Selecting Ingredients for Simple Recipes

 

This is Part I in a series that will guide you in making an Italian-American classic: Chicken Parmesan. I decided to break it up into parts because the sauce is very versatile, frying meat is a lesson in itself, and I don't expect anyone to have the attention span to read all of that in one sitting. Before we even start cooking the stuff, we need to address your first opportunity to make some blunders on your cooking journey: picking out the ingredients at the grocery store.

Ingredient Selection

Because all ingredients are not created equal, it’s important to select ingredients that are most appropriate for your recipe. What this means is that if a recipe only contains a handful of ingredients, you must seek out ingredients that are of high quality. On the other hand, a recipe with dozens of ingredients may turn out just fine without using the cream of the crop for every single part. A perfect example is picking out canned tomatoes. An 88-cent can of tomatoes will not produce as delicious of a pasta sauce as the 3.99 can of San Marzano tomatoes, but the 88-cent can is probably a more reasonable choice when making an aromatic, spice-packed chili.

I know, I know… this sounds REALLY pompous of me. But, consider this: the premium San Marzano tomatoes, an Italian import, are harvested at the peak of their ripeness from a specific region in Naples famous for their excellent tomatoes. They’re known to be sweeter, more flavorful, and less acidic than a tomato from a run-of-the-mill product manufactured in the US. Using a full-bodied tomato means you will need to add less sugar (if any), thus keeping the sauce cleaner. Whole tomatoes are also a better value: they are the highest-quality canned tomato product at any price-point. Diced, crushed, or stewed tomatoes can contain unnecessary additives, such as calcium chloride (not that this one is necessarily harmful, it's just an extra thing added that will lead to an artificial taste) which helps the tomatoes to maintain the "diced" shape they are being sold for. Instead, I suggest always buying whole canned tomatoes and simply crushing them down to the desired texture during the cooking process.

And don’t even get me started on the nuances in selecting a quality olive oil. There’s so much drama in the olive oil industry that I think I’ll write a whole separate post about it someday. Long story short: when you want a simple recipe to really shine, get the best ingredients that you can afford when cooking something that involves a few ingredients; save the cheaper ingredients for when many flavors have to work in tandem.

 

Fresh or Preserved?

I opt for fresh and frozen ingredients whenever possible, but work within your budget and always consider a cheaper alternative whenever it will not impact the taste or texture of the overall dish. For example, I like the taste of pasta sauce that uses fresh garlic and basil, but I will almost always use dried oregano because fresh is harder to find, and if I do find it, it will be expensive. Not only is dried oregano a reasonable substitute that is affordable and widely available, but  it's often the go-to in many sauces anyway-- it's not the spotlight ingredient that needs to "shine" in a straightforward pasta sauce.

When deciding between fresh or preserved vegetables, visualize the appearance of the dish that you are aiming for, and imagine the texture you’d like in every bite. I prefer canned green beans in ham soup because they’re soft, salty and nostalgic—all of which make for a better tasting experience for me. However, fresh or frozen green beans are my go-to when using them as a side dish. It all goes back to the simplicity rule!

I am even choosier about meats and eggs compared to vegetables and shelved items. I prefer to buy meats that are as organic and ethically-sourced as my money can buy and this is especially true when buying poultry. A chicken breast cutlet should not typically be the size of my entire head. Fish and seafood need to be wild-caught or raised in a sustainable way. Always buy on sale or at a fair price and freeze it for later if you don’t intend to use it. If stored properly, the quality won’t be hurt! Furthermore, it’s better for not only your health, but also the environment, when we opt to go meatless a few times a week.

Keeping Within Budget

It can get pricey to buy the top-shelf variety of everything all of the time. I suggest sticking to a few non-negotiable decent-quality products and looking for ways to save on other items at the store. For me, this means organic meats/eggs, high-quality canned tomatoes and olive oils, and organic/pesticide-free berries and delicate-fleshed produce. Things that I cheap out on are tough-skinned produce that I will peel, condiments, pickled/jarred veggies, most spices, rice, neutral cooking oils, and broth/stock. As you learn to make different things from scratch, you’ll save money on a lot of prepared products (making your own bread or stock costs pennies. PENNIES.). It’s a long-term process to make changes to your lifestyle (and shopping differently/cooking basically every meal you eat may very well be a lifestyle change!), so try one or two higher-quality ingredients at a time and decide for yourself if something made your food turn out better and is worth adding to your usual rotation.

Now that we glazed over what it means to select appropriate ingredients for a specific recipe, join me in the next post where I share my process for making pasta sauce.