Home Chef Cooking Tips

Lost in the Supermarket?

One the best things about knowing how to cook is that once you learn the basics, you are only limited by your imagination (and to a lesser extent your taste buds). So after I had become familiar with the simpler cutting, measuring and preparing techniques, to the point that I was capable enough to follow most  recipes, I started collecting cookbooks and trying to prepare every recipe that caught my eye.

This typically leads to meant a lot of food shopping since in the beginning, it seemed as though I needed to buy every ingredient for every recipe. On the plus side, I had just moved into my first apartment and literally my ”pantry was bare”. However, the need to eat, my growing collection of cookbooks, and plenty of spare time allowed me the opportunity to prepare whatever I desired. Whether it was a Flaming Tennessee Tenderloin, Italian Chicken Salad, or a Farsumagru (flank steak stuffed with cold cuts), I was only limited by the contents of my pantry. In a short time, however, the size of my shopping list dwindled down to only those special ingredients that each recipe required. This was due to the fact that during those first few months I ended up buying the most common ingredients that most recipes call for, so often that I had (unintentionally) a very well stocked pantry (actually cabinets - it was after all a small studio apartment).

For the purposes of this blog page I am including not only those items which can be purchased in larger quantites and stored at room temperature, but also some staples that require refrigeration. The actual quantities that you purchase should be a reflection of the foods and recipes you typically prepare. Once I’ve covered the basics, I’ll move on to some of the more common ethnic ingredints I’ve cooked with.

So stay tuned, read on, and enjoy.

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