Make it yourself - Chinese five spice

I really dislike it when I'm making a recipe and it calls for a herb or spice and I don't have it.  Especially when it's a public holiday.  But that's not always a reason to despair because sometimes, you might just find you have the contents of this spice mix in your pantry already - you just didn't realise.

And today, I'm showing you a such a situation - I had no chinese five spice for the smoked salmon spring rolls (if you're having a wedding get-together tonight I will suggest those as a posh but easy option). So I got the help of Mr google to help me find a recipe and I found a few, but I kind of mucked about a bit and made it this way:

Ingredients

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 whole cloves

1 whole star anise

Method:

Place in a mortar and pestle, grind well.  Sieve through a tea strainer or sieve.  Store in an airtight container.

So friends, do you make up your own spice mixes?

A guide to staples: My pantry Masterlist - Sauces, oils, vinegars and condiments

Hello everyone - hope you had an excellent weekend - I'm so glad this hot spell is over in Sydney because I've missed cooking/baking and can't wait to get back to it!!

Today I'm sharing with you part 2 of the staples and pantry masterlist.  Part 1 is here - which is dry goods - today I'm covering sauces and condiments - of which I have plenty!

Obviously you may have more or less - but readers quite often ask me to share my pantry and shopping lists so if you were starting from scratch this is what I would buy.  This time I've put some examples of what I might use the sauce/condiment for if it's not a 'usual type' of pantry staple.

Some of these do need to go in the fridge after opening, but for completeness' sake I've included them!

OK here goes:


Oils:
Canola/vegetable
Olive oil (regular and extra virgin)
Sesame oil
Macadamia oil (love this in salad dressings)

Vinegars:
Cider vinegar (marinades, pickling)
Balsamic (dressing, glazes)
Malt (for your chips of course!)
White (great for making cheaty buttermilk or substitute for egg too!)
White wine (dressings)
Red wine (dressings)
Mirin - japanese rice vinegar (sushi)


Condiments and sauces
Vegemite
Cheesybite
Honey
Peanut butter (smooth and crunchy)
Jams and marmalade (loads, because I make them!)
Tahini (hoummus)
Golden syrup
Treacle
Maple syrup
Glucose syrup (toffees, candy, marshmallows)
Tomato

BBQ sauce

soy sauce 

Chilli sauce

Sweet chilli sauce

Liquid smoke (marinades)

Tabasco sauce

Chinese rice wine (drunken chicken!)

Worcestershire sauce

Mayonnaise

Mustards:

Wholegrain

Dijon

Hot English

[Image]

Anything you would add?

A guide to staples: My pantry masterlist DRY GOODS

You can all thank Merrill for this post as I've been meaning to (and promised a few of you) it a while ago and she finally kicked my butt into gear.

I'm going to list everything I consider a staple in my pantry. I add things depending on a certain recipe but at any given time, this is what you would find.  I will add to this with sauces, condiments and of course, herbs and spices in the coming weeks.

Of course if you are vegan, vegetarian, gluten intolerant or eat from a certain culture or have certain intolerances this of course will be different..  But call me a lacto-ovo-carnivore who loves to bake! (I eat just about everything!)


Pulses, grains and pasta

• Dried soup Mix
• Dried split peas
• Dried yellow peas
• Dried lentils
• Dried barley
• Arborio rice (risotto rice)
• Sushi rice
• Brown rice
• Long grain rice
• Quinoa
• Spaghetti/Fettucine
• Penne/Spiralli/Farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
• Sesame seeds
• Rice paper
• Noodles (2 minutes, hokkein, whatever!)

Stocks/powders

• Salt reduced chicken stock powder
• Beef stock powder
• Vegetable stock powder
• Chicken noodle soup mix
• French onion soup mix
• Powdered whole milk
• Custard powder
• Gravy powder
• Cocoa powder
• Coconut milk powder

Breakfast Cereals

• As you like - but we always have Cheerios, corn flakes, rice bubbles and weetbix on the go

Flours

• Plain bakers flour
• Tipo 00 flour (for pasta)
• Self raising flour
• Wholemeal flour
• Gluten free plain flour
• Rice flour
• Cornflour
• Semolina
• Polenta

Sugars

• Brown sugar
• White sugar
• Caster sugar 
• Raw sugar (I love raw caster sugar too)
• Icing mixture or Pure Icing sugar (I usually have both)

Other baking and cooking bits

• Bicarb soda
• Baking powder
• Cream of tartar
• Gelatine
• Vanilla extract
• Vanilla beans
• Parisian essence
• Rosewater essence
• Peppermint essence
• Food colourings
• desiccated or shredded coconut
• Choc chips
• 70+% cocoa chocolate
• Jelly crystals
• Pappadums
• Corn chips/tacos

Dried Fruits

• Apricots
• Figs
• Dates
• Sultanas
• Currants
• Cranberries
• Mixed fruit (mainly at Christmas)

Nuts:

• Pinenuts (raw)
• Almond meal
• Slivered almonds
• Hazelnuts (raw)
• Pistachios (raw)
• Walnuts (raw)
• Pecans (raw)
• Peanuts (raw and salted)
• Cashews (raw)
• Macadamias (raw)

Tinned goods:

• Diced tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• Kidney beans
• Borlotti beans
• Three/four bean mix
• Chickpeas
• Evaporated milk
• Condensed Milk
• Coconut cream
• Baked beans/spaghetti
• Peaches/apricots/two fruits

Drinks

• Tea - bags or leaves
• Coffee - instant
• Milo
• Cordial

(and by the way, that's not my pantry - I wish! - image credit here )