oil, salt, black pepper, whole nutmeg, garam masala, whole cinnamon, balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, dried hot peppers, 1 bag Starbuck's coffee, about 7-8 different teas, Progesso chicken noodle soup, can of black olives, jar of green olives, canned albacore.
finsbigfan at 8:00PM on 05/06/09
Heh. Between the frozen, refrigerated, and shelf-stable storage, we could live a long time without needing to shop. It would probably be more difficult to figure out what I couldn't cook with what's here.
But even though I'm stocked up, I seem to be at the grocery store a couple times a week anyway. If I'm not out of lettuce, there's always something else I've run out of...onions, milk, coffee...
dbcurrie at 9:20PM on 05/06/09
I have a pretty well stocked pantry too...unfortunately this weekend we have dinner plans Friday & Sat., and Mother's Day menu is pretty much set...although I'm thinking that bean salad is going to be added to the menu based on this thread.
mepolo at 10:19PM on 05/06/09
All I can say is I have so much random and different stuff - along with the staples - that I've had to label my pantry :)
dharmon at 11:24PM on 05/06/09
barley, farro, kasha, polenta, dried chickpeas, rice, lentils, and some ridiculously expensive dried red beans from the greenmarket. frozen artichoke hearts. frozen mango. frozen peaches. frozen raspberries. dried mushrooms. a few varieties of whole grain spaghetti. several kinds of jam. canned pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk. a few bags of cocoa powder: one dutch process, one not. about ten different kinds of fancy pants vinegar -- but the only ones i ever use are sherry and rice wine. some matzo left over from passover and two containers of matzo meal. anchovies, cornichons, smoked oysters. many different kinds of flours. a few boxes of interesting juice {blackcurrant, sour cherry}. sparkling mineral water for dinner parties.
maybe i should use up all the beans and pulses before summer hits and i don't feel like cooking things that take a long time.
i guess i could go for quite a while without shopping for anything besides
cybercita at 11:31PM on 05/06/09
I just wanted to share with you all this wonderful grocery inventory spreadsheet I use...I keep it stored at Google Docs so I can access it from home, work, my phone, etc. It's so incredibly useful and convenient. I just update it when I shop for groceries and delete items once they've been used up. It's a fantastic way to know what you have on hand so you don't re-buy and also so you can make meals out of what you have in your cupboards, fridge, and freezer. I keep a running grocery list on there, too! 'Hope some people find this helpful.
jbeach at 9:24AM on 05/07/09
I have such a lame pantry. First of all, it's not even a pantry. It's a bookshelf in my kitchen because I have no room for an actual pantry. Second, I live with a non-foodie so half of the shelves are filled with Doritos, Oreos, jarred sauces and Kraft mac n cheese. That leaves room for my baking supplies, spices, oils, olives and sun dried tomatoes. I guess out of my stuff, I could make some sort of focaccia. Wow, actually, that doesn't sound too bad...
meem21 at 10:18AM on 05/07/09
Good topic! I have just been thinking in the last week about how to get rid of some items in the pantry that have been there forever...
I have several open bags of various beans in various quantities: Going to make a bean soup with black eyed peas, green lentils, red lentils, red beans, cannallini beans
Instant chocolate pudding: going to make refrigerator pudding pies with graham cracker crusts
Canned soup: Cleaning the tops, checking for dents, dating and putting in hurricane kit - Don't know if that counts as using, but it is out of the pantry
Sundried tomatoes and golden raisins: Not sure what to do with these, but would like to combine them somehow, maybe adding some heat for a spicy and sweet chutney/jelly type thing
Canned beets: Drain and make a beet salad with spinach, fruit and cheese
Yay, a project! And it involves food!
erinlovestoeat at 12:48PM on 05/07/09
It seems like all of you have some seriously well stocked pantries. I can't wait to see what kind of recipes you all come up with over the weekend.
My weekend plans involve a potluck brunch, I'm thinking about making some pantry scones.
Remember to keep us posted here in Talk and share your photos in Photograzing!
Caroline Russock at 1:44PM on 05/07/09
Wow. Seems like that's what I do most of the time -- draw from my pantry, freezer, and fridges for stuff to make. Having a Passover deja vu -- why is this night any different than any other night? ;D
hereandthe at 4:39PM on 05/07/09
What's in my pantry? Condiments, condiments, condiments, and those odds and ends I picked up at the Chinese and Indian groceries in Jackson Heights and never got around to figuring out: Incredibly raunchy mango and lime chutneys, instant raita mix, unground garam masala, bonito flakes, kombu, all kinds of vinegar from a pickling and hot sauce making spree last year, Valentina extra hot hot sauce for michelatas, za'atar, and buckwheat.
But you know, I started this as a blog a couple months back and it hasn't taken off much yet...I'd love you all to contribute to What's in My Refrigerator (http://whatsinmyrefrigerator@blogspot.com). Send me an e-mail with pics and descriptions and I'll post away.
eatup at 4:47PM on 05/07/09
I wish I had access to all of your pantries and fridges and freezers!
This reminds me of the scene in the original Sabrina, where Humphrey Bogart is reading off the contents of his pantry at his big fancy office, "...tomahto juice, tomahto juice, tomahto juice..."
And she goes over and grabs something out of a cupboard and says something like "I'll just make a souffle."
And Bogart's all, "Outta what!?"
And Hepburn laughs easily, "Out of crackers of course!"
Of course.
And that is why, for most of my childhood, I thought a souffle was some kind of cracker-based appetizer.
semarr at 5:04PM on 05/07/09
@therealchiffonade - your pantry is probably the closest to mine, except with a hubby that works at Sur La Table, I have some crazy stuff like dill popcorn seasoning, and some intersesting gourmet jams and vinegars!
dharmon at 5:58PM on 05/07/09
I pulled some chicken thighs out of the freezer to defrost. I have no idea where that will lead by tomorrow.
dbcurrie at 8:36PM on 05/07/09
I looked at what I have in the fridge that was about on its last leg (cheese, rosemary), what I have in the freezer and pantry and decided on the following recipe, a favorite of mine. The one thing I didn't have was fresh oregano, so I will just used dried. I also have some leftover refried beans and Mexican rice that I froze, so I'll pull it out also to go with the chicken.
Southwestern Lime Chicken with Ancho Chili Sauce
Recipe By: Golden Annie's Mesquite Bar & Grill, Frisco CO
Epicurious.com/Bon Appetit-July 1998
Serving Size: 8
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
8 slices Monterey Jack cheese
ANCHO CHILI SAUCE
3 dried ancho chilies -- stemmed, seeded -- torn into pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons brown sugar -- packed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Combine first 9 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Place chicken in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour marinade over. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Remove chicken breasts from marinade. Grill chicken until just cooked through, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Place 1 cheese slice atop each chicken breast half; cover barbecue and cook until cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken breasts to plates. Serve with Ancho Chili Sauce.
ANCHO CHILI SAUCE: Place chilies in medium metal bowl. Pour enough boiling water over chilies to cover. Let stand until chilies are soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup soaking liquid.
Puree chilies, 3 tablespoons soaking liquid and lime juice in blender until smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Whisk in mayonnaise, brown sugar, oregano, rosemary and cumin. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using, adding water by tablespoonfuls and stirring if very thick.) Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
kalajo at 12:23PM on 05/08/09
What's in my pantry? That depends, has my roommate been cooking?
If she has, then all my sundried tomatoes are gone, as is my arborio rice, and the EVOO. Goat cheese in the fridge? Nope. Chicken stock? HA!
So, basically, I'll have 2 Tbs. of multi-purpose flour, my half-dead basil plant, and a can of leechee fruit to cook with. Yum!
erancili at 3:14PM on 05/08/09
cabinet: cereal, rolled oats, bananas, raisins, almonds, walnuts, granola bars, graham crackers, pretzels, corn, corn meal, dried fruit, chicken broth, peanuts, fruit lethers, and apple granola
fridge: hummus, carrots, celery, peanut butter, jelly, flat bread, turkey taco meat leftovers, strawberries, soymilk, yogurt, blue berries, and a mango
Deeberry at 5:34PM on 05/08/09
I'm glad to see that some people have as much food in storage as I have. Among other things in my freezer, I have lard. My neighbor gave me a deli container of pork fat she had rendered, with lots of little pork bits in it; in Poland, they spread it on bread or use it like butter to finish a dish. I froze it in tablespoon-sized nuggets, and tonight I'll use one of those in kasha. I've already used some in mashed potatoes and it's, uh, not bad.
jscheck at 5:23PM on 05/09/09
I DID IT!!! I cleaned out a large part of my fridge and freezer with this project... I made a Spinach Puffed Empanada. I actually used a bunch of stuff I had bit and pieces of, like:
- ¼ bag of frozen cut-leaf spinach – I don’t know how long this was in there because I was using another bag and moving thing around this morning I found this other bag…
- 1 2-inch piece of leftover gruyere cheese – left over from making Popeye Pita Pizzas and the Cauliflower and Cheese Mac
- 1 sheet of puff pastry – left over from a get-together I had last Saturday where I made Spinach Pinwheels that got too soft and fused together and re-froze because I did not know what to do with it at the time…
- ½ onion – left over from making a batch of my Veggie Dip
- 1 scallion – left from making a Green Goddess dressing for a friend
- toasted pepitas – leftover from myMexican Lasagna recipe
- breadcrumbs I made a few months ago from bread that got too hard for a sandwich
This was very fun... I also did a salad to go along with it with stuff I also had around the fridge from my CSA box. I loved the whole experience.
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 6:23PM on 05/09/09
Hubby gets sooo mad at me. I have olive oils from every continent, and he thinks they need to go to make way for the oreos. NO WAY. When we have girls night here and a theme is chosen, I need to be ready.
donnie at 7:04PM on 05/09/09
Three separate areas for spices.
Three different types of cocoa for baking.
Three pkg ramen noodles
Three tins of stewed tomatoes
Three tins of smoked sardines......there is a definite pattern to my pantry.
Callyn at 12:32AM on 05/10/09
@Madelyn
Those empanadas look great! Glad you were able to use up all of your leftovers.
Caroline Russock at 12:49PM on 05/10/09
I was invited to a pot luck brunch yesterday and I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to make something out of the ingredients that I had on hand.
The contents of my fridge was looking pretty sad but while looking in my pantry I discovered that I had pretty much everything I needed for a baking project and a lot of dried fruit. After browsing through a few cookbooks I decided that scones were the way to go. I found a recipe for Cream Scones in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and added some extra ingredients that I happened to have around, golden raisin, prunes, currants and ginger. They turned out wonderfully, perfect crumbly texture, not at all dry and just sweet enough. Here's the recipe:
Cream Scones
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Makes 10 or so
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 scant tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cold butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup dried currants or raisins
1 tablespoon water
Preheat the oven to 450° F
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl or food processor, reserving 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Cut the butter into bits and either pulse it in the food processor (the easiest) or pick up a bit of the dry ingredients, rub them with the butter between your fingers, and drop them again. All the butter should be thoroughly blended before proceeding.
Beat 2 of the eggs with the cream; with a few swift strokes, combine them with the dry ingredients. Use only a few strokes to stir in the currants. Turn the dough out into a lightly floured surface and knead it ten times, no more. If it is very sticky, add a little flour, but very little; don't worry if it sticks a bit to your hands.
Press the dough into a 3/4-inch rectangle and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass. Place the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again; this recipe will produce 10 to 14 scones. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush the top of each scone; sprinkle each with a little of the remaining sugar.
Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until the scones are a beautiful golden brown. These keep better than biscuits but should still be eaten the same day you make them.
Caroline Russock at 1:13PM on 05/10/09
@ MadelynRodriguez: Rock on!!! Way to take on a challenge!
Those empanadas look so flaky they remind me of spanikopita! Only better! Wow!! I can't wait to try them!
@ Caroline: Brava, Caroline! Those scones sound wonderful! Yum!!
I was hoping to have posted mine by now, but I got waylaid with Mother's Day, and had a few surprises thrown at me. Can you kindly tell me when is the cut-off? If we have until tomorrow afternoon/evening, I could finish mine up and get it in. Please advise, so I know how to proceed.
Thanks!!
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 5:28AM on 05/11/09
For my lunch today that my husband prepared last night after I went to bed, he used flour, egg, and Tony Chachere (or maybe Zatarain's) cajun spices as batter, then coated with panko, and deep fried cheapo $1.99/lb pork loins. He then smothered the pork loins with a can of generic cream of mushroom soup and sliced fresh mushrooms and baked it.
For a starch, he used generic boxed mashed potatoes, adding leftover crab meat and fresh ground pepper.
Veggies are steamed fresh green beans, no seasoning.
Cassaendra at 7:48AM on 05/11/09
Okay, so the one item in my pantry that I discovered back in the deepest, darkest recesses of my kitchen cabinets was powdered sugar. I think I've only ever used it to top chocolate lava cakes. The other thing I found was a jar of bread and butter slice pickles.
So, I scoured the web for recipes that used powdered sugar and pickles...and found a Chik-Fil-A copycat recipe (apparently from a former employee) that uses powdered sugar in the flour dredge, and of course pickles on the classic sandwich.
Here's the recipe:
http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m1201M03.htm#2
And here's my pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/3522250208/
maxcriden at 10:49AM on 05/11/09
@Paula: We will be posting a round up on Wednesday, you've got plenty of time!
@maxcriden: Those sandwiches look amazing, how did they taste?
Caroline Russock at 10:59AM on 05/11/09
@Caroline: Thank you! They were pretty delicious. I was a little apprehensive about the recipe calling for powdered sugar, but it gave that hint of sweetness you find in the real (and unfortunately not very widespread) Chik-Fil-A's original chicken sandwich. And I'm a big fan of the pickles on that sandwich, so that wasn't exactly hard duty, either. All in all, a pretty good success.
maxcriden at 1:50PM on 05/11/09
Thanks, Caroline!!
Paula Maack at 2:53PM on 05/11/09
We have NOTHING in our pantry...because we are moving on Wednesday! The only things left are in the fridge, and a jar of popcorn. We have two pans and one saucepot and a baking pan. It's like dormroom cooking!
inothernews at 4:24PM on 05/11/09
Ok so I dug deep into the pantry.. came up with vermicelli noodles in salt pork/chicken innard broth with sausage, dumplings, pickled leeks and a panko crusted crispy poached egg. Here's the recipe...
Broth:
4 cups water
2 oz salt pork
4 oz random chicken innards
1 carrot
1 onion
1 small celery piece
garlic clove
1 thai chili
2 whole coriander seeds
2 oz soy sauce
random fresh herb scraps (parsley, cilantro, green onions)
*cook 1 hour, then strain.. return to a boil, add frozen dumplings that have been in your freezer for 6 months. cook 3 min. add rice noodles, turn off heat, let rest for 5 min.
Sausage:
1/2 lb turkey sausage
diced onions
diced red pepper
s+p
*brown sausage, add pepper & onions, season. add to bowl after you put the noodles in.
Egg:
1 egg
1 tsp white vinegar
s+p
flour
egg wash
panko breadcrumbs
oil
*poach egg in water on medium-low heat with vinegar. shock in ice bath and place on paper towel. season. lightly coat with flour, then egg wash, then panko. be careful or you'll break the yolk and make a big mess, and have to start all over again.
*throw it all in a bowl and top with chill sauce, pickled leeks, herbs, and enjoy...
see some pictures on
drawing for food
hkrall at 4:30PM on 05/11/09
@donnie - here's what you do....let him have the Oreo space, then make your next girls' night Oreo themed....that would set him off big time! :)
I like to instigate...
dharmon at 8:06PM on 05/11/09
I decided to finally cook some of the elk that's been in our freezer for months. It turned out pretty well!
http://chezpalmsey.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/cook-tell-five-spice-elk-loin/
palmsey at 9:29PM on 05/11/09
yum....I have 2 elk steaks my uncle gave me from his trip to Colorado...I just know my hubby won't eat it, might have to only cook one for me!
dharmon at 10:33PM on 05/11/09
I made crab cakes with some canned crab that has been in my pantry for over a year. Read about them here: http://notesfromhomeplates.com/
ChefDJen at 1:47AM on 05/12/09
@ChefDJen - Wow, those crab cakes look awesome! And kudos on growing your own red lettuce, it looked great.
maxcriden at 9:13AM on 05/12/09
Just posted two recipes from this challenge:
Heart of Palm Salad - which used up 3 cans and a bag of grains!
Caramelized Pineapple Brown Butter Tart - Used a ripe pineapple I had sitting around, the remainder of a container of creme fraiche and some cream cheese that needed to be used up, as well as pantry staples (granulated, powdered and brown sugar, flour, etc.)
Both recipes turned out beautifully. I had to make both of them -- twice -- because they were so popular.
Thanks again for the fun challenge, Caroline! I look forward to tomorrow's round-up.
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 11:49PM on 05/12/09
@Paula..just checked out your recipe...that looks fantastic! I have a party in a few weeks I need to make a dessert for...I'm trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
mepolo at 8:17AM on 05/13/09
@ Caroline and Paula - Thanks for the compliments... I had a lot of fun doing this.
Besides doing the Spinach Empanada I also made a side salad using up lettuce and french green beans I had received on Wednesday in my CSA box - I called it Salade des Haricots Verts- me and my french-speaking obsession...
I loved this challenge... and my fridge is a lot tidier thanks to it. Hope you like them both...
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 1:07PM on 05/13/09
@mepolo Thank you for the lovely compliment. I am flattered that you are going to make my recipe!
I hope you and your guests love it as much as we did. Enjoy!!
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 10:53PM on 05/13/09