Pantry Staples

I talk a lot about the value of the well-stocked pantry (and freezer). Having an arsenal of food products with a long shelf life helps you out when you need last minute dinner solutions. There have been many nights when I've come home from work late and didn't make a proper plan to eat something delicious. I can't help but make something (hopefully) amazing, even when the clock is against me, I won't settle for cereal or toast, I want real dinner. It's like an episode of Chopped or Iron Chef, the clock is ticking and you have to make something swoon-worthy with these ingredients...go! Well if you have the right ingredients on hand, making something pretty darn delicious is not difficult to achieve.

So that's what I have for you this month, more pantry/freezer meals. I've broken them down by ingredient and have included other ideas for what to do with these staples. In a previous post I mentioned Grains, Beans, Eggs, Frozen Shrimp, and proper Seasonings. Here are a few new items to keep in your repertoire.

Frozen Spinach: Frozen spinach can be defrosted and added to a multitude of dishes. It can be thrown into a quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich with some roasted red peppers. Mixed into eggs to make a soufflé or omelette, or with some bread to make a savory bread pudding like my recipe below for Spanakopita Bread Pudding.

Tinned Fish: At Dedalus we stock an insane pantry filled with so many wonderful ingredients. We have shelves and shelves dedicated to Tinned Fish. Tuna, mussels, clams, sardines, octopus, and more! These have become vital parts of my pantry - protein that isn't going to spoil. Many of these products are delicious straight out of the tin with some crusty baguette and a green salad but you can also gussy them up by incorporating them into pastas or salads like my recipe for Octopus Salad below.

Roasted Red Peppers: As mentioned above, roasted red peppers and frozen spinach can be combined in various combos (sandwiches etc) but also a simple soup can be made by blending the peppers with some chicken stock, salt and pepper, some sautéed onion and garlic, and a drizzle of half and half.

A Variety of Vinegars: I currently am in possession of 9 different vinegars (apple cider, red wine, white wine, rice wine, champagne, white, sherry, balsamic, and grapefruit balsamic) but you can easily get a long with a smaller number. My 'core' vinegars, the ones that I use most, are red wine vinegar (used mostly in salad dressings and it is good for pickling things like rhubarb - check out the below recipe for Quick-Pickled Rhubarb Salad), basic white vinegar (great for pickling eggs and onions), and rice wine vinegar (also great for vinaigrettes and pickling things like celery and cucumbers - one of my go-to's is an asian pickled cucumber recipe). Adding a vinaigrette or pickled component to a dish adds immediate flavor. And quick pickles are, well, quick and quite easy. They also pack a lot of punch.

Spanakopita Bread Pudding

Serves 4-6

*Excellent as a vegetarian main dish or served as a side dish with grilled lamb.

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 ½ cups half and half

1/2 cup whole milk ricotta

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons dried dill weed)

4 scallions white and light green parts, sliced

Fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt

One 9 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

5 cups baguette cubes, lightly toasted

Directions

1. Butter a 10-inch shallow casserole or baking dish (or similar size)
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs and half and half together and then stir in the ricotta cheese, feta, the dill, and scallions. Season mixture with salt and pepper.
3. Stir in the spinach then gently fold in the bread cubes, pressing down a bit to absorb the liquid.
4. Place the mixture in the buttered baking dish, cover and let rest in the fridge for about an hour.
5. Bake the pudding uncovered in a 350F oven for 45 minutes or until the pudding becomes just slightly crusty around the edges. Let rest a few minutes before serving

Octopus Salad

Serves 2

*This recipe is very versatile. It can be served warm with pasta or rice, room temp with some crusty bread as part of a Panzanella salad, or cold as part of picnic with some charcuterie, bread, and cheese. You can also add or omit ingredients depending on what you have on hand!

Ingredients

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus more for finishing the dish)

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 pinch red pepper flake

1 4.8oz can octopus in paprika sauce (like La Brujula, you can also sub plain tinned octopus)

1 small fennel bulb, sliced

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup dry white or rosé wine

Zest and juice of ½ a lemon

¼ cup roasted red peppers, sliced

2 tablespoons capers, drained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Warm 1 teaspoon EVOO in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chili flake until just wilted, do not let garlic brown.
2. Add octopus and break up the pieces a bit. Deglaze with wine, lemon juice, and zest. Simmer gently until wine has reduced by 1/4 - about 5 minutes.
3. Add fennel and onion, turn off heat and toss until incorporated, (you want the fennel and onion to retain their crunch but to take the raw bite off them). Add capers and parsley, season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve finished with a drizzle of olive oil.

Quick Pickled Rhubarb Salad

Serves 4

*From Bon Appetit

Ingredients

2 rhubarb stalks, sliced on a diagonal

1 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

1 fennel bulb, halved, cored, very thinly sliced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a diagonal, plus celery leaves for serving

Olive Oil for drizzling

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Pack rhubarb into a 1-pint jar. Bring vinegar, sugar, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour into jar. Cover and chill until cold, at least 1 hour.

2. Toss fennel, celery, 1 cup drained pickled rhubarb, and 2 Tbsp pickling liquid in a large bowl to combine, season with salt.

3. Arrange salad on a platter; drizzle with oil and grind some pepper over. Top with celery leaves and remaining drained pickled rhubarb.

Do Ahead: Rhubarb can be pickled 1 week ahead and kept in fridge.