Must have cupboard ingredients!

Flojo

What are your must have ingredients that you keep well stocked up in your cupboard?
I searched this forum and couldn't find a thread like it, sorry I missed one though!

Mine would be...

*Balsamic vinegar
*Olive/sunflower oil
*Garlic/garlic sauce
*Black pepper
*Sea salt.
*Mixed herbs
*parmesan cheese
*Chicken/veg/beef Stock Cubes
*Rice
*Pasta penne/sheets/spaggetti
*Paprika
*Curry paste
*Soy sauce

Lets hear yours!

longshanks

all of the above plus some vinegars, worcestershire sauce, noodles, rice and spices (coriander, cumin, cayenne etc.). oh yeah, mayonnaise, but i like to pronounce it may yo naise

Bus77II

*Two Sriracha sauce's - Vinegar based one goes in stir-frys, non vinegar one goes on EVERYTHING else

*Any type of polish made sauce, they sure do good sauces

*Rice (and turmeric to make it go yellow)

*Garam Masala

*Couple of bottles of cider for doing pork chops in

*Pesto

*Jalapeños

Profiler

Tins of Tomatoes
Tomato puree
Oregano

longshanks

how could i forget tins of tomatoes (pronounced too may toes), also tins of coconut milk

The Sweeper

The sweet:

Icing, caster, granulated organic raw, dark and very dark brown sugar; treacle, golden syrup, honey, cooking chocolate (70% cocoa dark chocolate), white chocolate, high-cocoa milk chocolate, good cocoa powder.

The sour / oil:

Extra virgin olive oil, light olive oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, chilli oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, malt vinegar, white vinegar, tarragon vinegar, jars of pickles (sweet gherkins, sour gherkins, pickled onions, capers, caperberries), dijon mustard, english mustard, american mustard, wholegrain mustard.

Spices:

A very, very wide range, but all in small containers. Have decided buying in bulk is pointless - the spices go off and the flavour is poor. Best to buy small jars and use little and often, replenishing with fresh regularly. Also, keep whole spices and grind. I try now to only buy powdered what I can't grind easily, e.g. cinnamon.

The dry:

Pastas (usually a supply of spaghetti, penne, fusilli and tagliatelle, with a side of something small to add to stews), rice (jasmine, basmati, arborio and brown), flour (white, strong white for bread, wholemeal, rye), noodles (flat rice noodles, rice vermicelli, egg noodles), yeast, red lentils and puy lentils, dried black beans and dried black-eye peas.

Pastes

Curry pastes (madras, balti, tandoori), chili bean paste, sweet bean paste, thai green curry paste, thai red curry paste, tamarind pulp.

Tins

Always have tomatoes, kidney beans, borlotti beans, tinned peas and tinned sweetcorn, tuna, anchovies, coconut milk, coconut cream.

I turn a lot of this over quite quickly so it gets used up and there aren't any jars of 100 year old mustard lurking at the back of the cupboard...

Flojo

Hopefully those who are just starting to venture into proper home cooking or moving into their own place can get some help in the cupboard department thanks to these suggestions!

A few more of mine...

Cupboard:

* Ground Ginger
*Tins of fruit pieces in syrup
*Beans/peas/chickpeas/peas/soups/sweetcorn
*Vanilla extract
*Baking soda
*Caster sugar
*Noodles
*Coconut milk
*Tins of tuna
*Lemon juice


Fridge:

*Fresh spinach
*Feta/edam/chedder cheese
*Cucumbers/spring onions/peppers/lettuce
*Avocado
*Real butter
*Eggs

The Sweeper

Fresh: lemons. I always have too many lemons when I don't need them, and not enough when I do.

Eggs.
Parmesan.
Fresh cream and sour cream.
Frozen pastry - this is THE BEST cheat ingredient ever, slabs of shortcrust and puff pastry already rolled out and frozen into squares. It's brilliant - yeah, you can do the shortcrust yourself fairly easily, but the frozen puff pastry sheets are marvellous.

+1 on the real butter. Freeze a couple of blocks if you're unsure if you'll use it up. A recipe that calls for real butter usually just isn't as good with a substitute - especially not if that substitute is a spread from a tub.

Herbs - GROW THEM!!! I used to throw out a shocking amount of herbs because I'd buy them and they'd sit in the fridge and wilt. Now I have oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and sage in ready supply. I had mint but it took over and himself strimmed it into mulch. Must replant with mint and get parsley going. Coriander always just seems to bolt. Should also try dill, tarragon and basil.

A good trick for keeping herbs fresh in the fridge: get home and take them out of the bag you bought them in. Rinse under the tap and shake gently to remove excess water, but while still quite damp, seal them in a plastic ziploc bag. Then store them either in the door of the fridge or in the crisper drawer but don't crush or bruise them. They'll still be green and fresh, quite literally up to three weeks later in some cases.

DonnieScribbles

There's so much!

Savoury:
Extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, shoyu, a too vast array of herbs and spices, fresh ginger, lentils, dried chickpeas, black beans and pinto beans, rice, brown bread, garlic, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, stock cubes

For baking:
Plain flour, buckwheat flour, wholewheat flour, strong white flour, rapeseed oil, demerara sugar, vanilla extract, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, maple syrup, golden syrup, lots of various nuts, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, coconut oil, ground flaxseed...

Okay, I'll stop before I list out the contents of my fridge :P

Minder

Here's what I have in my store cupboard. Some essentials and some completely frivilous, impulse buys.

Spices/powders/herbs
File powder
Baharat
Amchur powder
Bitter Orange
Tumeric
Spanish Smoked Paprika hot & sweet
Beetroot powder
Ras Al Hanout
Cinnamon
Dried herbs - Mint & oregano
Espelette pepper

Oils, Bottled Sauces & Vinegars
Smoked paperbark oil
Chilli oil
Rapeseed oil
Olive oils
Homemade curry oil
Smoked Blue Gum Oil
Raspberry Vinegar
Fig Vinegar
Ponzu
Yuzu
Tamari
Fish Sauce
Mirin
Rice Bran oil

Whole Spices
Kokum
Wattleseeds
Liquiorce
Tonka Beans
Coriander seeds
Fennel seeds
Cumin seeds
Vanilla pods
Nutmeg
Allspice
Cinnamon quills
Chillies - Aji Amarillo, Ancho Mulato, Chipotle, Kashmiri chillies

Pastes
Jerk - Clara's Pepperpots (Wonderful stuff)
Jolof Rice paste
Singapore Laksa paste (Reuben Solomon)
Chinese curry paste
Chilli bean paste
Thai red chilli jam (Mae Pranom)
Thai Red & Green curry pastes
Tandoori paste
Homemade curry paste (Curry Club recipe)
Homemade adobo paste (For Chilli Con Carne)
XO Chilli sauce (One shop bought and one homemade)
Nando's marinades

Dry Goods
Lots of rices and different pasta shapes.
Quinoa.
Fregola.
Cous cous & barley cous cous.
Noodles of all manner, shape & form, but glass or mung bean noodles are a favourite.

Fridge bits
Confit of duck
Pickled red plums
A sauce that is a reduction of Maury and White Port

mikom

Bertie Ahern.

Seaneh

Dried herbs:
Oregeno
Dill
Thyme
Corriander
Rosemary
Karoori Methi
Lavander
Basil
Bay
Taragon
Marjoran

Spices:
Cumin
Corriander
Vanilla
Star anise
cloves
peper corns (white, black, pink)
Juniper
Green cardamon powder
Green cardamon pods
ground pepper
Szechwan Pepper
Tamarind
Turmeric
Wattleseed
Paprika (sweet and smoked)
All Spice
Caraway
Ginger
Cinnamon
Curry Powder
Chili powder
Chili flakes
Dried chili's
Saffron
Mace
Nutmeg
Garlic powder (not really a spice but feck it)
Tandoori masala mix (not sure whats in it but it's fecking nice on chicken).

Tinned and bottled/jar'd stuff:
Ginger Garlic Paste
Chopped tomatoes
Plug tomatoes
Tomato paste
anchovies
tuna
salmon
sardines
spam (srsly, i dunno why, but sometimes I crave fritters).
Jalapinos
Kidney beans
butter beans
Baked beans
sweetcorn
garden peas
baby carrots
pears
peach
pineapple
Strawberries
Strawberry jam
Blackcurrent jam
redcurrent jelly
Balsamic
cider vinegar
sherry vinegar
soy sauce
sweet soy sauce
thai fish sauce



Probably a few more bits and pieces down there too, I tend to replace as I go.

Like, If i use a can of pineapple, I'll remember that the next time i am in a super market and pick another can, just incase I want some 6 months down the line.

Swampy

Minder wrote: »

Here's what I have in my store cupboard. Some essentials and some completely frivilous, impulse buys.

Spices/powders/herbs
File powder
Baharat
Amchur powder
Bitter Orange
Tumeric
Spanish Smoked Paprika hot & sweet
Beetroot powder
Ras Al Hanout
Cinnamon
Dried herbs - Mint & oregano
Espelette pepper

Oils, Bottled Sauces & Vinegars
Smoked paperbark oil
Chilli oil
Rapeseed oil
Olive oils
Homemade curry oil
Smoked Blue Gum Oil
Raspberry Vinegar
Fig Vinegar
Ponzu
Yuzu
Tamari
Fish Sauce
Mirin
Rice Bran oil

Whole Spices
Kokum
Wattleseeds
Liquiorce
Tonka Beans
Coriander seeds
Fennel seeds
Cumin seeds
Vanilla pods
Nutmeg
Allspice
Cinnamon quills
Chillies - Aji Amarillo, Ancho Mulato, Chipotle, Kashmiri chillies

Pastes
Jerk - Clara's Pepperpots (Wonderful stuff)
Jolof Rice paste
Singapore Laksa paste (Reuben Solomon)
Chinese curry paste
Chilli bean paste
Thai red chilli jam (Mae Pranom)
Thai Red & Green curry pastes
Tandoori paste
Homemade curry paste (Curry Club recipe)
Homemade adobo paste (For Chilli Con Carne)
XO Chilli sauce (One shop bought and one homemade)
Nando's marinades

Dry Goods
Lots of rices and different pasta shapes.
Quinoa.
Fregola.
Cous cous & barley cous cous.
Noodles of all manner, shape & form, but glass or mung bean noodles are a favourite.

Fridge bits
Confit of duck
Pickled red plums
A sauce that is a reduction of Maury and White Port

I will pay you good money to come and live in my house and cook for me.

The Hill Billy

In light of another thread I thought that I'd resurrect this one as it is still relevant. What do you always keep stocked?

Here's what I can think off the top of my head that I have at home always...

Table salt
Maldon sea salt
Ground white pepper
Whole black pepper
Tomato ketchup
Tomato purée
Worcestershire sauce
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Several hot sauces
Several Patak's pastes
Green & red Thai curry pastes
Colman's mustard
Oxo cubes
Stockpots
Olive oil
Rapeseed oil

Whole & ground spices...
Cumin
Coriander
Nutmeg
Allspice
Several chilli powders (hot, not so hot, smoked, etc)
Caraway
Star anise
Cinnamon
Cloves
Turmeric
Green & black cardamom
Brown mustard seed
Bay leaves (tree in the garden)

Tins of...
Tomatoes
Chickpeas
Baked beans
Coconut milk
Sardines

Several pasta types
Tilde basmati rice
Brown rice
Potatoes
Cous cous
Cuppa soups
Several noodle types
Mini-naans

Ginger
Garlic
Chillis
Lemons
Limes
Apples
Oranges
Bananas
Onions
Carrots
Parsnips
White cheddar cheese
Kerrygold butter
Pickled onions

Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Honey
Nutella

Vinegars...
Red wine
Cider
Malt
White
Several balsamics

That's my stuff above. Mrs Billy also has a fully kitted out baking section that I never look at (probably includes caster sugar ) But you name it - she'll rustle it up without having to go to the shops.

allandanyways

Mine would be:

Oils:
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil (goddamn my crispy onion cravings!)
Chilli oil (homemade with olive oil and a mix of fresh jalapenos and bird's eye chillis)

Spices:
Cumin
Coriander
Smoked Paprika
Regular Paprika
Hot Chilli Powder
Mild Chilli Powder
Garam Masala
Mace
Fenugreek seeds
Cardamom pods
Garlic granules
Onion powder
Cinammon
Dried ginger granules
Tumeric
Whole black pepper
Ground black pepper
Sea salt
Table salt

Stock
Chicken/beef/vegetable stock cubes
Chicken stock pots

Sauces
Fish sauce
Worchesterchire sauce
Soy sauce
Tomato puree
Ketchup
Wholegrain mustard
Dijon mustard
Frank's Hot Sauce
Nando's Hot Piri Piri sauce
Cheapy barbecue sauce to use a base for my own

Always have garlic/onions/chilli in the fridge along with a lime and lemons.

I have random bits and bobs that I use from time to time as well but they keep forever:

Liquid smoke
Molasses
Brown sugar
Cinnamon sticks
Lemongrass
Bay leaves
Ground almonds
Sesame seeds
Poppy seeds
Cider Vinegar
Honey
Porridge Oats (best fish fingers/chicken goujons ever, trust me!)
Jalapenos in brine

After that, I'd have a mix of fruit and vegetables and perishables.

Like The Hill Billy's missus, I have a whole other cupboard for baking as well.

MissFlitworth

Seasonings/Spices

Salt (sea salt for seasoning, big tube of table salt for when I break eggs on the ground)
Whole black pepper
Crushed chili
Ancho Chili powder
Various other chili powders
Garlic Powder
Cardamom
Smoked Paprika
Star Anise
Ground cumin
Cinnamon sticks
Whole nutmeg
Old el Paso smokey fajita seasoning (I love this stuff)
Sugar
Honey or a syrup of some kind
Mustard - English/Dijon/Wholegrain
Vinegars - Balsamic/Balsamic Cream/Red Wine/Malt (chips!) sometimes something really fancy like Raspberry.
Oils - Vegetable/Olive/Sesame/Walnut (only sometimes)


For putting on things

Laoganma Black Bean Seasoning
Heinz BBQ Sauce
Hellman's mayo
Heinz Tomato Ketchup (possibly the only area I'm brand conscious when it comes to food is for things you did chips in)
Sriracha
Franks hot sauce

Tinned/Dry Goods

Lentils
A couple of different pastas
Bulghur wheat
Barley
Basmatic/Brown/Long Grain Rice
Tinned chickpeas
Tinned Kidney Beans
Passata
Tinned Tomatoes
Plain flour
Masa Harina

Fridge & Ad Hoc

Chorizo
Strong, strong, strong cheddar
Parmesan
Tomatoes
Eggs
Butter
Frozen Green Beans, sweetcorn & peas
Frozen fish fillets
Quorn chunks & Quorn burgers
Frozen portions of chili (this isn't an ingredient, technically, but I always have it in the freezer)
Onions
Wraps & Pitta Breads
Peanut butter
Chocolate Spread
Jalapenos

I won't go into the other, darker side of my cupboards. As in all the stuff I own that I never, every use!

It's nice because, even though I often don't want to cook anything, we always have something that we can cook.

Smiles35

Not much of a cook. Loads of those Shan spice mix box's. Very salty but fresh.

Siriaca got a bit dear for me so I'm on a chilli sauce from Louisiana called Crystal.
It's rank.

MissFlitworth

I think my 500ml bottle of Sriracha was about €3.50 from the Asia Market on Drury Street (Dublin) if that helps. It's generally more expensive in a supermarket or speciality shop but if you go to an Asian store you can get a lot of it for relatively little

Smiles35

Ah, my own fault for super bargain hunting. I really do recommend those Shan mixs though. The Butter Chicken one is very simple. Once you have the base of a good tin of tomatoes and a lemon, suddenly your eating like a Shah!

Mr. CooL ICE

Spices:
Cinnamon
Paprika
Oregano
Basil
Curry Powder
Hot Chilli Powder
Mustard Powder

Other:
Butter
Eggs
Bacon
Peanut Butter
Worcester Sauce
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Coconut powder
Porridge
Chorizo

The rest I buy as I need them, but the above are replaced faster than they are finished

emaleth

What everyone else said (I would live on eggs very happily, Mr emaleth not so much), plus anchovies. Little stinky creatures of the gods. I always have the cheapo 59 cent plastic mozzarella as well so that I have pizza fixings at all times. And two pounds of butter - learned that one from my mother.

Gloomtastic!

The Sweeper wrote: »

Herbs - GROW THEM!!! I used to throw out a shocking amount of herbs because I'd buy them and they'd sit in the fridge and wilt. Now I have oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and sage in ready supply. I had mint but it took over and himself strimmed it into mulch. Must replant with mint and get parsley going. Coriander always just seems to bolt. Should also try dill, tarragon and basil.

A good trick for keeping herbs fresh in the fridge: get home and take them out of the bag you bought them in. Rinse under the tap and shake gently to remove excess water, but while still quite damp, seal them in a plastic ziploc bag. Then store them either in the door of the fridge or in the crisper drawer but don't crush or bruise them. They'll still be green and fresh, quite literally up to three weeks later in some cases.

I have a better idea - freeze them!

livinsane

It is such a great feeling when you have your cupboard stock down to a fine art. I went through my contents a few months back, took a stock check (9 tins of beans and about 40 stock pots- check!) and got everything back to a reasonable level. I've stayed on top of it so far anyway. My list would be similar to everyone else's, nothing too out of the ordinary. Once we have about ten tins of sardines my other half is happy.

Milly33

Thyme
Rosemary
Garlic
and Worchester sauce