Vibrant Village ™

Chef Tom

Hello, readers, I’m Chef Tom.

What I want to do in this column is talk about cooking at home — the kind of cooking we do every day because we have people to feed.

I happen to like making meals of all kinds, but simple fare is what I enjoy making the most. Let’s face it, there is little time to get a meal on the table after work, and forget grocery shopping every day or going to the curb market or farm stand to see what’s fresh and affordable.

I do like variety, but I’m not beyond eating the same meal a couple of days in a row. There are ways to plan ahead, though, and to use the same ingredients or leftovers that second day and make an entirely different dinner with little added effort.

My goal, in part, is to give you tips and tricks to help you manage the task of meal preparation and maybe get some enjoyment out of it. I’ll admit I don’t often use recipes, per se. Most of the cooking I do is based on what I have on hand, or what my wife — or I — might happen to pick up at the store on our way home.

At times inspiration strikes, or one of us gets a yen for a particular favorite, a great sale is advertised, or something seasonal becomes available, and off I go with a shopping list in hand.

One test every semester at culinary school was an exercise called the “mystery basket.” A limited amount of time was given to prepare a complete meal, usually for four, from a surprise array of ingredients. Some staples were available in the test kitchen, and taste, presentation, ingenuity and efficiency were the main grading points the chef-instructor looked for.

When you’re not under the gun trying to make a good grade, it’s actually kind of fun. For me, at least, it’s a good limiter for the imaginative palate.

Again, cooking a meal from what’s at hand is what most of us do most of the time. I call it pantry cooking, and if you have a few basics on hand at all times, there’s pretty good variety in what you can make with a few “mystery” ingredients.

Pantry Must-Have's

“Basics” is a subjective term here and depends on your likes and dislikes, but there are some things, in my opinion, that are “must-haves.”  Peek inside my cupboard and fridge and here's what you'll find:

• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Bay leaves (fresh; I have a bush growing year round)
• Beans, canned black
• Broth, canned chicken
• Butter
• Capers
• Cheese — sharp cheddar and Parmesan
• Chocolate — semisweet squares
• Cinnamon (sticks and ground)
• Cloves, whole
• Coffee, ground
• Cooking spray
• Cornmeal
• Cornstarch
• Cumin, ground
• Curry powder
• Eggs
• Flour — all purpose
• Garbanzos
• Garlic, fresh
• Honey
• Ketchup
• Lentils, dry
• Maple syrup
• Mayonnaise
• Milk (canned, evaporated, and condensed)
• Molasses
• Mustard, Dijon
• Nutmeg, whole
• Oil, olive
• Onions, yellow
• Pasta, dry
• Peanut butter
• Peppercorns, black
• Peppers, roasted in oil
• Pickle relish, dill
• Potatoes, fresh
• Rice — long grain, basmati, and Arborio
• Rosemary (fresh; I have a bush growing year-round)
• Saffron
• Salt
• Soy sauce
• Splenda
• Sugar — white and brown
• Tarragon — dried
• Thyme — dried leaves
• Tomatoes — canned crushed, puree, diced in juice, and dried
• Tuna — canned in oil
• Vanilla extract
• Vinegar (cider and balsamic)
• Worcestershire sauce
• Yeast (dry)
• Yogurt — plain

Those are my food basics. In a future column, we'll address good pots and pans and some utensils and equipment we all need to facilitate meal preparation.

For my first recipe, I though I'd offer a simple--and delicious--three-ingredient Macaroni & Cheese dish.  Check it out here.

Lastly, I want hear from you.  Your comments, questions and suggestions are appreciated (use the reply box below).

— Chef Tom

Chef Tom started cooking when he was twelve years old and hasn't stopped since. After 25 years of teaching himself about cooking, he entered and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Among his favorite culinary subjects are evaluating and simplifying recipes, cooking meals for one, and making something good to eat from what’s on hand.