Pantry Talk - organics and gourmet foods (part two)

Inherited Victorian china
Thrifted napkin and napkin ring
Garage sale silver plated flatware
End of season clearance tablecloth

Click picture to enlarge!

I know I've already written about some of this... one could find the post somewhere in the Pantry Talks of the past three years. However, I don't know that I could handle going through three years of anyone's posts! :)

Today I want to chat about how our pantry truly can be the start of "gourmet" cooking and fine dining... add in a few great cookbooks and a collection of inherited or thrifted china (and candles... must have candles)... and viola', a meal as good as anything in the expensive restaurants.

I wrote earlier in the season about my quest for the small gourmet additions to add to the pantry. All are either very reasonably priced or on sale (or clearance) and added only once in awhile or when seasonally available. For instance, very good quality baking supplies often go on sale during the Holidays.

I learned to love fine dining back in my former life (basically the 1980s) when two of us were working and we had but one little girl who could enjoy having the silverware in the correct positions and drinking a Shirley Temple from a crystal goblet. Most often she would bring her current reading along with us when she tired of adult conversation.

The decision to "come home" (thus, cutting our income by a great deal) and later the birth of a very hyper little boy limited our fine dining experiences to birthdays and anniversaries. In the past decade, they have become even rarer, which is why I SO enjoyed the gift of dinner at the French Bistro when Stephanie visited this past spring (a gift from my son-in-law as well since his hard work paid for it). :)

That dinner reminded me of what I love about fine dining. That meal was perfectly cooked with the best simple ingredients in such a way one enjoyed every bite. There was no rushing through food that is so good and well prepared. The atmosphere was very bistro... less elegant and more classic... but very special.

That's why there is a gourmet section of my pantry, even though my grocery budget is ridiculously slim. They are the items which can add that "extra" to fresh veggies in summer and root vegetable in the cooler months... to create magic. Some are everyday items used in special ways, others are special items used in everyday foods. :)

My pantry is not as "deep" as it used to be but I always have a few boxes of organic chicken broth on the shelf (although they are gone now that my husband was on a liquid diet for a few days), one extra Grey Poupon harvest stone ground mustard, one bottle very good quality extra virgin olive oil (right now it is a small bottle of Lucini), a jar of capers, a few cans of organic pizza/pasta sauce (I add a can of Red Gold Italian tomatoes for use with pasta), a jar of chopped garlic for those times I don't have fresh and need garlic... just to name a few that comes to my mind right now.

Interesting spices give a lot of opportunity to add something different to all dishes. My mother never used some of those I enjoy now... coriander, cardamon, and smoked paprika just to name a few.

I keep real butter in the freezer. Although I use whatever good chocolate chips I can find on sale for most baking (Hershey's or Nestle's), when on sale I'll buy a few packages of Ghiradelli or Guittard to keep on hand when the chocolate chips are the star of the show (for instance, some fudge recipes and ganache). Of course, always real vanilla and other extracts. I like to keep a bottle of Key West lime juice on hand for key lime pie... it also works great wherever lemon juice is called for in a recipe.

It is so easy to have special items for baking to give cookies and cakes that pastry chef look. I purchased meringue powder earlier in the year but I haven't had a chance to use it for cookie icing, yet. I have all kinds of special colored sugars, sprinkles, cupcake liners, etc... all very inexpensive. Now that dried cranberries and cherries are more reasonably priced, I keep them on hand for baking and salads... as well as currents.

In the refrigerator, I keep lots of cream cheese as it lasts a long time and goes on sale once in awhile. It is there for baking and as a basis for dips of all kinds. In the freezer I try to always have bacon and those tiny peas (recommended by Nigella, whose pantry I LOVE to see on her show).

Then there are all the unique crackers and cookies. Regular cheddar or colby cheese become "uptown" when served with a special cracker or bread. Being a cookie connoisseur, I am not fond of most store bought cookies but Pepperidge Farm cookies are wonderful, as are some of the brands imported from England. One or two packages kept hidden from anyone with a carb attack is a frugal luxury to have on hand.

I hope to can a few jams and jellies as well as apple pie filling soon (some recipes on my recipe blog). All would make simple foods special. I always try to keep one container of vanilla ice cream in the deep freeze for a la' mode... anything.

I have collected lots of interesting baking pans on thrift store and garage sale excursions. For instance, a simple pound cake baked in a mini Bundt pan (or a big one) looks amazing.

When Stephanie was growing up, we often had candles lit on the table at dinnertime. I think we stopped that practice when Christopher was old enough to blow them out. However, pretty plates and candlelight makes even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (cut out with heart shaped cookie cutters) look beautiful.

A selection of pretty napkins and serving pieces can be found at thrift stores and Goodwill. I have a large selection of buttery soft linen napkins, all purchased while thrifting. I find the most gorgeous paper napkins deep discounted at Tuesday Morning and if anyone thinks they are too good for pretty paper napkins... they wouldn't be coming to my home, anyway.

Of course, all kinds of beautiful tea time items are available by thrifting. Perhaps because I am looking for them... I find them all the time. The most I've ever paid for a thrifted teapot was $7.00 at an antique mall for one I saw in a magazine six or seven year ago... I think it was Country Living. Most were much cheaper. I've also been given a lot of tea time gifts over the years.

Thankfully, tea has become so popular that one can find good tea for thrifty prices. I love Candy Cane Lane (which is a decaf green) and plan to stock up come the Holidays. This time of year I like to serve the original Good Earth Sweet & Spicy blend which is a cinnamon tea (they also have an herbal blend with the same cinnamony goodness). I find it easy to keep a few brands on hand that people would like, including Bigelow's Earl Grey Green and Green Tea with Lemon. It is available on Amazon if you can't find it at your grocery store.

The Folgers coffee I like is the new Folgers Brazilian coffee which is part of their Coffeehouse Series. I didn't like their "Gourmet" brands at all. The 8:00 coffee is pretty good and I actually liked the Dunkin' Donut coffee even though I saw bad reviews online. I like the Trader Joe's coffee but the nearest is in the "big city"... and I hate driving in it. I know Laine (of Laine's Letters) once wrote that she mixed expensive coffee with the cheap stuff for a good taste.

I believe allowing good cookbooks in the budget is money saving in the long run as they give spark to creativity. Great cooking is often just simple food assembled in various recipes and the cookbooks we love give us the permission to try something new... knowing it has worked for another before us. I have paid full price for a few favorites over the years but I find they become available used on Amazon for great prices after only two or three years. My local library book sales often have a large collection.

This is already a very long post but I think you can tell I am passionate about beautiful and "fine dining" done on a budget and ready to make with items in the pantry... and I didn't even get to keeping a pretty tablecloth in a picnic basket for that beautiful outside meal (which doesn't happen in our home now that there are no young children around) of cheese, fruit, and really good bread. :)