10 Things You Should Have In Your Kitchen

This is not me. This is Giada de Laurentiis.

I love the Food Network. Few things are as entertaining or educational to me as watching professionals cook deliciously complicated dishes and telling me that I am fully capable of doing the same. I have tried and failed on numerous occasions to reproduce some of the things I have seen on the Food Network, and I have also tried and succeeded. But at the end of the day, I am really a more amateur cook who likes to be able to whip something up in fifteen minutes on a weeknight. Mostly because I usually only have about fifteen minutes to cook dinner on a weeknight. And through the course of my adventures in cooking I have discovered that you can create edible meals on a daily basis if you just make sure that you have some key ingredients and apparatus in your kitchen. I swear, this is not going to be one of those lists where you don't know where to get the items or how to use them. This really is meant for the average cook. And just remember this one rule of thumb: you want whatever you keep as a staple to have many uses. Things that have one specific purpose have no place in the beginner's or budgeter's kitchen. At least not until you have the basics.

1. A Non-Stick 10" Skillet
    All you need is one. Unless you want more so you don't have to do dishes as often. But who would do that? Ahem. Anyway, ten inches is the perfect size for cooking most things. It is good for browning, frying, sauteéing, and otherwise heating various foodstuffs.


2. Wooden Spoons
     I absolutely can not stress enough how useful wooden spoons are. They are so cheap, like 97 cents for five spoons, and you can use them for everything. They won't melt, so you can leave them in the pan or pot while you are cooking. They won't scratch the tephlon or calphalon off of your non-stick pan. They are sturdy enough to mash potatoes, but fine enough to mix cake batter without leaving lumps. You can use the flat side to smash heads of garlic. Really, you can literally use them for everything. And when they start getting worn out you can just throw them away because they are so cheap to replace!

3. A Large Stock Pot
     Sets of pots and pans will tell you that you have to have like five different kinds of pots. This would be nice, but it's not really necessary. If you have a nice, deep stock pot you  can do just about anything. You can boil potatoes or pasta, cook rice, steam veggies, make soup, make sauces, melt chocolate, and pretty much anything else. I would recommend making this non-stick as well, as it makes it easier to clean if you make sauces or soups in it. But  that's your call. 



4. Heavy Whipping Cream
     Or Half-and-Half if you prefer. But heavy cream is really the best as far as texture. Use it to: put in your tea, thicken soups and gravy, make pasta sauce, or bake scones and quick breads. Once you start using it, you will find that its myriad uses make it invaluable in the kitchen.





5. Flour
     You will always need flour. For any kind of baking, or coating meat to fry, thickening sauces, soups, and gravy...it's just one of those things that you should never be without.

6. Rice
    Cheap, filling, and easy to cook. Occasionally I will mix things up and cook pasta or potatoes, but when it comes to putting a starch in the meal, few things are as versatile as rice. You can bake it in casseroles, eat it plain with butter, add cheese, add veggies, add whatever! It goes with fish, with chicken, pork chops, beef... If you keep rice in your kitchen you will never have "nothing to eat" in your kitchen.

7. Chicken
     Did you know that you can buy giant chicken breasts in billion pound bags? Chicken is one of the most readily available, inexpensive meats you can buy, and you can keep it in the freezer for just about forever. There are a million ways to prepare it, and most of them involve thawing it, seasoning it, and then just letting it cook. Because on its own it doesn't have a very strong flavor, you can add whatever flavor you want to it. Dress it up, or dress it down. And the best part is that it is low in fat, unlike most inexpensive foods.

8. Cheese
     Always, always have cheese in your refrigerator, even if it is just a bag of pre-shredded cheddar. Adding cheese to any dish will make it more appetizing. Sprinkle it on salad, make cheese sauce (with heavy cream) to pour over pasta, or hell, just cut off a hunk and eat it by itself. The point is, never be without it because it is what will make your chicken and rice interesting and palatable. 

9. Basic Spices
     Again with the flavor! But you would be surprised at how much you can add with just the basics: pepper, salt, seasoned salt, garlic powder. Any or all of these spices will give meat or pasta flavor, add a kick, and make you so much happier. Plus, it just feels legit to add spices to things. Like you are totally a pro. So do it!

10. A Large Baking Dish
       This is the fourth and final kitchen apparatus that you can't live without. If you get a large (usually 9"x13") glass baking dish you can make just about anything in the oven. Casseroles, brownies, cakes, enchiladas, lasagna... N's favorite is chicken, rice, cheese and broccoli baked in the oven. Having a baking dish will open you up to a whole new scope of easy recipes. Oven recipes are awesome because you just have to compile them and leave them until they are done.

This is not to say that you couldn't do well with other or more tools and food. I say go crazy and have a good time. But these are things that should never be in short supply. The things you absolutely need, particularly if you are just starting to be interested in cooking, or just starting to cook for yourself because you can't afford to eat out every night. Having these things in abundance will let you play around and make your own recipes, which will not only feed you, but make you feel competent and adventurous! Which could lead to the purchase of less versatile items.

With that in mind, allow me to present you with one completely versatile cooking implement: The Magic Bullet!