Can’t find it? DIY it

While store shelves are slowly getting back to normal, there are still issues with supply lines, meaning empty spaces for many products. Stay at home orders as well as voluntary social distancing also means you can’t pop out for that missing ingredient for a recipe. If you are passing over recipes because you can’t find an ingredient, there is a solution: make it yourself. Food & Wine just published a collection of pantry staples that you can DIY at home.

Most of us know how to whip up a batch of mayonnaise, but there are plenty of other items that are simple to make at home, and often the homemade version is even better than store bought. The article provides recipes for flour tortillas, graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, ricotta cheese, nut butters, fresh pasta, and rough puff pastry among other items. Most of these recipes use things you might already have in your pantry or larder.

You can also make many condiments like harissa or ketchup, and it only takes two ingredients – heavy cream and buttermilk – to make your own crème fraîche. One of the best ways to find a recipe for a pantry staple or condiment is by using the filters in the EYB Library. For the three examples above, I searched for the key word and filtered to “How to” under recipe types, then applied the “sauces, general” filter. Using a combination of filters makes it easier to find a recipe for the item in question rather than just recipes that use the ingredient.

Photo of How to make ketchup in the slow cooker from The Kitchn

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5 Comments

  • averythingcooks  on  April 22, 2020

    I am trying to get better at using the filters by reading tutorials and practicing BUT I did not see the “how to” filter anywhere? What am I missing ?

    • Darcie  on  April 22, 2020

      It’s under Recipe Types > Misc > How-to

  • averythingcooks  on  April 22, 2020

    Thank you!!

  • kaufmanap  on  April 23, 2020

    FYI – friendly mention – the link to “a collection of pantry staples that you can DIY at home” is credited to Food and Wine but the link sends us to Fine Cooking.

  • MarciK  on  April 23, 2020

    I like the idea of diy, but sometimes I need an immediate solution for a missing ingredient. I tried making bread the other day as mine was running out. My yeast turned out to be dead, and the store I tried didn’t have any, so I made flatbreads. Probably I may have been able to make a yeast with potatoes (never tried but heard you can do this), but there was no time for that.

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