The "Reccomend good ingredients" thread

Cafe Society
41

I love Sriracha brand hot chili sauce. I recommend it because it doesn’t have an overwhelming vinegar taste to it, like Tabasco et al do (vinegar is an ingredient, though). It’s made in California but is great in many Asian dishes. I love love love it on macaroni and cheese, though.

Cardamom is a favorite spice of mine. It’s delicious ground up with coffee and in sugar cookies. Make sure you buy quantities of spices you can use within a year or two, though, and store them in cool, dark spaces if you can.

42

Tabasco Spicy Soy Sauce!

43

I’ll second the recommendadtion for sriracha sauce. We use it in practically everything. It has a great kick, but because it’s sweet rather than sour it’s not as overpowering as Tabasco and company. Soooo good. I could literally eat the stuff out of a spoon. Yum.

44

Zyada and I were in that store last weekend! They have all sorts of good German stuff, and it’s the only place around here I’ve found landjaeger sausage. (Now all I need are the little black “Swiss farmer” ones, and I’ll be set.) I didn’t even consider that they might have a Web page.

Back to ingredients:

  • I’ll second the suggestion to get spices in Indian or Asian markets.
  • I like a hot sauce called Yucatan Sunshine, hot but flavourful. They have Cajun and a couple more flavours.
  • Rotel tomatoes are canned with chilis, and make a great simple sauce. Try making Spanish rice with them.
45

I second the comments about Penzey’s and the Sriracha hot sauce. Also, I grow gobs of fresh basil every summer and couldn’t do without it.

I like to shop at Asian and Middle Eastern markets for both quality and bargains.

At Asian markets, I find:

Very fresh, whole-body fish. I just bought a fat Japanese tai (red snapper) for $5, which I grilled in our fish basket on the barbecue last night, stuffed with rosemary, garlic and parsley. Superb!

Top-notch baby bok choi, fresh water chestnuts, fresh bamboo shoot, and pineapples as ripe as I found them in Hawaii.

At Middle Eastern markets, I find:

Greek olive oil at 1/8 what supermarkets charge for that overblown Tuscan stuff, and superior to boot.

Greek-style yogurt, which is thick and dense and delicious.

Feta, pistachios, baklava, pitas, Armenian cucumbers, mint, lemons and sumac.

Do some research about your local ethnic markets, shop there, and “secret” ingredients will leap off the shelves and into your shopping cart. You’ll save money and it will be fun, too.

46

I’ll second the grow your own basil.

Oregeno as well.

For those of you in temperate zones, you can take an ice cube tray, put 1 tablespoon of chopped basil or oregeno and fill with water. Freeze and keep it in the freezer to have fresh herbs during the winter.

And I like Dave’s Insanity sauce. It’s the only hot sauce I can find that has no flavor to it, just spice.

47

Basil was the only herb I tried growing (in pots on the patio, since I don’t have a yard) that I couldn’t get to do well. I live in a hot, semi-arid climate, and the potted basil really needed to be watered more often than I could. Sage, oregano, chives, thyme, and rosemary all did quite well, though.

You need a copy of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Lots of good, simple recipes. One of our two copies (Mr Neville and I each had one before we got married) is falling apart. It has advice on choosing ingredients at the supermarket for just about every ingredient it mentions. And the food-snob attitude that some cookbooks have is kept to a minimum.