Ingredients

                Peppers from the Garden

How to Select the Best Ingredients for Each Recipe

Use the Freshest Ingredients!

Unless noted otherwise in the recipe, ingredients named in the recipes on this website are described in more detail here in this section, and sometimes by brand name - selected for nutritional value, consistency in flavor and texture, and/or economic value. An experienced cook may know whether a different ingredient or brand may be used if what's called for in the recipe is unavailable, so this guide is really for those who are just learning to cook and unfamiliar with these ingredients or those who are on a budget but still want tasty results from their time spent in the kitchen.

• American Cheese  "Kraft". Yellow singles.
• Asparagus  Fresh. Hold a spear, one end in each hand, and fold the spear in half. This will snap off the tough end at its natural breaking point. Keep the end with the flowerets and discard the thicker hard stem.
• Avocado  Fresh. Allow it to ripen. Peel and pit, then slice or gently mash with fork.
• Baked beans  Canned. Flavored with brown sugar and bacon, or any other flavor, for variety. Do not drain.
• Baking mix  "Bisquick".
• Baking powder  "Davis".
• Baking soda  "Arm&Hammer".
• Banana  "Chiquita". Select large bananas or the equivalent measure in smaller or larger bananas. Choose bananas which are overripe, to the point where you probably don't want to eat them anymore, but not yet mushy. Freshly bruised areas are ok, but avoid older bruised areas where the flavor may have turned. Peel, then gently mash with a fork on a plate. Maintain one-third of the banana as 1/4-inch chunks, and fully press the rest into slabs of mashed banana with the tines of the fork, separating each flattened bit from the next, so they stir easily into the recipe without vigorous mixing.
• Barley  Any brand is fine. Dried.
• Beans  Any brand is fine. Dried, any combination of any varieties of bean. Rinse, carefully pick over and remove any extraneous material. If using canned, drain the beans: pour off and discard the liquid, pour out the beans for use in the recipe, discard the sediment at the bottom of the can.
• Bell pepper  Fresh; any combination of green, red, orange, and yellow bell peppers. Slice open lengthwise, cut out stem and discard, discard seeds, cut out tough white membranes and discard. For frozen: Any brand is fine, plain, no added ingredients, cut in any style.
• Black beans  "Goya". Canned. Drain.
• Blueberries  Any brand is fine. Frozen. Thaw, rinse, drain. Use fresh blueberries, if available and reasonably priced.
• Broccoli  Fresh, crowns. Cut into 1-inch bits. For recipes that are stewed or cooked a long time, the broccoli stems may be used, pared to remove the 1/16-inch tough outer shell, and sliced into 1/8-inch slices.
• Brown sugar  "Domino". Dark brown sugar.
• Butter  "Land O'Lakes". Salted. Room temperature.
• Cabbage  Fresh. Cut out tough core at base end and discard.
• Cantaloupe  Fresh. Allow to ripen, pare, remove seeds and seed membranes, cut into 1-in chunks. For fancy presentation: cut into 1/2-inch arcs.
• Carrot  Fresh. Pare.
• Cashews  "Planter's". Shelled, salted.
• Cheddar Cheese  In my local store, I buy "NY Cheddar". Sharp.
• Chick peas  "Goya". Canned. Drain.
• Chilis  Any brand is fine. Green, canned, diced. Drain, if lots of liquid; otherwise, use with liquid.
• Chocolate chips  "Nestle's". Semi-sweet morsels.
• Chocolate packets  "Nestle's". Pre-melted chocolate in a packet. If not available, use 1 oz "Bakers" semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled.
• Chocolate pudding  "Royal". Chocolate pudding packets, prepared according to package directions.
• Chocolate syrup  "Hershey's". Dark chocolate syrup.
• Cocoa powder  "Hershey's".
• Confectioner's sugar  "Domino".
• Corn starch  "Argo".
• Cranberry sauce  "Ocean Spray". Whole berry cranberry sauce. For use as a condiment: "Ocean Spray" cranberry-orange sauce.
• Cream cheese  "Philadelphia". Original.
• Cucumber  Fresh. Do not pare.
• Dairy  Unless recipe specifies differently, all dairy products are those made with whole milk.
• Eggs  "Eggland's Best". Extra-large.
• Flour  "Hecker's" or "King Arthur". Unbleached, white, bread flour.
• French fried onions  "French's". In paper box.
• Garlic  Fresh. Remove papery outer peel, cut off hard stem end, slice cloves lengthwise into 1/16" strips.
• Gelatin  "Jell-O". With sugar. Prepare according to package directions.
• Green beans  Any brand is fine. Frozen, plain, no added ingredients, French-cut. For canned: "Del Monte", drained, not French-cut. For fresh: cut off tough ends and discard, cut into 2-inch bits.
• Green olives  Any brand is fine. Green olives stuffed with pimiento. Drain.
• Heavy cream  Any brand is fine.
• Honey  "Golden Blossom" or fresh local honey. Clover honey.
• Ice cream  "Breyer's": chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, peach, black cherry chocolate, vanilla fudge swirl, black raspberry swirl. "Turkey Hill": green chocolate chip mint. "Starbucks": Java Chip. "Dove Bars": chocolate ice cream dipped in dark chocolate. "Luigi's Ice": lemon ice. "ShopRite": ice cream sandwiches, orange or rainbow sherbet. "Friendly's": butter pecan, rocky road.
• Iceberg lettuce  Fresh. Cut out tough core at base end and discard.

• Jalapeño  Any brand is fine. Canned, sliced in rounds. Drain. A recipe may also call for minced jalapeño.
• Jam  "Welch's": grape jam. "Smucker's": strawberry, apricot, peach, raspberry, seedless raspberry, and black raspberry jams.
• Jelly  "Welch's": grape jelly. Any brand is fine for currant jelly.
• Kidney beans  Any brand is fine. Canned, dark red. Drain.
• Lemon juice  "ReaLemon". Bottled lemon juice. If available, use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
• Lentils  Any brand is fine. Dried. Rinse. Carefully pick over and remove any extraneous material.
• Lettuce  Fresh. Romaine. Remove tough white center from greens and discard. Tear into 2-inch bits.
• Lima beans  Any brand is fine. Frozen. Plain, no added ingredients.
• Lime juice  "ReaLime". Bottled lime juice or fresh-squeezed lime juice. Use "Key Lime" lime juice for "Key Lime" pie.
• Mandarin oranges  Any brand is fine. Canned. Drain.
• Marmalade  "Smucker's": orange marmalade.
• Milk  Fresh, whole milk. If fresh milk is not available, "Parmalat" boxed milk may be used, but only in some recipes.
• Mini chocolate chips  "Nestle's". Mini semi-sweet morsels.
• Molasses  "Grandma's". Dark molasses, also known as black-strap molasses.
• Mustard  "Gulden's". Spicy brown.
• Nori  Any brand is fine. Dark green, flat, paper-thin, squares of seaweed; approximately 10"x10", or any size.
• Oatmeal  "Quaker". Plain, dry oatmeal. Not steel-cut nor instant nor flavored oatmeal.
• Oil  Any brand is fine. Vegetable oil made from corn, canola, soybean, or peanut.
• Olive oil  Any good brand is fine. Extra-virgin olive oil.
• Olives  Any brand is fine. Black olives, canned, small, pitted, sliced. Drain. If the recipe calls for whole olives, use the largest size.
• Onion  Fresh. Pare, cut out tough core at top and discard; slice into 1/8" x 2" strips, unless recipe describes a different cut. May use frozen onions in soups, stews, and cooked recipes.
• Orange juice  "Tropicana".
• Peanut butter  "Skippy": Super Chunk. "Jiff": Creamy.
• Peanuts  "Planter's". Shelled, salted.
• Peas  Any brand is fine. Frozen, no added ingredients, any size. Use fresh peas if available: remove from outer pod shell, boil in water until tender, drain.
• Pepper  Any brand is fine. Black pepper, ground.
• Pickle relish  "Heinz". India Relish.
• Pickles  "Vlasic". Dill, sweet gherkins, hamburger slices.
• Pineapple  "Dole". Canned, in heavy syrup. Drain. For fresh: "Dole", pare, core, cut into 1-inch chunks.
• Pink beans  "Goya". Canned. Drain.
• Pizza sauce  "Pizza Quick".
• Raisins  "Sun-Maid".
• Rice vinegar  Any brand is fine.
• Rice wine vinegar  Any brand is fine.
• Salt  "Diamond Crystal". Iodized salt.
• Sardines  "Season". Packed in oil.
• Shortening  "Crisco".
• Sour cream  "Breakstone". Original.
• Soy sauce  Mushroom soy sauce, which comes in a large square plastic jug from the Chinese grocery store on Route 27 in Edison, NJ. This is thicker, and not the same as grocery store brand soy sauce or the packets from Chinese take-out restaurants.
• Spaghetti  "Ronzoni". No. 10 spaghetti, or any premium brand spaghetti of the same diameter. I prefer whole wheat or spinach pasta and my husband and kids prefer the plain spaghetti made by Ronzoni. I prefer No. 10-sized spaghetti, my husband prefers No. 11, my youngest daughter prefers bow-tie pasta - and we are all spoiled rotten. Ronzoni No. 10 spaghetti is our compromise, although occasionally we do take the trouble to be short-order cooks and give every member of the family the type of pasta they prefer. Life is too short to not eat what you prefer, at least some of the time.
• Spaghetti sauce  "Prego". Chunky Garden Combo, Three-Cheese, Fresh Mushroom, and Tomato and Garlic are my favorites. My eldest son prefers Prego Traditional, which he heats in a little bowl in the microwave and dips French bread into.
• Spices  "McCormick". Dried. Organic, if available.
• Split peas  Any brand is fine. Dried. Rinse, carefully pick over and remove any extraneous material.
• Strawberries  Fresh. In season, pick the same day, rinse well. Remove stem. Unless recipe calls for whole strawberries, remove most of the white core, slice. If frozen: any brand is fine, thaw.
• Sugar  Any brand is fine. Granulated white sugar.
• Taco mix  "Ortega". Original.
• Taco sauce  "Ortega". Medium.
• Taco shells  "Ortega". Yellow.
• Tomato  For canned: "Redpack", plum tomatoes or crushed with puree, do not drain. For fresh: "Ugly Ripe". For fresh plum tomato: any brand is fine.
• Tomato paste  "Hunt's". Canned. Italian Seasonings.
• Tomato puree  "Redpack". Canned.
• Tortilla  Any brand is fine. Flour tortillas, unless recipe calls for corn tortillas.
• Tortilla chip  "Tostitos". Restaurant style.
• Tuna  "Starkist". Packed in water. Drain. Flake with fork. Larger cans seem to have better quality fish.
• Vanilla  "McCormick". Pure vanilla extract.
• Vegetable juice  "V-8". Original or Extra Spicy.
• Vinegar  Any brand is fine. White vinegar.
• Walnuts  "Diamond Walnut". Shelled. In pieces, not whole.
• Water  Tap water (where there is no water softener).
• Watermelon  Fresh. Chill immediately after purchase. Pare, cut into 1-inch chunks, discard seeds.
• Wheat cereal  "Cream of Wheat". Original 10-Minute Cream of Wheat, not flavored, nor instant, nor 5-minute.
• Wheat germ  "Kretchner's". Toasted, plain. (Keep refrigerated, use within three months of opening.)
• White sauce  Freshly-made, see recipe "White Sauce".