Favored Ingredients

There are certain food items I simply cannot do without, and that usually end up (in one way or another) in any dish I cook.

Hot Peppers

I adore hot peppers of all shapes and size – however I prefer to use them in the order i’ve listed below. I tend to tread carefully with the spicier chiles…get that shit in your eyes and your cooking session is RUINED.

• Jalapeno (red or green, theres usually one in everything I cook. Shit, even canned jalapenos are good)
• Pasilla
• Anaheim
• Banana
• Poblano (or the dried form of this Ancho)
• Habanero
• Serrano
• Thai Chile

Vinegar

I don’t really discriminate here. I prefer red wine and high quality aged balsamic (especially when used in conjunction with french loaf and cheese) but have been known to use apple cider/white wine/rice wine/whatever. I suppose more than anything I appreciate that bitter tang…

Spices

Obviously i’m not saying here that I love using spices – if that wasn’t a given, i’d fail not just at cooking but at fucking life in general – still, heres the ones I default to:

• Cumin
• Cayenne
• Paprika (both smoked and standard)
• Chili Powder (preferably dried ancho chile)

I also favor these herbs:

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Rosemary

Any combination of the dried spices makes a decent dry rub, so long as you add in the given fresh cracked black pepper and salt – however, given that as a vegetarian you don’t really USE dry rubs, this is a great base to any hearty stew.

And basil? OH MY LORD. A fresh chiffonade on the top of any fucking thing is goddamn amazing.

Onions

Red, green, white, brown, sweet, pearl…doesn’t matter. They = teh win.

Use ‘em.

Love ‘em.

Don’t be such a bitch.