Salt: OK so I know everyone knows what salt is and what it is used for. However there are some uses that people might not know of. You can use salt to brine meat and cause it to swell. It also helps marinades to penetrate deeper into meat.
Pepper: Once again a common ingredient. When you purchase pepper you should always buy it in a disposable pepper grinder or spring for a pepper grinder and buy peppercorns. No one really measures pepper for recipes anymore so you don’t need the can. Everything is “add to taste” and freshly ground pepper tastes better.
Onion Powder: Dried onion juice. You do not want to buy onion salt because as the name states it is salt and you will already be adding salt to your dishes. It is easy to over salt your dishes that way. Very useful anywhere you want a little onion flavor.
Garlic Powder: Dried garlic juice. Once again you do not want garlic salt for the same reason that you do not want onion salt. Great when you want just a little garlic flavor or in raw dishes where you do not want raw garlic.
Smoked Paprika: Ground dried bell peppers. Has a beautiful red color and the smoked version has a light smokey flavor. Not just a topping for deviled eggs and potato salad anymore. Useful in meat dishes, marinades, and spice rubs.
Brown Sugar: Cane sugar with added molasses. Can be light or dark depending on the amount of molasses that has been added. Great for baking but can also be used for spice rubs and added sweetness to vegetable dishes.
White Sugar: Cane sugar. This is another one of the common ingredients that can be found in almost every kitchen. Can be used as a sweetener but can also be used instead of salt to make water boil at a lower temperature and is useful as a brine.
Vanilla Extract: Extract of the vanilla bean. Available in pure or imitation. Used in everything from baking to soups. Can be strong so a little goes a long way.
Almond Extract: Extract of almonds. Also available in pure or imitation. Wonderful nutty smell. Used mainly for baking.
All Purpose Flour: Plain white flour. If used for baking you will need some sort of leveling agent (baking soda, baking powder, yeast...). Used in baking or a coating for frying among other uses.
Non-Stick Cooking Spray: Cooking oil in a neat spray on applicator. Helps to keep fragile foods like fish and eggs from sticking to cooking surfaces. Can and will save you hours of scrubbing dishes in the kitchen.
Ketchup: Spiced red tomato sauce. Great on everything from meatloaf to hotdogs. Also great in marinades.
Mustard: Paste made from ground mustard seeds. Great on hotdogs and used as a base for fried chicken.
Mayonnaise: Blended eggs and oil. There are light versions that have less fat and in my personal opinion more flavor because of the added spices. Used in potato salad, deviled eggs, great on sandwiches, and can also be used in some cooking preparations.
Chicken Broth: Broth made from boiled chicken and vegetables. You can always make your own and freeze it but I find buying it in a can or carton is more convenient. Useful at keeping food moist while baking or just to add more flavor to dishes when used instead of water.
These are my cabinet basics. 90% of the cooking that I do includes some combination of this list. Next post I will include my refrigerator basics. Then we can start talking about ways to make healthy meals that look and taste like they they just came from a restaurant but really took very little time and effort. I hope you’ll join me for my next post.
Capri
