My Pantry

I thought it would be fun to write about what I generally have in my pantry – that way I am able to come up with something for any occasion.

Baking:

• Unbleached all purpose flour
• Whole wheat flour
• Cake and pastry flour
• 12-grain (or multi grain) cereal
• Bran cereal
• Flax seed
• Wheat bran
• Rice flour (for my gluten free friend)
• Custard powder
• Baking powder
• Yeast (kept in the fridge)
• Baking Soda
• Vanilla (bean, preferably) and a multitude of other flavorings
• Chocolate chips (good quality, semi sweet)
• Good quality Coco powder
• Unsweetened baking chocolate (for my sugar free relatives)
• Unsweetened coconut
• Walnuts (I keep nuts in a zip lock bag in the freezer to keep them fresher longer).
• Pine nuts
• Almonds
• White sesame seeds
• Black sesame seeds
• Icing/superfine sugar
• Sugar in the raw
• Regular sugar
• Brown sugar
• Splenda (for my sugar free relatives)
• Spenda brown sugar
• marshmallows
• Puffed rice cereal
• Caramel shards
• Peppermint candies
• Variety of cookie decorations (red, green sparkles, etc)

Refrigerator:

• Eggs
• Egg whites
• Milk
• Buttermilk (about 1/2 the time)
• No fat yogurt
• Miso paste
• PC chicken stock concentrate (no msg)
• PC beef stock concentrate (no msg)
• Hungarian sweet paprika paste (in a tube)
• Italian tomato paste (in a tube)
• Sweet butter
• Olivina
• Marjarine (for baking)
• Yeast
• Jamacan hot sauce
• Green curry paste
• Asian chillis
• PC Chimichurra sauce
• PC Thai sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dijon mustard
• Ketchup (for the kiddies)
• Sweet & hot red chili jelly
• Sweet & hot green chili jelly
• Citrus marmalade
• Just fruit berry only jam
• Peanuts only peanut butter
• Tahini
• Sesame oil
• Macadamia nut oil
• Fish sauce
• Lemon juice
• Lime juice
• Rosa lime cordial
• Maple syrup
• Pickles
• Olives (for martini’s)
• Black olives
• Sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
• Dried fruit (mix)
• Dried prunes
• 2 seltzer bottles on the go all the time
• Parmesan Cheese (whole, not grated)
• Another type of cheese – depends on when

Fresh Vegetables:

• Arugula
• Spinach or mix greens
• Celery
• Cucumbers (I prefer the mini english)
• Tomatoes
• Broculi
• Cauliflower
• Vidallia Onions
• Herbs (usually cilantro because I dont’ grow that)
• Radishes
• Whatever is in season

Dry Pantry:

• Risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli or vialone or a good quality risotto rice)
• Basmati rice (for Indian Food)
• Jasmin rice(for Thai Food)
• Sushi rice
• Wild rice
• Brown rice
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Variety of dried mushrooms
• Barley
• Dried and canned garbanzo beans (for hummus)
• Dried beans (for soups)
• Canned crab meat
• Canned tuna
• Canned salmon
• Whole wheat pasta (variety of shapes and sizes)
• Rice pasta (mainly vermicelli and fettuccine)

Freezer:

• Bag of single portioned fish (generally cod, tilapia, salmon)
• Bag of single portioned skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• Bag of 3 dinner portioned beef for stewing
• Pork roast (when on sale)
• Beef tenderloin (when on sale)
• Bag of extra large scallops (frozen when caught)
• Bag of large uncooked shrimp
• Bag of large cooked shrimp
• Individually bagged turkey sausages
• Bag of chopped vidallia onions (this is usually only in winter when I cannot get them fresh)
• Bag of sliced brown mushrooms
• Mini tart cups
• Phyllo pastry (I usually separate sheets into about 5 portions and freeze)
• Home made pizza dough (I usually make 2 batches and freeze one)
• Home made onion confit (this is delicious on pizza)
• Home made beef & veal reduction in ice cubes
• Crumbled sausage
• Pancetta (individually wrapped for easy separation)
• Croutons
• Shredded sharp cheeses (freeze very well)
• Goats cheese (I buy the 500g portion and cut into 4, bag individually and freeze)
• Crumbled blue cheese (because I buy the large pack, it’s always too much and it freezes beautifully)
• Individually frozen mini boconcinni balls (freeze on a cookie sheet and put back into plastic jar without its brine)
• Frozen berries (from costco)
• Bag of mixed vegetables (just in case)
• Home made soups (this time it’s butternut squash and some celery root)

Ready made Hors D’oeuvres in the Freezer:

• Home made cheese puffs
• Home made Chinese style dumplings
• Home made cheese sticks
• Home made bacon wrapped dates
• Asian spring rolls (not home made, left over from shoot)

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Grilled Scallop Bruschetta with Avocado Paste

Grilled Scallop Bruschetta

• 3 tbsp coconut milk*
• 1/2 tsp grated lime rind
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/4 tsp Asian chili garlic sauce (or hot sauce)
• 12 large scallops (about 1 lb)
• 1/2 baguette
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Combine first set of ingredients and marinate the scallops in it for about 30 minutes.
2. Grill the scallops on a bbq (1-2 minutes per side depending on thickness) or in a very hot cast iron pan. Heat the pan until quite hot and melt about 1 tsp Olive Oil and 1 tbsp butter add very dry scallops without the liquid and sear until each side is caramelized (about 1-2 minutes per side depending on thickness).

Avocado Paste Ingredients:

• 1 small ripe avocado
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp coconut milk or coconut milk powder
• 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
• pinch of salt and pepper
• cilantro leaves as garnish

Instructions:

1. Place ingredients into a bowl and purée with an immersion blender until smooth (this will also work with a food processor).

Assembly:

1. Slice baguette thinly and brush lightly with olive oil. Broil or grill until slightly crispy on both sides. Set aside.
2. Take the grilled bread and slather with avocado paste, put one hot scallop on top (if the scallops are too big, you may wish to slice them in half horizontally – just remember that you may need more bread). Garnish with a bit of lime juice, olive oil and cilantro leaves.
3. Enjoy.

* If I don’t have a can of coconut milk open, for 3 tbsps in this recipe, I usually don’t bother to open one (it really doesn’t freeze well or keep for a long time). Take 3 tbsp shaved unsweetened coconut and cover in about 4 tbsp milk. Run through an emersion blender until as smooth as possible. Strain out bits through a fine strainer. Use “milk” in recipe above.

 

Updated November 1, 2016

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Maple poached pears, gorgonzola, maple glazed walnuts in endive spears

1 bosc pear, halved and cored
Water to cover
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 medium sized endive (separated into 12 spears)
3 whole walnuts roughly chopped (or 3 tbsp)
2 tbsp maple syrup (not a mistake)
2 ounces of crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese
Balsamic vinegar reduction

1. Poach pears in water and 2 tbsp maple syrup (about 10 minutes).
2. Pan fry walnuts in 2 tbsp maple syrup until syrup crystallizes on walnuts (1-2 minutes) careful not to burn the syrup, this happens very fast!
3. Cool pear and slice into 12 slices.
4. Separate the endive spears and fill each with a slice of poached pear, a sprinkling of candied walnuts and crumbled cheese.
5. Drizzle with balsamic reduction.
6. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

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Éva’s whole wheat flatbreads

I developed this recipe because I wanted a tasty healthier treat. Use a pasta maker to get the dough really thin, and flavor as desired.

Check out my recipe on Foodista!

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup 12 grain cereal (choose one that doesn’t have large bits – or run it through a coffee grinder, so it doesn’t clog the pasta maker)
• 1/4 cup ground and whole flax seeds (a mix is nice)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup warm water (plus)
• 1 tsp yeast

Flavourings: add as desired (not all of them)

• 2 tbsp paprika (smoked is good
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp curry
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes ground finely (not onion salt)
• 1/4 cup dehydrated garlic flakes ground finely (not garlic powder or garlic salt)
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds (try sesame oil instead of olive oil for extra flavour)

1. Dissolve yeast, in warm water and sugar.
2. Sift all dry ingredients (including flavorings of your choice) together into heavy duty mixer with a dough hook.
3. Add yeast and water and turn mixer on low – mix until the result is a nice smooth ball of dough, adding the olive oil as necessary (depending on humidity, you may need to add a bit more warm water as well).
4. Let rest in a warm dark place about 1 hour. This is a rather heavy dough that will not rise much. Or skip it and don’t bother, doesn’t make much dif.
5. Pre heat oven to 350°F
6. Generously dust your rolling surface with flour. Cut about 1 cm thick chunks and roll out with a wooden rolling pin until the dough is thin enough to go through the largest gap in your pasta maker. Run this dough through gently until your desired thickness is achieved (I go to #4, it makes a very nice flat bread).
7. Cut into triangles (like I did on this batch) because I wanted the kids to think they were natchos! or simply bake in the sheets that come out of the pasta maker and roughly break into smaller pieces when done. Brush with additional olive oil on top side. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Cool and enjoy!

Sometimes I don’t have time for the rise, so I skip it. Doesn’t make much difference.

I always double this recipe and it takes me about 1 hour from start to finish using two ovens.

The dough burns very easily…I usually sacrifice 3 sheets in this process at the end…the oven is very hot at this point and usually only needs 10-11 minutes and not the full 14 that it does in the beginning!

 

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