Herbs & Spices

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Herbs & Spices

A good pantry of seasonings, herbs and spices is foundation of any accomplished homecook's kitchen. From the basics like salt to slightly exotic herb blends like Herbs de Provence, here is a comprehensive list of things you should have in your disposal at all times.

Salt

Sea salt, or Kosher Salt, or any salt for that matter is a must for any kitchen and this should come as no surprise. American's generally eat too much of the stuff because it awakens flavor of anything it is added to. In excess it can be bad for your health, in moderation it can make a dish.

I like to keep coarse ground salt on hand for salting water (for pasta, rice, etc.) and a more fine ground salt on hand for cooking.

black pepper

Pepper grinders are not just for waiters and waitresses at your local Olive Garden. Grinding your own whole peppercorns into fresh cracked black pepper is any easy to enhance the flavor of your food. Pre-packaged pepper lacks the flavor punch and, lets be honest here, the visual appeal of fresh cracked peppercorns.

Once you go cracked, you'll never go back.

Chilli Flakes

When you need heat in your dishes, you need chilli flakes. You can add a little or a lot. If you want the heat to be more pervasive throughout your dish, add them in earlier on in the cooking process. If your prefer more concentrated burst of heat lighting up your pallet while eating, add chilli flakes later on.

Garlic Powder

Generally, we prefer to use fresh garlic when possible but when you are

In a rush
Just want to add a bit garlic punch
Making a dry rub for meat or poultry
Making garlic bread at 1am

Garlic powder can come in handy

Basil

Basil is my favorite herb in the world. It hails from India but is used heavily in Oriental and Mediterranean cuisines.

It is extremely versatile. While it's almost impossible to use too much, it adds great layer of flavor to meat, poultry, pasta, sauces, soups and even sweets. Did we miss anything?

Like garlic, it's best fresh, but it's just fine dried. Just use it.

Herbs de Provence

As you might have deduced from the name, Herbs de Provence is a blend herbs often used in its namesake Provence, France.

The usual suspects in the mix are:

Savory
Majoram
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Lavender

It is perfect as a go-to seasoning for meat, fish, poultry and vegetables.. which is practically everything. Added bonus for correct french pronunciation.

Cinnamon

The smell of cinnamon is usually a signal you are going to something sweet and something tasty but it also has applications in savory foods. The medical community is not all in agreement on the health benefits of consuming cinnamon, but it has been credited with reducing inflammation, regulating blood sugar and even having anti-oxidant properties. Either way, you can't really go wrong with the stuff.

NUTMEG

Nutmeg, unfortunately, has been largely regulated to use between in the months of November and December. It is so much more. When used correctly (read: in extreme moderation) it can bring great flavor from anything from french toast to sauteed spinach. Nutmeg can be purchased pre-ground (watch the expiration date) or in clove form and ground fresh.

Pastas & Grains

Pastas and grains like oats and rice are the staples of our diet. They are also among the most shelf stable foods we have, so there is no reason not to have ample supplies of the following items on hands at all times.

Fresh spaghetti | source: theyucadiaries.com — Fresh spaghetti | *source:* *theyucadiaries.com*

Pasta

We suggest keeping the following pastas in your cupboard:

Elbow Macaroni
- How are you going to make macaroni and cheese without elbow macaroni?
Spaghetti
- When you need to make a quick dinner spaghetti is a good go to. It take about 20 minutes from cold water on stove to colander and it can be dressed in so many ways. Not only for the traditional spaghetti with tomato sauce. You can make a carbonara, throw in seafood, make a pesto or just use vegetables if you are so inclined. The opportunities are plentiful and delicious.
Penne
- Penne holds sauce as much as well as any pasta. It's great for thick ragus or baked pasta dishes like baked ziti.
Orzo
- It's the best things since sliced bread for soups and salads. It looks like rice, but tastes and acts like pasta.

Rice

Rice is an extremely versatile starch that form the foundation of almost every meal for many cultures around the world. It is the second most consumed grain after maize. More than half of the employed population of Thailand works in rice production.

There are about 40,000 different varieties of rice out there. We suggest having scented jasmine rice, brown rice and arborio rice (for risotto) on hand at all times and avoiding parboiled rice (read: Uncle Ben's) like the plague. Because it is.

Polenta | source: kitchenconfidante.com — Polenta | *source: kitchenconfidante.com*

Cornmeal (Grits, Polenta)

Cornmeal means many different things to many different peoples around the world.

In the Southern United States, akalai-treated hominy, or 'grits', is embraced as both a well-buttered breakfast porridge and seafood companion. In Italy, yellow cornmeal is teamed with butter, cream, and cheese before it's eaten either in its goopy porridge form or it's solid fried, baked or grilled form. The list of places and ways it prepared is long.

You should have it in your kitchen because it versatile, quick-cooking and really delicious.

Flour

Flour is an essential for both cooking and baking. While everyone immediately recognizes flour as the base ingredient for baked goods like breads and cakes, it easy to overlook it as a thickening agent for sauces, a coating agent for meats.

All purpose flour, self-rising flour and baking flour are all good to have on hand.

Fruits & Vegetables

Fruits and Vegetables are primarily "buy only what you need" items at the grocery store since there are perishable. However there are few fruits and vegetables that last a little longer than usual or show up in recipes so often that you should be caught without them.

Make sure to visit eatbydate.com for more information on the shelf life of vegetables and tips how to best store your produce

Onions

The lowly onion. Other vegetables get all of the adulation praise, while the versatile onion is happy to be ubiquitous, unheralded, and indispensable all at once. Onions can add a spicy bite in their uncooked form, provide a savory base in their sautéed form, or be a sweet addition in its caramelized form.

The Homecook Field Guide prefers white or yellow onions as they are the most versatile. Vidalia onions are a great, sweet variety of the vegetables. Red onions add visual interest and are great raw, due to their comparatively more mild flavor. Shallots are milder than normal onions as well and are great in dishes where the onions are visible, such as sautéed haricot-verts.

Shelf Life: 4-6 weeks

How to store: White and yellow onions should be kept in a cool, dry place, where they have access to circulating air. Keeping onions in a plastic bag can shorten their shelf life. Sweet onions and green onions do best in the refrigerator.

Garlic

Celebrity chef chef Emeril Lagasse played a role in bringing garlic forward in the American consciousness (we'll concede the extent to which credit is due is up for general debate) and for that, we should be thankful.

Garlic is often the best place to start a savory dishes. It has away of rounding out existing flavors while bringing a twist of its own which, perhaps, is why it is so prominent in so many cuisines around the globe.

Shelf Life: 3-6 months

How to store: Garlic cloves are best stored in a dark, dry place with plenty of air circulation. Refrigeration encourages sprouting and should generally be avoided. Garlic can last for months; however, once you start removing cloves from a bulb, the shelf life of the garlic shortens considerably.

Potatoes

Potato are the fourth largest food crop behind grains like corn, wheat and rice for a reason. They are easy-to-grow, easy-to-store, and easy-to-prepare.

We live in an age where we are blessed enough to have access a wide variety of potatoes, year-round. They provide different taste, texture, sweetness and size. Our favorite potatoes are sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes and new potatoes, but other varieties like the stalwart Idaho are great too.

Shelf Life: 2-3 months

How to store: Potatoes are best stored in a cool, dark place. Refrigerating them can cause the creation of sugar from starch in the potato, which alters flavor. The sugar creation, however, can be halted by leaving them outside the refrigerator for a week or so.