Essential ingredients...

[LeperousDust]

Right i'm getting on top of my creativity in the kitchen again, about once a year i stagnate and start making the same stuff over and over again, or just stuff thats easy to prepare. I like making different stuff but if my kitchen isn't stocked right when i feel like it i can't because i can't be bothered going to the shops to pick up the right stuff since its either miles away or close but over priced.

So what things should i go out and buy that are staple to random kitchen cooking. Things that will keep for a reasonable time, but that become parts of all sorts of meals... I'm struggling to think at the moment and google is failing me...

[Piggymon]

Garlic ( I use lazy garlic in jars )
Oxo cubes
Mixed 'erbs
Worcesteshire sauce

[Glaucus]

spices. Get a huge range, will cost a bit to get initially though
(cinamon sticks, cardamom ponds, coriander seeds, sesamy seeds, star anise, five spice, paprika, chilli poder, chilli flakes, tumaric, cumin, saffron, pepper corns, garam masala, cumin
herbs, get some pots and plant up common herbs on a windows sill or out side.
Thyme, mint, dill, coriander etc
Dried herbs (bay leaves, oregano, lime kaffiir leaves, tarrogan and any other herb you don't grow)
Canned tomatoes
Canned cocunut milk
Red curry paste
Green curry paste
Lemon, lime juice in a bottles
lazy garlic, ginger, chilli, lemon grass
pasta
spaghetti
egg noodles
rice
cous cous
canned red chilli beans, other canned beans.
beef, veg, chicken, lamb stock cubes
bottle Harrisa paste
Soy sauce
fish sauce
Honey
Corn flour
Flour
Butter
Sugar
brown sugar
mascavado sugar
Mushroom sauce (it's like a stock)
Oyster sauce
Tomato puree

I'll think of more stuff in a minute, all this will last forever. These are core ingredients and every kitchen should have them

[LeperousDust]

Fook me, but i was hoping you'd pop along AcidHell, thats basically exactly what i was after, with the herbs/spices i kinda collected them a while ago and keep forgetting to replenish, so i'm left with stuff i obviously don't use much off...
I will no doubt go spend a fortune now on stuff in sainsburys (or ASDA after i check a few offers) as well as my usual shop... Booooooo

Right out of those are these:
Red curry paste
Green curry paste
bottle Harrisa paste
mascavado sugar
Mushroom sauce (it's like a stock)
Oyster sauce

Essential? (theyre the ones that just spring out to me) Never ever used them and apart from possibly adding a bit of flavour i can't really imagine it being "worth" it for my home cooking.

Basically i'm a cheap ass student, and although i do love nice food, cooking at home regulary has to be the cheapest affair ever, living in Edinburgh sometimes has its drawbacks since my money really does have to go else where.

Are there any cheap shortcuts i can use, for instance i have made my own stock before and regulary reuse fat from meats for cooking, which isn't much but adds up. Anything that saves me buying stuff i realy don't need, but stops me living on my generic pasta rice potato dishes :p :D

[Glaucus]

All depends what you cook. They're essential to me, but it depends what you mainly cook.

Harrisa paste is easy to make. So not essential.
Mushroom sauce adds great flavour to loads of dishes, like spag bol etc and is only like £1.50 for a bottle.

Green and red curry paste is only essential if you cook lots of Thai type food. Thai food is very fast, very cheap and great great taste. So maybe you should start cooking more of that. I think it's 99p a jar in asda.

I also haven't been replenishing and have next to nothing left :(.

Lots of cheap ways.

Get some ice cube trays.
Freeze fat in the ice cube trays then transfer to a freezable bag. Good size chunks which are easy to use.
Grow fresh herbs, when the plants are doing really well, blend then again freeze in ice cube trays, guess what transfer to bags
Same for stock, make stock from left over bones and some veg. Reduce down and again freeze in ice cube trays.

Other than taht if you get a good stock like my list. Then you will just need veg, meat and some carbs liek potatoe, tortilla wraps and you will be able to make so so many different recipes. Look through bbc food for ideas.

The last few weeks I've eaten
Duck wraps
prawn and butternut thai curry
Home made chicken keive with rostie and a onion gravy
harrisa lamb and apricot stew (you should so make this, I'll post recipe)
duck roast
Chilli crusted hake with cocnut, lime and leek sauce
chorizo pasta bake
Chilli beef meatballs
Sizzling rice prawns
Thai green chicken curry w/eggplant, "Gaeng khiao wan gai "

and many other things. For next to nothing. I usually make enough for at least two portions and freeze one. Or use left over meat to make another dish. this is where you save the most money.

asda does something called takeaway tubs, 5 tubs for £2 square tall with a blue lid. Great for freezing meals in.

[Roberta]

For me it's

Olives
Sun dried tomatoes
Olive oil
Huge variety of frozen veg
Baked beans (pretty versatile when you have imagination!)
Huge variety of canned beans and chick peas
Soy sauce

[Glaucus]

Harrisa, apricot and lamb stew
Harrisa paste, one jar (found by the spices/herbs, Salisbury's deff sell it)
Lamb neck or beef braising steak.
1 bag of finely chopped dried apricots.
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 onion
1 can water
Cous Cous
1 Stock cubes
Salt
Pepper
Optional extra chilli.

Method:
1) dice the lamb into inch cubes, mix the entire jar of Harrisa paste and leave to marinade for at least 10mins.
2) peel and dice the onion add to a frying pan and fry until translucent
3) add the lamb to the onions and fry for two mins.
4) Take the lamb and onion and place in and oven proof dish (wich needs a lid or foil)
5) add the tomatoes, water, 1 stock cube, apricots
6) place in an oven at 160, for at least 2 hours. Uncover for the last 30mins. (Longer the better - covered)
7) when you want to serve, boil some water in a kettle.
8) in a bowl add the cous cous and crumble in a stock cube.
9) pour over the water freshly boiled for the kettle, stir and cover, leave for 5mins. its one part cous cous to 2 parts water
10) serve

Now that is an amazing recipe. The longer you cook it for the better 2hrs +. But 5hrs if you have time.

That will easily serve 4. So freeze 3 lots. Making dishes the size and freezing the rest is the single best way to save money. It works out so much cheaper.

You could also make home made pies and freeze them. I would freeze them with the pastry not cooked. Just get some foil tins from the supermarkets.

[LeperousDust]

Hmmm home made pies are something i haven't thought of, awesome, feeling hungry just now things about :p Right well i'm off out t'shops to grab lots of stuff i guess...!

[Glaucus]

That lot cost me about £50 with about another £15 on perishable goods and has feed me for 3 weeks and still have some stuff in the freezer. So you can have awesome food and keep it cheap.
Oh that price includes breakfast and lunch.

pies are easy.

beef, bottle of ale, onion, mushrooms, stock. Anything else you want to add. Boil it up for about an hour.
Dust the beef in some flour, fry add onions fry again. Add stock and ale then chuck what ever else you want in Simmer for about an hour. Add some cornflour if you want it thicker.

Get some shortcrust pastry and line tins. Add a thin layer of palenta ontop of the pastry base(this helps the pastry stay dry and crispy) fill it, put lid on. About 30mins in the oven.

Serve with mash
Boil peas up, drain. then add a splash of white wine, butter, fresh mint and crush.

[Gnat]

cake.


Thats an essential ingredient isnt it?

[Glaucus]

cake.


Thats an essential ingredient isnt it?

don't say that word. I hardly ever make dessert.

You made me want strawberry shortcake. I have the best recipe in the world for that :(...

[Jonny69]

Acid, not sure what fat you're freezing but duck fat keeps for up to 6 months in the fridge, no need to freeze it.

Edit: damnit you idiot, you've made ME want strawberry shortcake now!!!

[Glaucus]

Edit: damnit you idiot, you've made ME want strawberry shortcake now!!!

I still want strawberry shortcake..

Don't freeze anything at the minute as I only have 2 shelfs. :'( silly shared house. Just have room for my frozen meals..

[Will]

Acid's list is pretty much on par with what I'd want.

I have an extensive number of spices/herbs.
Stuff that can be kept in the larder, as Acid said, rice, pastas, noodles, couscous,pestos, soy sauce, oils (olives, nut, various), vinegars, chopped tomatoes, sugar, flour (for sauces), butter, salt, pepper, cream (in the fridge ofc).

Perishables you have to buy more regularly, like meats, milk, cream, veggies, etc...

[Glaucus]

Acid's list is pretty much on par with what I'd want.

I have an extensive number of spices/herbs.
Stuff that can be kept in the larder, as Acid said, rice, pastas, noodles, couscous,pestos, soy sauce, oils (olives, nut, various), vinegars, chopped tomatoes, sugar, flour (for sauces), butter, salt, pepper, cream (in the fridge ofc).

Perishables you have to buy more regularly, like meats, milk, cream, veggies, etc...

Darn I forgot about the vinegars and oils.
Normall vinegar + balsamic vinegar is essential
Veg oil + olive oil + extra vigin olive oil + a few flavoured ones for stir frys etc.

[LeperousDust]

I've got virgin, extra, and a "chinese oil" (mixed nuts) i already make quite good use of those (well not so much the extra actually).

Also i completely for got vinegar, realised when i got home... That and pastry, apart from i think i've covered everything else. Cost me an absolute fortune though. Although i love having it all, gonna organise the kitchen all nice now too :) Can't wait to cook tonight with good ingredients! Woot.

As i normally shop at sainsburys since its closer (i thought asda would be cheaper turns out its basically the same price i'd say). Asda have some strange things, like they have there own version of dark soy, but not light soy, they dont do packets of rice over 2kg but pasta up to 5kg? I usually buy in bulk at sainsburys but asda seemed to be lacking ...

Oh well in total i hit £75, but that included frozen stuff and meats, which i have nada of at present too. £75 is a LOT for me, i usually hit £20 max a week, usually £30 for two. Hope its worth it...

[Glaucus]

I have to say I prefer asda. They have the best selection of fresh fruit and veg, the best selection of ethnic food. But it's hard to find as it's spread over 6 isles for some bizarre reason.
And there pre packed deli meat is £4 and will make lunches for 7 days and tastes great.

However they don't have a few ingredients like chorizo, but my work van is based next door to sainsburys. So I just pop in there for the few extra bits.

£70 is very good for a stock buy like that. But most of it will last months and they wont run out at the same time.

Let us know what you cook latter.

[LeperousDust]

Yeah i picked up a lot more than that list as i went round and realised what else i was missing too. I was literally milling round asda for 2 hours because as you say their shop layout was designed by monkeys.

I also found the deli meat, and WOW its so cheap! I picked up the .5kg for £4 beats the pre wrapped cooked meats any day! Salisbury's don't have that, but their cooked meats from some farm supplier work out cheaper than asda's. The asda i went to is a bit of a dive personally, some nice food, but too big and wallmarty, think i'll stick to the closer Salisbury's in future, there isn't much difference :)