These days, I'm getting much more adventurous with my cooking. Well, when I say that, I mean I'm not just looking at what I've got in the fridge and going out for dinner instead (unless I can have cake and gin for dinner every night?) But I'm getting better, honest. I'm cooking more. Granted it's usually my preferred method of 'throwing everything into a dish and ignoring it for an hour'. Sometimes the result is pretty tasty. But 9 times out of 10, whenever I cook there's one ingredient I can't go without: Mushrooms.I put mushrooms in everything. Even if they don't really go with what I'm eating, I don't care. I love them, and will eat them at any given opportunity. Nutty, sweet, woody. Yummy little things. Except for those creepy Chinese ones that look like sea anemones. I don't not eat those. But chestnut, shitake, button, wild, wood ear... all of them. They're fabulous. And really really simple too.
They're my go-to ingredient and I absolutely couldn't live without them. Everyone has an ingredient that they couldn't live without. Garlic, butter, cheese (actually, they'd also be on my list). So what's yours? What's your absolutely favourite ingredient that you must must use? Tell us in the comments! And tell us your favourite thing to do with it too!
Flickr image from polandeze's photostream.
Garlic. Butter.
ReplyDeleteSundried tomatoes or chillis. There's not much that can't be enhanced/rescued by one or the other. Or both.
ReplyDeletechorizo! i don't really like cabbage but recently tried blanching it, then frying chorizo in butter, and adding the greens for 5-10 minutes. delicious, and not at all bitter.
ReplyDeleteGarlic. And chilli. With prawns/chicken/lamb/pork/roasted veggies
ReplyDeleteI censored this post in my head as I was going to put a courgette with a winky face - then decided against it... ;)
Very boring, but onions! Roast them, fry them, use them as a base for sauces & soups...couldn't live without them! Just can't eat them raw, they do funny things to me, lol! :-)
ReplyDeleteNot so much an ingredient I can't do without but a veg steamer. Steamed veg and potatoes taste so much better and no salt is needed. Could never eat boiled veg again.
ReplyDeleteGarlic. Onion. Pine nuts. Don't make me choose.
ReplyDeleteGarlic and cheese! I also always have a bag of king prawns in the freezer, there's always something you can do with them when the cupboard is bare.
ReplyDeleteChilli flakes go on/in everything i make. also always stocked up with tinned chickpeas, tomatoes, red onions and frozen spinach for near-instant meals, from falafel to tagines.
ReplyDeletegarlic garlic garlic!
ReplyDeleteChillies (sauce, flakes, fresh, oil) and cheese (hard, soft, cream, blue)!
ReplyDeleteIt's not exactly an ingredient per se, but I put plain yoghurt on pretty much everything. I love it with curries, wraps and soups, and I love to dunk chips in it. Add a little garlic, mayo and cucumber and you have my fake tzatziki. Amazing.
ReplyDeletePork is my number one fave - I could eat it every day. Cheese, onions, courgette, lemons and chillies - they'd all go to my desert island with me!
ReplyDeletePS - for a mushroom fan, have you ever tried chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms? You can't buy them but a friend of mine is a forager and he gave me some - they are IN-CRED-IBLE!!!!