In honor of the 20th Sobremesa (!!!!), I thought it would be fun to give you a guide to my kitchen. Things I always make to sure to keep stocked because I’m cooking with them so often.
If you can believe it, I lived several years of my life with a pantry consisting of just quesadilla ingredients, almond milk, Hippie Crack granola, red wine, and Ben&Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk. If I did happen to cook anything beyond these meals, I went out and bought the exact ingredients I needed just to execute the meal and nothing more.
Why? I was practically living at A Baked Joint since it opened 5 years ago. Which, luckily for moi, was stocked with all my favorite foods. I was pretty happy to survive off of peanut butter banana toast, biscuit sammies and pizza. Can you blame me?
I was snapped out of this habit upon moving to New York last year. Unfortunately A Baked Joint did not move with me. No commercial kitchen for me to walk in and order what I’d like? Oooooh, that’s a shame. Living in the land of takeout but can’t afford to order it every night? Oooooh, that sucks. So, I started hitting the grocery store regularly. But I still had to go every day because I just couldn’t wrap my head around planning for more than one meal in advance.
And then suddenly the pandemic hit. It was suddenly both my medical and social responsibility to go to the grocery store as little as possible. I would have minor anxiety attacks thinking how I could possibly get both enough food and the correct kind of foods that would feed me for at least 2 weeks at a time.
At first I would just come back with a shit ton of quesadilla ingredients, several gallons of oat milk, a bag of rice, and a few vegetables. Baby steps. Then, I would have to plan out every single meal I might want to make and write down each and every one of those ingredients. Eventually, I fell into a groove of just knowing what I liked to cook and eat, and which ingredients would be necessary to make a variety of those dishes… plus give me some wiggle room to play around.
And now I love it! I’m able to be more creative in the kitchen knowing that I’m surrounded by all my fav ingredients. All I have to do is figure out how to blend them together.
And no, I have not stricken quesadillas, red wine, or Ben&Jerry’s from my diet. Those ingredients are forever on my shopping list.
By kitchen, I mean fridge, freezer, cupboards, spice rack, on top of the fridge, etc - wherever one keeps their food. I’m not going to list some obvious things - like milk, sugar, flour, pepper, etc - because… le duh.
Ok, come on in!
In my Kitchen:
Spices n’ Thangs:
Maldon Salt: I can’t believe I spent so much of my life WITHOUT Maldon salt. It’s the perfect saltiness as a topper to any meal, on top of any toast, and especially anything chocolately. This salt is a special treat meant to just be a topper - I stick to Kosher salt for any basic cooking / baking.
Ground Turmeric: A little bit of this rubbed on top of roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, or roasted carrots goes a long way. It adds a lil’ kick and a beautiful color. Turmeric is also really good for you, which is nice.
Za’atar : a classic Middle Eastern spice blend of thyme, toasted sesame seeds, and sumac. I’m always topping it on my avocado toast, dunking it with pita / hummus, or using in a lemony salad dressing. I love this DC based company, Z&Z.
Sesame seeds: I toast a bunch of these, put ‘em in a jar, and have them ready to top on fish or rice bowls. They are just the cutest and most aromatic topping.
Oils n’ Sauces:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil : I almost put this in the le duh category, but good EVOO is so crucial in cooking. I keep a dispenser with pourer full of it right next to my stove top for easy access.
Tahini : homemade hummus, salad dressing, and most importantly….my salted chocolate chip tahini cookies!
Salted and Unsalted Butter: B.R.E.A.M (butter rules everything around me). I keep a TON of butter in my fridge. I use the salted butter for toasts and brown butter and the unsalted generally for baking. Why two different types, you ask? We like to use the unsalted in baking so that you can better control the salt levels, and unlike cooking, baking is so science-y, so we gotta make sure the measurements are exact.
Veggies n’ Herbs:
Mushrooms: Tim is a shroom freak so we love these sautéing these bad boys in a shit ton of butter to have as a side dish or to add to an omelette.
Avocados: I am a millennial so alas, of course they are on this list. Perfect all of my avocado toasts and quesadillas I’m eating on the reg.
Lacinato Kale: this kale is hearty and flavorful and really holds up a longggg time.I love it for salads, to pop in my super veggie curry, or to sauté as a side dish.
Shallots : think if garlic and an onion had a baby. Shallots are super flavorful and also dissolve better than onions, so you’re not going to have those big onion chunks. Replacing these in any recipe that requires onion has been a game-changer.
Dill: the Queen of herbs, if you ask me. Dill is fresh, light, unoffensive, and versatile. I love to top on my avocado toast, mix in my cream cheese for a bagel, or top on my morning-after salmon.
In da fridge:
Tortillas + Mexican blend shredded cheese : For the quesadillas, of course! I like a corn/flour blend tortilla if you can find ‘em. Otherwise, I go for flour - the corn comes on a little strong and also tends to break apart easily.
Olives : My gold standard for olives are Castelvetrano. They are buttery and mild - a great intro to olives for the person who swears they don’t like olives. They’re a treat to snack on and great to make easy olive topping for chicken thighs.
A couple bougie cheeses: I like to keep a goat cheese, a cheddar, and a manchego. Cheese is my best friend. Great to snack on in-between meals, ready to go in case a friend comes by (lol maybe in 2022), and also ready for a bougie grilled cheese.
Honey Crisp Apples : Honey C’s are without a doubt the best in the mothaf**kin’ game. They are stupidly expensive for apples, but worth it every time. Dip that ‘ish in peanut butter and you have a killer afternoon snack on your hands.
In da freezer:
Frozen fruit : I make a smoothie every morning, so I go through lots of frozen fruit. I also like to pop them in for a fruity pound cake (surprisingly, fresh fruit is more difficult to work with and can bust open easily, so I usually bake with frozen).
Chicken thighs: I freeze these bad boys and dethaw day-of so I can easily pop in the oven for a quick dinner.
3-4 lb whole chicken : I’m eating a roasted chicken about 1x a week. I pop one of these in for dinner and then feast on the leftovers for another meal or two. Endless possibilities for chicken leftovers!
Frozen salmon fillets : I run these under hot water for a wick dethaw and can make a quick weeknight rice bowl or to top on a salad.
Ground beef / ground lamb: Always ready to make my biweekly vat of bolognese or meatballs.
In da cupboard:
White Rice: Growing up, a meal was not considered complete unless there was a pot of rice on the table. I like the texture and smell of Basmati.
Coconut Milk : sub for water when making white rice or use in my super veggie coconut curry.
Cans of whole, peeled tomatoes + tomato paste: For that biweekly vat of bolognese or meatballs.
Bucantini : God bless this thick long nood. Truly the most sensual of pastas. Whenever I see it, I have to stock up because they are the perfect noodle and they are also incredibly hard to find this year. I literally had to ask Signore Google why the hell I couldn’t find it - regular spaghetti was just not cutting it! And apparently the rest of the internet is freaking out as well.
Anchovies (curveball!) : Anchovies actually ROCK and you would be shocked how versatile they are. They’re savory with a light briny flavor, and dissolve easily into any dish. I promise you they aren’t as fishy as they sound. I love them in my tomato sauces - thank you Alison Roman for this pro tip.
Macaroni and Cheese : I am certainly not above boxed mac n’ cheese. Delicious and ready in under 15 mins? Yes please. There’s also a lot of room to dress it up (if you’re in the mood) by adding xtra cheese & spices.
Lots o’ nuts: peanuts, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts. If I purchase them raw, I toast ‘em up and then store in glass jars so they are ready for me to get at them. Great for snacking and to throw on a salad for that *crunch* factor.
Of course, there’s lots of other things I love to eat that I didn’t include here. But you get the gist.
Guyssssss! It’s been TOO much fun running this newsletter for the past 20 (!!!) weeks. Thank you to all who have supported, read my rambly sentences, and cooked all my favorite recipes so far.
I couldn’t have done it without my best friend Jesse for even first telling me about the term Sobremesa, my homegirl Yelda for pointing out that if I love food and talking about food so much, I should just go ahead and start a newsletter, and my main squeeze Timo for eating everything that comes out of my test kitchen (not all of it tastes good, y’all). If you can believe it, I was actually really scared to put myself out there like this. A reminder to always surround yourself with friends who encourage you to believe in yourself.
I started this because I believe that food is the ultimate expression of human connection - and Sobremesa is where the magical moments are formed. Even if it’s a pandemic and we can’t host those raging dinner parties anymore, you can still take this magic to your dinner table. Maybe it’s a date night in with your boo. Maybe you’ve had a really shitty day and you need to find comfort in a cake. Maybe you’ll even take a bite of that cake and it will remind you of your grandma and you’ll give her a ring and then make her day. Food is so powerful like that.
Cheers to more!
Happy cooking,
Love ya mucho.
Tessa
Beautiful...