Let's Stay In

Meal planning doesn’t work for me. When the kids were little, I tried, I really tried. But I’m just not an organized person, and inevitably the food that I planned on Sunday for dinner on Wednesday was not the food that I wanted to eat when Wednesday arrived. So, I’d get frustrated, loathe the cooking process, and end up wasting quite a bit of food. I’d never leave enough days for leftovers and often failed to take into account the food we already had in the fridge and pantry.

Now, I’m sure there is a good and organized way to properly meal plan—I just couldn’t find it and had to admit to myself that that system was not for me. What was meant to bring ease in the kitchen left me feeling frustrated and took away some of that spontaneous creativity I love when I cook. I love allowing the markets to inspire me, or in the summer, plucking a few things from the garden. Sometimes, when the cupboards are really bare, I pretend I’m on one of those food competition shows where you think the contents in their mystery basket couldn’t possibly come together in a delicious way. And honestly sometimes they don’t, but I love the challenge and the feeling that out of seemingly nothing, a meal can be created.

What I have found that works for me is to keep a well-stocked pantry, a crisper drawer filled with vegetables, or at the very least a few frozen vegetables, such as peas and corn, and always a few good nubs of cheese.

Meal planning may work for you and your family. That’s great! The point is, find what works and go with that. Any way you plan to use this book makes me happy. I hope the pages get splattered, the binding starts to crack at your most beloved recipes, and there are notes in the margins reminding you of the changes made to make the recipe yours. Whether you follow the recipes in the pages ahead exactly as written or you use the recipe titles as your starting point, there’s room for it all.

But before you get started, let’s talk about my pantry: the ingredients that you will find on repeat in the recipes in this book. They are the basis that form many of my family’s everyday meals and the foundation to which I add meat or any bits of vegetables I can find.

Beans, Grains, and Pasta

For quick weeknight cooking, I often start with a foundation of a bean, grain, or pasta. Unless there is a chicken to roast or something destined for the grill or oven, I’ll turn to the pantry and grab one of these shelf-friendly staples, then build from there.

Always on hand: cannellini, black, and pinto beans and chickpeas, sometimes in both canned and dried forms.

Grains often make up the backbone of our weekday cooking. We have lentils in a rainbow of colors, as well as farro, rice (in many shapes and colors), polenta, couscous, quinoa, and oats. There are others we enjoy, but I make a point to keep jars well stocked of these core grains.

For pasta, just keep a good supply of a few varieties of long, slurping noodles and also a few types like penne and orecchiette. If you end up with leftover bits of a few varieties, crumble them up or whack them with a wooden spoon while they’re locked inside a resealable plastic bag and then tip the contents into a roiling pot of soup.

Things in Cans

Tomatoes I cannot begin to tell you how many times a can of tomatoes has saved our weeknight dinners. Most often the tomatoes are diced, but I also like to keep a few large containers of whole or crushed. With a quick sauté of shallot or onion and a large can of tinned tomatoes, we’ve made my eldest son’s, Baron’s, favorite soup: classic tomato. Sometimes there’s a bit of curry, fresh basil, or splash of heavy whipping cream or coconut milk swirled in for good measure. Add a griddled cheese toast and you have the wool sweater of dinners. Or simmer a couple of cans with onion and butter and toss with spaghetti and heaps of Parmesan. With tomatoes in the pantry, it feels like dinner is nearly on the table.

Stock While it is not generally purchased in can form, I’m listing stock here, too. Of course, homemade is lovely but not always on hand, so I keep a few boxes in the pantry. Be sure to taste the stock you buy. I know perhaps that is not worth mentioning, but there was a time when I would just casually pour the stock into whatever it was I was making and assume it was delicious, when in reality it was really quite the opposite. It’s hard to recover a dish from a dull stock. So, taste and find your favorite.

Coconut Milk I’ve come to completely depend on coconut milk: from smoothies to soups and braises, it has found a permanent place in my pantry.

Spices

Buy spices in small quantities in the bulk section for maximum freshness. Buy the seeds and toast and grind them at home for the same reason. As you know, I’m not one to tout my organizational skills, but I recently did a complete overhaul of my spice drawer. I bought all matching jars—the ones with flat edges so they don’t roll around the spice drawer. Each now proudly proclaims its contents with a printed label. This one simple fix in the kitchen has exponentially increased my joy when cooking. In fact, if you are ever in my kitchen, I’ll probably force you to peer into my spice drawer. Prior to this jar-and-label reorganization, I dug through a sack overflowing with bagged bulk spices. So, yes, much improved.

Nuts and Seeds

There are so many occasions for a little crunch—be it in a bowl of yogurt or a batch of granola, capping a soup, tossing with a salad, or sprinkling over toast. If you buy a large quantity of nuts or seeds, their freshness is best preserved in the freezer. Otherwise, I keep a clear plastic bin in the pantry and stash all my nuts, seeds, and dried fruit there.

In the Fridge or Nearby

What lingers in my fridge depends much on the season. There is always whole milk, yogurt, heavy whipping cream, butter, and large eggs. Often, you’ll find buttermilk, sour cream, and cream cheese, too. Have I mentioned that I come from a long line of dairy farmers on both sides of the family? It’s in my bones. Literally.

In the cheese drawer, there is always Parmesan, often a sharp Cheddar, and regularly pecorino. Bacon lingers in there as well.

In the vegetable drawers, there are usually heaps of fresh herbs, scallions, carrots, and celery. Onions—in various colors—shallots, potatoes, and garlic lounge in a bowl just next to the chopping block. Sometimes there are chiles, and often there is something shriveled and very tired looking at the bottom of the bowl. Oh, and always, always lemons. In the summer, the fridge bursts with berries and stone fruit, corn, and zucchini. Tomatoes sit on the counter nearby (never refrigerated). In the fall and winter, the fridge is filled with fennel, squash, root vegetables in various shades, and hearty leafy greens. In the spring, rhubarb and pungent herbs take up residence.

We have a large bowl nearby where I stash easy-to-grab healthy snacks for the kids—apples, bananas, and stone fruit in the summer—or they can grab a carrot from the crisper. Tempting us close by is the snack cupboard where crackers, bars, dark chocolate, and my collection of sour gummy candy live.

In the Freezer

Our freezer is used for a few vegetables that keep their integrity even after a long freeze, carrots and peas in particular. I keep a few cuts of meat, such as ground beef and whole chicken, at the ready as those are often our go-to and can easily become a meal with a few items from the pantry. Frozen berries dress up bowls of yogurt or oatmeal or make quick work of our Berry Oatmeal Crumble (here), and they are often the bulk of our breakfast smoothies. As the holidays approach, you’ll start to notice stacks of pie and puff pastry doughs. And without a carton of ice cream, the freezer feels empty, but that’s not for cooking, that’s just for me.

Pantry Meals

These are a few of the recipes you’ll find in the pages that follow that rely on the pantry. They are the sort that were born out of the lack of desire to run to the grocery store and they are the recipes that get made again and again.

Equipment

I’m not one for kitchen gadgets. If a piece of equipment has earned a coveted spot in my modest kitchen, it’s because it has proven itself worthy. There are no single-function gadgets; no as-seen-on-TV miracle gear that gets used once, then gathers dust in the depths of the cupboards. I’d say that nearly 90 percent of our meals are created with a good sharp knife and my cast-iron skillet. These are the basic tools that I reference in the coming pages and the ones I reach for on a daily basis.

Knives There is no need to buy one of those fancy knife block sets. Get yourself an 8- to 10-inch / 20.5 to 25.5 cm chef’s knife with a sturdy handle and then keep it sharp. A good knife is a personal decision. Be prepared to spend a bit of money as quality does come at a price; with that in mind, take care in making this choice. Go to a trusted kitchen store and feel the knives. If they’ll allow it, chop a few things. It should feel sturdy and strong but not too heavy. You want it to feel natural in your hand. While you’re there, grab a honing stick to keep it sharp on a daily basis and put it on your calendar to have your knives sharpened professionally once a season or more often as needed. I’ll admit I’m not the best at remembering to do this and my collection of chef knives is much more expansive than it needs to be, so I’m talking to myself here as much as I am to you.

Beyond a chef’s knife, you’ll need a paring knife and a serrated knife. Now, go give every other knife away. You don’t need them.

Cutting Boards Keep on hand a variety of sizes and materials. I like the easy-to-wash and sanitize plastic boards for raw meat, and I keep a large wooden cutting board on my counter at all times; it’s perfect for pastry making and everyday use.

Mixing Bowls Avoid anything fancy here and get a snug-nesting set of stainless-steel bowls. My favorite are the sort that you can find in restaurant supply shops. They are lightweight and range in size from “large enough to toss a salad for forty” to “just right to whisk together just enough dressing for one.”

Pots and Pans By far, the most used pan in my kitchen is my 12-inch / 30.5 cm cast-iron skillet. It’s seasoned to a slick sheen at this point, so much so that fried eggs slip right out of it and onto the plate. My favorite way to season the cast iron? Fry up some chicken for dinner. These pans are sturdy, keep an even heat, and are so multifunctional. I also carry it with me when we go camping as it’s equally at home over the campfire as it is on my cooktop.

Keep it clean with a hearty scrub under a bit of running water, but never use soap. Soap will remove the seasoning and wear down the pan. Rub the inside of the skillet with a bit of oil if you notice it is looking dry. Never let water sit in the pan for too long. Keep it dry and keep it oiled and you’ll have a pan that you can pass down to your kids, who will pass it along to theirs. The best part: you can often find these pans at garage sales or antique stores or buy one new for under $30.

I like to have a couple of saucepans at the ready. Something around the 2 to 3 quart / 2 to 3 L range and then another closer to 4 to 5 quarts / 4 to 5 L. These are perfect for making caramel, small-batch sauces, and browning butter.

The other essential is a Dutch oven. This is the choice for cooking for a crowd. It’s perfect for long-simmered braises over the cooktop or in the oven. It’s my stock-making pot and often is filled with a simmering batch of soup.

I lived without a nonstick skillet for years and years, but now that I have one, I love it for its ability to make scrambled egg cleanup a breeze. Just promise me that if you do use nonstick, you’ll never sear meat in it. The nonstick surface prevents any of those crusty scraggly bits from forming on the bottom of the pan, which is the foundation for a luscious pan sauce.

Peeking into my cupboard, you’ll likely see a few multiples: an additional skillet as well as other cast-iron pans in various shapes and sizes. The ones I mention here are the ones that rarely get put away. They go straight from the sink, after a quick clean, back to the stove to begin another meal.

There may be more lingering in my cupboard, or maybe there’s a pan that you love that I’ve not mentioned. This is in no way a definitive list; rather, a friendly guide through my most-used kitchen items. Find and use what works for you; that’s the best thing you can do.

Baking and Roasting Keep on hand a 13 x 9-inch / 33 x 23 cm glass dish, a few assorted-size round baking pans, a couple of loaf pans, a springform pan, a muffin tin or two, a stash of sheet pans in various sizes, and a glass pie pan, and you should be set. Oh, and a roasting pan for those special meals that require it.

Utensils and Such If I were to get one of those trendy tattoos of my favorite piece of kitchen equipment, it would be a wooden spoon. I love it for its functionality. I love how the softness and strength of the wood feels in my hand and for a sentimentality: I always think of my mom as this is what she always reached for in the kitchen. And she learned that from Grandma. I have many wooden spoons in all shapes and sizes.

There is also a prolific supply of heat-resistant spatulas. I reach for them often, especially when there is baking to be done.

I’ve been known to travel with my Microplane because for some reason or another, not every kitchen is equipped with one and yet I use mine daily, whether I’m grating ginger or garlic, getting fine wisps of aromatic nutmeg into cookie dough, or showering a flurry of Parmesan wisps onto our pasta dinner. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to have a couple in your stash for when another is being washed.

Other tools of NOTE: a couple of pairs of tongs, a spider for frying, an offset spatula for batters and frostings, dry and liquid measuring cups and spoons, and whisks. I’m sure there is something I’ve forgotten, but when I close my eyes and imagine my wanderings in the kitchen, these are the things I’m reaching for.

Kitchen Scale Someday when you meet my husband, Gabe, I’ll let him tell you about his favorite scale, used every morning to brew the perfect cup of coffee, but my scale sits in the drawer next to the spice grinder. I never pull it out for dinner prep unless dinner includes a warm loaf of bread or homemade pasta, but I do value it for the times when I need to heap flour into a bowl or desire a bit more accuracy. It is also lovely to measure everything into one bowl and save the work of cleaning multiple measuring cups. Using a scale will save you from countless baking upsets, I assure you.

Appliances This is where I really loathe the bulk. I do have a full-size food processor, but it’s rarely pulled out; instead I reach for the much more manageable mini food processor. There’s also a stand mixer in the corner that gets used almost daily, a spice grinder to grind freshly toasted seeds into a fragrant flurry, and an Instant Pot. Yes, I’ve jumped onto the bandwagon of the “IP” (that’s what you call it if you’re in the club). When that machine transformed dried beans into perfectly cooked, creamy ones, not mush, in twenty minutes, I knew I had something special. Unlike with a slow cooker (I’ve never understood the allure), you can sear and sauté right in the machine, then set it and, yes, forget it. It’s not an everyday appliance but worth its weight in real estate. It sits next to the ice-cream maker because that, of course, is a must.

A Few More Things A kitchen can never have too many plush kitchen towels. The sort that are always on hand to sop up any messes and protect your fingers from hot handles, ready to pluck doming cakes from the oven. Lately, I’m loving white bar towels. They are cheap, easy to clean, and I don’t feel too terrible when I have to replace them as often as I do.

One can never have too much parchment paper, but I personally loathe the sort that comes in a little roll. It’s hard to manage, curls on the tray, and never cuts with a clean edge. To avoid all of that silliness, I purchase parchment at a restaurant supply store. It comes in large, flat sheets that are much easier to manage. While you’re there, grab some of those sturdy Cambro storage containers.

Oh, and a fine-mesh strainer. And keep an empty jam jar with lid around, for shaking up your vinaigrette. A mandoline; it’s worth the purchase for the Sweet and White Potato Gratin (here) alone. You may find you have additional must-haves and preferences, but these recommendations are more than enough to get you cooking.

MENUS

One of my absolute favorite kitchen tasks is menu writing. I love carefully constructing the courses so each one complements the other while not attempting to steal the show. It usually starts with a spark of excitement for a certain dish or ingredient, then everything falls into place from there. Sometimes the holiday or special occasion dictates the menu, such as our Christmas Eve dinner, where Beef Wellington is always present, or celebrating our birthdays with a towering chocolate cake. Then there are the events created around the food, such as the Harvest Le Grand Aïoli (here).