My Favorite Kitchen Gear and Ingredients

 

THINGS I USE

I don’t have super fancy kitchen equipment, heck I don’t even have a stand-mixer. You don’t need all that to make good food.

Here’s a list of things I cook with often enough to mention:

• Two well-seasoned cast iron pans
• 3 well used commercial style baking sheets
• Two 13 x 19 Pyrex baking dishes
• A $20 hand mixer that I picked up at Ralph’s (I think? It’s old)
• A 9 quart crock pot (THANK YOU to my Mother-in-Law for that beast)
• 2 Cast Iron Dutch Ovens like this
• A silicone spatula for scraping bowls
• A set of bamboo spoons for mixing (Dollar Store!)
• Parchment Paper Sheets like these (LOVE these)
• A Microplane – for garlic, ginger, zesting citrus – it’s a must-have
• An Insta-Pot (thanks, Nana!) – I use it mostly for bone broth or braised meats (always sauté first!)
• A Bench Scraper for when I make bread, scones, pizza dough etc.

Ingredients I like – YES I’m picky about some things, but that’s after a lot of trial and error when cooking.

• Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached Flour – It tastes the best. Last Christmas we made Pulla Bread at Mom’s with some random flour that we grabbed at the store, after making it at home with Bob’s, and the bread made with Bob’s tasted much lighter and sweeter. It’s worth the extra $ in my opinion.
• Good Bacon – Trader Joe’s Applewood Smoked is my fav, but I’ll get the Ralph’s (Kroger’s) Uncured stuff too.
• Good Butter – Kerrygold, Finlandia, Plugra – whatever you can find that is on sale. Sometimes Grocery Outlet has Finlandia butter on sale and I buy as much as I can. No shame.
• Whole Milk – If you’re using skim or non-fat milk for these recipes to ‘save calories’ then you’re on the wrong website. Go away.
• Morton’s Kosher Salt – The stuff in the blue box. Nuff said.
• S&B Curry Powder – For some curries I use this. It’s amazeballs.
  (add some to ketchup with a dash of sriracha next time you make tater tots for a treat)(well with any kind or roasty potato thing that requires a dip)
• Mae Ploy Curry Paste – SPICY AF – use just a Tablespoon, max.
• Penzey’s Spices – When the budget allows I stock up on cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, etc…. worth the splurge and it’s an amazing and socially responsible company as well. If they have a retail store near you, check it out, sooooo many good things to smell.
• GOOD chocolate chips – A big fan of the Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips, and when they’re on sale I buy 4 bags at a time (not ashamed to admit I also snack on these)
• Vanilla Paste! Where has this been all my life? It’s delicious and you get all those rad vanilla specks in your treats too.

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