Cooking from the Pantry (merged)

[bavila]

As for the non-perishables, don't feel wasteful. Feel prepared for an emergency. The ramen won't go bad, but the raw chicken will.

Tonight's cooking with what we've got will be a salade nicoise: romaine (farmers' market), green beans (CSA), new potatoes (of questionable age from the grocery store). I poached the tuna with a huge onion (I have a huge bag that will soon go to waste!) and lemon thyme from the CSA. Now I need to figure out some herb-y vinaigrette. Can't remember what herbs I've got other than a TON of pineapple sage.

Any ideas for the onions (fat yellow types) or pineapple sage?

[Miriam Kresh]

Onion soup, onion confit, stuffed baked onions, onion rings fried in batter, pickled onions, onion quiche.

I have never tasted pineapple sage. Is it sweet, or savory? Either way, you could always hang bunches up to dry.

My CSA problem recently has been red cabbage - I can't get one more stirfried, stuffed, coleslawed, cooked-with-apple particle of it into the family anymore. I am considering pickling it.

Just today I decided that if I didn't clear out the freezer, I would lose my sanity...so I thawed out the 5 liters of lemon juice (we have a tree in the building's garden, and I'm the only resident to pick the fruit), strawberries, pomelo sections and raspberries. Out of this fruit I put up hard lemonade, wines, and raspberry cordial. I was so glad to see all that nice empty space in the fridge. Hopefully the booze will make everyone else happy as well. I also found a frozen bag of grated carrot; when the CSA offerings had me drowing in carrots, I did that and baked bread, muffins and cake with carrots in them (and made carrot wine, what else).

Still so much food stored away. But this thread is inspiring me to "go shopping in the fridge" - and pantry for the next few days.

Miriam

[The Old Foodie]

My CSA problem recently has been red cabbage - I can't get one more stirfried, stuffed, coleslawed, cooked-with-apple particle of it into the family anymore. I am considering pickling it.

Miriam

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Pickled cabbage! I haven't made that - or eaten it elsewhere - for years! I love it.

[bavila]

Onion soup! I've been meaning to do this. Maybe for tonight's dinner.

Tomorrow we're having friends over, and I'll probably have to shop for that. I'm thinking fajitas. We usually do chicken and beef, but I'm thinking I'll add in some greens. One of the guest kids is trying to go vegetarian, and I like to give her veg options.

[annarborfoodie]

Last night's dinner was quesadillas. I had been wanting to make the recipe that was featured on America's Test Kitchen a couple of months ago. I had to buy tortillas and cilantro - but got them at the Mexican market so spent about $1.25 on both. I was able to use up some frozen fire roasted corn from the freezer, along with a packet of cooked chicken. From the fridge, I used sour cream, guacamole (TJ's premade), and three cheese blend. A can of black beans came out of the panty. Tonight is my husband's turn to cook, and he's planning on serving some foodsavered frozen sloppy joes from the last time he cooked dinner. I have some onion rolls leftover from last week, so I'll be glad to use those too!

[Angela Alaimo]

I know Miriam is full of cabbage, but a cabbage was part of one of my best pull-it-out-of-your-@$$ meals. There was one rolling around in the fridge, there was some Italian sausage links, a can of diced tomatoes (no salt) and a few other ingredients. We had some good stuffed cabbage leaves that night and we thought we were going to go hungry. Yay.

PS: The Italian sausage (sweet) did go really well with the cabbage, btw.

[Megan Blocker]

Another pantry dinner tonight, I think! I have the following on-hand, and am thinking grilled chicken breast, warm potato salad, and quick pickles/cucumber salad:

- Skinless, boneless chicken breast

- Three yukon golds

- White onion

- Kirby cukes

- Shallots

- Mayo

- Mustard

- Rice wine vinegar

- Red wine vinegar

- Basil

- Olive oil

- Sugar

I'm pretty wiped out today after a long (3 PM - 11 PM) office party last night...might just scrap it all and order in. Stay tuned!

[sally1121]

You guys are so inspiring! Tonight it's chicken lasagna using poached chicken breasts from the freezer and lasagna noodles that have been in the cupboard for, oh, I don't know...a zillion years. I dug out some tomatoes from last year's garden that I'm going to try to roast (a la Cream Puffs in Venice) as well as a bag of cut up, ripe bananas to make some banana bread.

Someone called this "shopping in the freezer" and that hits the nail smack dab on the head. I really love this idea. No more guilt!

[mizducky]

I too hate wasting.  Lately my challenge has been how best to use up the fabulous produce in my CSA box, some of which I've never cooked (like beets  ).

[ . . . ]

Also on hand this week from the CSA are some sugar snap peas, green beans, radish, baby carrots, baby bok choy, chard.  And there's probably something else I've forgotten.

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I can highly recommend the beet-and-cucumber vinaigrette salad I concocted in my last blog. It doesn't have to be cukes in there, either--just about any non-leafy veg will do, either raw or lightly parcooked--if you put the parcooked vegetables into the vinaigrette still warm, they seem to sop up even more vinaigrette goodness--and cut into chunks and/or slices to match the size of your cubed beets. All of the non-leafies you list above would work in such a salad. Leafy vegetables tend to wilt if left in a vinaigrette overnight, but sometimes I like that too--it all depends on what mood I'm in. Or you can marinate a bunch of the more solid veggies in a vinaigrette overnight in the fridge, and then serve on a bed of the leafy veg (shredded or lightly cooked).

As for me, I've been mostly cooking from my pantry ever since my blog ended. I do have to sneak out today to buy some more fruit, but now that I've gone on a beans kick, I've got a bunch of beans I'm motivated to use up--mainly garbanzos and adzukis. Garbanzos I know what to do with--hummus for days! Plus I like garbanzos so much that I'll eat them just straight, with a few grinds of black pepper. But suggestions for other dishes are always welcome!

Adzukis, I know of a bunch of Asian dishes that use them, but that I've never attempted. As I'm going away over the weekend I think experiments with these will be postponed to next week ... but again, suggestions are very welcome.

[Ann_T]

Here is the dinner I made on Tuesday night based on what was in the pantry.

I'm trying to decide whether to take some Bolognese sauce I have in the freezer out for dinner tonigh or if I feel like going out and picking up something for the grill.

Ann

[redglass]

We've run out of meat and put ourselves on a strict grocery budget (last month's damage-$800 for two- was a bit too much for us), so we're doing pantry eating, too.

We are lucky enough to have CSA delivery every week, so I don't really have to worry about shopping for produce.

Dinners lately:

pasta with pesto (frozen and still edible from last year's basil)

Red Lentil Dal with ginger, chili, garlic, cilantro and coconut milk- served with basmati rice (i don't want to think about how long those lentils have been in the nether regions of our pantry)

Chilled Beet soup

Mock spanakopita made with the greens from the CSA

I am going to have to break down and buy some chicken or SOMETHING from the meat group, but am holding off as long as I can!

[hazardnc]

Any ideas for the onions (fat yellow types) or pineapple sage?

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I was in my garden this morning and wondering the very same question. I recently saw a recipe using lemon verbena in a creme brulee (yum) and thought pineapple sage might be good for that too, or perhaps a sorbet, granita - or maybe a sauce for panna cotta...

[hazardnc]

Forgot to add - my dinner from the pantry/freezer tonight: quiche with the frozen pie shell and frozen bacon from my buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) shopping splurge months ago, some old gruyere, half-and-half leftover from the faculty breakfast (I have 3 quarts of the stuff and I don't use it in my coffee - need more ideas) and gorgeous eggs from the CSA.

[santo_grace]

I love this thread! Last night it was two different kinds of pasta (penne and campanelle) mixed together with green onions, mayo and crab meat.

[The Old Foodie]

How about pasta with a quick putanesca-style sauce with onion, garlic, chillies, canned tomatoes, capers and olives, all from the pantry.

A major find from the depths of my freezer was a single piece of blue-eye cod - I think it got there when I bought it for myself when my husband was away, and then friends invited me over for dinner, so I stuck it in there. It seems a terrible thing to do with such a beautiful piece of fish, but I'm going to make Thai fish cakes with it, to serve two of us, along with perhaps a couple of big prawns, some Thai-style dipping sauce and a big salad.

[Pontormo]

This thread is a good idea. My freezer is just about full and while all the dried beans on my shelves are pretty to look at, some of them are going to need pension plans and walkers soon.

On a somewhat related note: Arroz con Mango.

* * *

For us city folk, being able to augment the items in one's pantry by going out to the garden seems to be cheating except, I suppose, for the fact that one really is simplifying: making due with what one has and not picking up a honeydew melon, oranges, bananas, and celery along with the milk.

I am always running out of the things that I would consider pantry items: coffee beans, olive oil and mayo (sorry, but yes) this week. Once the summer begins, I buy less and less at traditional grocery stores or supermarkets, and without an indoor smoker or legal place for even a small hibachi, much less meat. Then, pantry items dominate my shopping lists, though I rely heavily on what's being sold from local farms at the market.

* * *

Returning home after three months abroad, I opened the pantry to find canned tuna, Italian plum tomatoes, a jar of capers, spaghetti and olive oil. The combination is best with garlic and chopped parsley, but...

[Chufi]

I want to go shopping in my fridge tonight too! I have some ground very lean beef, half a green cabbage, peas in the freezer, a piece of Bleu d' Auvergne, and a lot of eggs that need using up. No potatoes in the house which is too bad, cause I kind of feel like potatoes.

I'm thinking of soba noodles with the beef, quickly stirfried, with some peas. Sriracha on top - much like Megans pantry dinner upthread.

But can I do something with the cabbage, blue cheese, eggs and onions?

[Chufi]

while all the dried beans on my shelves are pretty to look at, some of them are going to need pension plans and walkers soon.

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I have this problem with flours. I'm always buying interesting flours (chickpea, buckwheat, etc) and then forget to use them up.. But they look so nice, those powdery different shades of pastel in their glass jars...

[Kerry Beal]

I want to go shopping in my fridge tonight too! I have some ground very lean beef, half a green cabbage, peas in the freezer, a piece of Bleu d' Auvergne, and a lot of eggs that need using up. No potatoes in the house which is too bad, cause I kind of feel like potatoes.

I'm thinking of soba noodles with the beef, quickly stirfried, with some peas. Sriracha on top - much like Megans pantry dinner upthread.

But can I do something with the cabbage, blue cheese, eggs and onions?

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You could make some lovely little tarts with those onions caramelized, topped with the blue cheese melted under the broiler.

The ground beef could be browned with the onion, a bit of celery and green pepper if you have it. Add some tomato paste, water. a bit of boullion, parsley, bit of sugar, salt pepper, paprika. If you had some cubed potato and carrot you can add. Simmer 1 hour, add shredded cabbage, simmer 1 hour more. Makes an excellent cabbage soup.

[Chufi]

You could make some lovely little tarts with those onions caramelized, topped with the blue cheese melted under the broiler.

The ground beef could be browned with the onion, a bit of celery and green pepper if you have it.  Add some tomato paste, water. a bit of boullion, parsley, bit of sugar, salt pepper, paprika.  If you had some cubed potato and carrot you can add.  Simmer 1 hour, add shredded cabbage, simmer 1 hour more.  Makes an excellent cabbage soup.

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Ooohh, I really like the idea of soup.

I also thought of the crepe cook-off, and that crepes with an onion/bluecheese filling would be very nice.

I'll report back!

[ludja]

I want to go shopping in my fridge tonight too! I have some ground very lean beef, half a green cabbage, peas in the freezer, a piece of Bleu d' Auvergne, and a lot of eggs that need using up. No potatoes in the house which is too bad, cause I kind of feel like potatoes.

I'm thinking of soba noodles with the beef, quickly stirfried, with some peas. Sriracha on top - much like Megans pantry dinner upthread.

But can I do something with the cabbage, blue cheese, eggs and onions?

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You could make a coleslaw with the cabbage, dressed with oil and vinegar and crumbled blue cheese. If you want a creamy dressing you could make a mayonaise or boiled dressing for it and also use some the eggs. Other vegetables could also be incorporated if you have them; tomatoes or grated carrots.

Sauteed cabbage and onion might both be able to be incorporate into the blue cheese-topped tarts, galette, individual pizza idea that Kerry Beal mentions above.

[Chufi]

Thanks Kerry for the soup-idea! I never would have thought of making soup with ground beef, but it came out really well. I also found some turnips in the fridge and they went in as well. The soup was flavored with caraway and paprika:

I also had a very large bunch of parsley. Used some of the ever-present frozen puff pastry from the freezer and made parsley/ fried onion/ pecorino turnovers. I looked at my spice jars for something else to use up and found sesame seeds.

The blue cheese did not get used, because I felt it would not suit the soup. There's always tomorrow...

Edited June 16, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Pam R]

I can't think of a better outcome to pantry cooking than burekes! They look so good.

[kayswv]

Forgot to add - my dinner from the pantry/freezer tonight: quiche with the frozen pie shell and frozen bacon from my buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) shopping splurge months ago, some old gruyere, half-and-half leftover from the faculty breakfast (I have 3 quarts of the stuff and I don't use it in my coffee - need more ideas) and gorgeous eggs from the CSA.

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To use up some of the half-and-half how about making Macaroni and Cheese.

Kay

[The Old Foodie]

...  half-and-half leftover from the faculty breakfast (I have 3 quarts of the stuff and I don't use it in my coffee - need more ideas) and gorgeous eggs from the CSA.

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I am not sure exactly what "half and half" is - but any sort of milk plus gorgeous eggs = some sort of custard thing - either sweet or savoury.

Or creamy soup with the "milk"?

[someone please explain "half and half". Oh! our several countries divided by an uncommon culinary language ...]