Kitchen list

Today, I am going to tell you a secret - To cook well, you don't need to have a well stocked kitchen, but it definitely helps. Here is what you need to have in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer so you can whip up a gourmet meal at the drop of a hat.


Pantry:

• Brown Onions
• Potatoes - a good multipurpose spud like coliban
• Dry Pasta - Spaghetti and a shape (Spirals, penne, macaroni etc)
• Rice - Medium grain white
• Plain White Flour
• Self Raising Flour
• Sugar (I usually keep raw, white, caster and brown sugar on hand, but you can get away with just white and brown)
• 7gram Sachets of instant dried yeast.
• Vanilla (essence, extract, paste)
• Tinned Tomatoes (at least 1 can)
• Large Jar of tomato paste
• A large variety of good quality dried herbs and spices in sealed glass containers. I recommend the following: Rock salt and peppercorns (in grinders), cinnamon, nutmeg, ground paprika, lemon pepper blend, garlic salt blend, mixed herbs, Italian herbs, chives. Chinese 5 spice powder, ground ginger, chili powder.
• Peanut butter
• Honey
• Sweet Chili Sauce
• Soy Sauce (and Kajup Manis)
• A good quality olive oil, a flavourless one like canola and oil spray (I used garlic oil)
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Some kind of canned fruit - I usually have pineapple, peaches and apricots
• Some kind of sweet biscuit - I am a softy for Arnott's Shredded Wheatmeals
• Tea Bags
• Instant Coffee
• Chicken and Beef stock powder or cubes and/or "real" stock in UHT packaging
• Long life packet of Asian noodles (either dried or vacpac pouches) such as ramen, hokkien or Singapore style
• Long life UHT cream (250mL packs)
• long life UHT milk (250mL packs)
• Some kind of instant gravy powder (I like gravox supreme chicken gravy sachets and greens gravy granules)
• Tomato Sauce
• Barbeque Sauce
• Alcohol - 1 bottle of White wine, 1 of red wine and 1 bottle of a nice tawny port, at bare minimum. You may also like to add brandy, dark rum, tia maria and/or Kahlua to this

Freezer:

• Puff pastry
• Frozen berries
• Bacon
• Ice cubes
• Beef mince
• Frozen veges - corn, peas
• Oven fries
• Vanilla Ice cream

Fridge:

• Eggs
• Capsicum
• Carrots
• Milk
• Butter (Yes, I said butter and NOT margarine)
• Some kind of fruit - apples, oranges, pears
• Hoi Sin sauce
• Cheese
• Kraft Parmesan cheese
• Jam - Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and/or plum
• Real maple syrup.
• Minced Garlic
• Minced ginger
• Dijon mustard
• Seeded mustard

Cookware and other stuff:

• Aluminium foil
• Cling film
• Non-stick baking paper
• Paper towels
• Clip-lock bags - sandwich size
• Bamboo Skewers
• Meal-sized take'n'toss plastic containers
• Non stick frypan - 1 large, 1 small
• Stock pot
• Good heavy based saucepans with lids.
• Wooden spoons
• Big metal spoons
• Silicon tongs
• Pastry brush
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Egg Flip
• Wire rack
• Large baking dish - I have a giant oval shaped Corningware one, that we gone as a wedding present, with a pyrex lid, but a lid is not necessary
• Cookie slides/baking sheets
• Round 20cm cake pan
• Muffin pan
• Knives - Bread knife, carving knife, paring knife, steak knives.
• Whisk
• Colander
• Grater
• Various size metal or pyrex mixing bowls