Country Cooking Recipes-Get Your Pantry Basics Here

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Kitchen Pantry Favorite Stock Ups

Whip up most anything at a moment's notice with these top ten kitchen must-haves:

1. Baking supplies (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt)
2. Pasta, including the modern pantry staple of boxed macaroni and cheese. For more innovative pasta meals check out the Washington Post's inexpensive pasta recipes)
3. Chicken broth (Swanson's Organic Chicken Broth won a recent Cooks Illustrated taste test)
4. Rice (brown and white and basmati, if regularly cook Indian food)
5. Canned fish (take your pick of salmon, tuna, anchovies, or sardines. Trader Joe's has a good selection.)
6. Oatmeal
7. Nuts
8. Honey
9. Olive oil
10. Canned tomatoes

In The Pantry

sugar, cake flour, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour (though to be honest, I often have to throw it away because it spoils quickly and I forget to store it in the fridge—if you do this, make sure to let it get to room temperature before using), Scharffen Berger chocolate semi-sweet and bittersweet baking bars and baking chunks, SB cocoa powder (and thanks to SB for stocking my test kitchen), Valrhona cocoa powder, brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, baking soda, cornstarch, cream of tartar—wow this just the baking supplies, and I could go on. I also keep Barilla boxed pasta, canned chickpeas, canned red kidney beans, dry lentils, steel cut oats, tomato paste, canned tomatoes (San Marzano and Pastene ground peeled). I also have some goodies I canned last summer, including peaches, tomato jam, tomato relish and strawberry jam.

Country Cooking Recipes-Cream Cheese Biscuits

Cream Cheese Biscuits

Image via Wikipedia

Ingredients:

6 oz cream cheese
1/2 lb unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup flour Instructions:
Combine cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl. Beat until well blended. Add salt and flour; mix well. Roll out to a thickness of 1/4-inch.

Cut into 2-inch rounds. Place on a buttered baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden.

Country Cooking Recipes- Easy Biscuit Mixture

Easy Biscuit Mixture

Image via Wikipedia

Ingredients:

10 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cups shortening
Instructions:
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Store in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.

Country Cooking Recipes- Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Image by esimpraim via Flickr

Ingredients:

2 cup Bisquick

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

Mix ingredients until dough forms. Dip hands in flour just enough to work with dough. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Pat pieces into thin patties. Stack patties one on top of the other in a 9" round greased baking pan to form 8 biscuits. Bake at 450 for 16 to 18 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Serve warm.