Everyone has their go-to ingredients.  These are the things that you grab when you’re cooking that you may not even realize you use almost every day.  At least until you run out of them, at which point you find that you’re staring blankly at the spice cabinet and the food that’s begun to burn in your skillet without the faintest idea what to do next.

I ran into this problem last week when I realized I was out of black peppercorns. (or thought I was…  They had fallen over behind a huge container of chili powder and I didn’t see them.) It took me a full five minutes to realize that I actually do have preground pepper in the pantry and it’s fresh, because I never-ever use it.

So here we go. These are some of the things that I would be lost without in my pantry or my refrigerator.

Thirteen ingredients I probably rely too heavily upon.

1. Kosher Salt or Coarse Grained Sea Salt: I doubt I could season anything properly with regular old Morton’s Iodized any more.  I’ve gotten to the point where salt is always added by the pinch, and fine grained salts simply don’t lend themselves well to that type of measuring.
2. Whole Black Peppercorns: Once you’ve gone over to grinding your own pepper, you just can’t go back.  Trust me, it’ll make a food snob out of you in a matter of minutes.
3. Whole Garlic: While I admit that I will use Gilroy Farms minced garlic and I have no issues with it (Gilroy Farms only, people!), I cannot tolerate the notion of substituting garlic powder when real garlic is called for.  It’s what I’m used to working with, and the flavor can’t be faked.
4. Red Chili Flakes: Gotta have ‘em, because “Mo Hotta is Mo Betta!”
5. Soy Sauce: Great for everything and the #1 sauce staple in my kitchen
6. Fennel Seeds: I use them for pork and chicken just about any time I get the chance.  so much so that my wife made me promise not to use them for at least six months. (We’re almost there!)
7. Chili Garlic Paste: This is another ingredient I’ve been told to leave alone for a while. Good for far more than Asian dishes, it actually tastes wonderful as a Tex-Mex ingredient as well.
8. Asian Noodles: All varieties, sizes shapes and textures, I can’t get enough.  My wife on the other hand would prefer rice.
9. Feta Cheese: You could crumble it on an old dish towel and it would taste good… not that I’ve tried…  Well, there was that once…
10. Scallions (Green Onions): I actually feel a slight tinge of panic if I realize I’m out!
11. Boxed Chicken and Vegetable stock: Before I was the Food Snob, I used canned broth…  Now just the thought makes me a bit uneasy.  Strange how that works, isn’t it?
12. Chorizo: I’ll forget bacon first.  Chorizo is one of my new favorite flavors and I’ll use it wherever I can.
13. And my number one must-absolutely-have-it-no-matter-what… Spinach: Just look over the recipes on this site, you’ll see it everywhere.

What are your go-to ingredients?  Is there anything that you use so often you’d feel lost without it?  Anything you’d stop making dinner to run out and get?  Let us know!

Happy TT!

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