What should I have in my store cupboard and freezer now to make cooking easier?
Katie, Leeds
Now is the time to get those soups, stews and dals going, so making space (in moderation. No stockpiling, please) for lentils, coconut milk, warming spices (turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cumin) and tinned tomatoes is a good starting point.
The latter is a staple round Jessica Elliott Dennison’s, for tomato butter sugo. “Make a big batch, portion and freeze,” says the owner of Edinburgh neighbourhood kitchen Elliot’s, “then you’ve got a base for minestrone, pasta sauce or shakshuka, or chuck in soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil for a quick ramen.” To make the sugo – a recipe from her book Tin Can Magic – heat three tablespoons of rapeseed, vegetable or light olive oil and three finely sliced garlic cloves in a saucepan until fragrant. Add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, a quarter-teaspoon of chilli flakes, half an onion, 50g butter and a teaspoon of sea salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce over a low heat for 25-30 minutes. Splash in some water if it’s sticking, then remove the onion and taste (you may want to add a pinch of sugar).
Remember to stock up on pulses, beans and grains, too. Margot Henderson, chef patron of east London’s Rochelle Canteen, is all about rice – brown, arborio, bomba, sushi – which she serves with salted black beans, chard, garlic and ginger, or as a risotto with dried porcini stock. For “minimum hassle, minimum washing-up”, Miguel Barclay, author of Storecupboard One Pound Meals (out in December), uses pearl barley: “It’s great for bulking out soups and stews, and you don’t have to cook it separately – just throw it in.”
Beans means dried for writer Yasmin Khan: “The flavour is better, and they don’t take much extra work.” Soak them in the morning and they’ll be ready to cook – with konbu – come dinner. The seaweed boosts flavour and improves texture and, as Khan puts it, “will change your relationship with beans”. If you’re tied to tinned, though, Barclay suggests roasting chickpeas with olive oil, cumin, paprika or curry powder to top curries.
You then need pickles and condiments, says Henderson: “Pickled walnuts are great with dressings, in toasted sandwiches or just whole with a roast.” Harissa is for marinating chicken, sumac for lamb and vinaigrettes, while Elliot Dennison turns to jars of crispy chilli (and soya beans) in oil. “I made a five-minute dinner with noodles, pickles from a jar – I couldn’t be bothered to chop vegetables that night – and the oil,” she says. “It was so comforting.”
Katie is right to think of the freezer as an extension of her store-cupboard, something Khan believes is often overlooked: “It’s easy to freeze vegetables – squash, onions, garlic, leeks … anything that isn’t too watery.” She also freezes excess herbs for future curries, soups and stews – rinse, chop and pop in freezer bags.
Henderson’s freezer, however, is a battleground for pork mince (for stir-fries), chicken stock and ice. “We need a lot of ice for cocktails in winter.” And never more than this year.
• Do you have a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
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