These local chefs and restauranteurs reveal which pantry staples and grocery items are always in their cart. They might act as a secret ingredient or a start to a simple, but elevated home cooked meal.
Alex Boggs, of Huey’s Restaurants and Sweet Cheeks BBQ, admits, “When I get a chance to cook these days, a lot of the time it is much more about convenience and timeliness than it is about what I actually want. With three young kids, life gets in the way, but everyone still needs to eat.” His freezer staple is a frozen bag of high-quality shrimp.
“There are endless possibilities and a very minimal cook time with frozen shrimp,” he says. “Thaw out in the sink with running cold water and you are ready to cook in less than a half hour. While a Shrimp Scampi pasta, Oven Tray Nacho or Pad Thai come to mind, my favorite of these quick dinner dishes is a play on my mom’s BBQ Shrimp.”
Boggs BBQ Shrimp
Start with one glass, ovenproof dish. Ideally with at least an inch deep in height
-1 stick of butter, sliced
-1 smoked sausage cut in 1/2 inch portions
-1Lb frozen shrimp, thawed
-Diced red potatoes, to your desired quantity
-1/2 White onion, sliced not diced
-20 dashes of Worcestershire (We use Lea and Perrins)
-10 dashes of hot sauce (We use Cholula)
-Liberal coating of your favorite seasoning (We use Huey's Seasoning or Lawry's)
-1 clove of garlic
-Squeeze of 1 lemon, then cut lemon into quarters and leave in pan
Mix all ingredients and bake at 400 for 12 minutes. Stir and cook for 5 minutes more.
Josh Steiner recently opened Hive Bagel and Deli downtown on Front Street. He and wife, Wallis, are beekeepers. They use their honey, and other local varieties, to make Hive’s bagels and for cooking at home.
“I never use a lot of it at once but adding a little here and there makes a huge difference,” says Josh. “The great part about honey is that you can add it to something simple like a little drizzle on top of a piece of peanut butter toast or you can add it to a savory stir fry to add a little sweetness.”
Josh’s Beef & Broccoli Cashew Stir Fry
Combine Ingredients and Sauté:
3 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoon sambal chili paste
1/4 cup snow peas
1 head of broccoli, sliced
1 red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin slices
3 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon peanut oil
5 garlic cloves, chopped up
1 cup of cooked Jasmine rice, pre-cooked
3/4 cup toasted cashews
10 oz or more of beef strip or filet, sliced thin
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Walker Taylor, owner of Germantown Commissary, always picks up chicken thighs from the grocery for grilling. "They are really hard to mess up - and burn!" he laughs. His secret ingredient, Strawberry's BBQ Seasoning, which used to only be available at the illusive Price Chopper, in Hardy Arkansas.
Jules Jordan is a founding partner of Belle Meade Social and manages operations for the restaurant. “I always keep pine nuts in my pantry,” she says. “They are the perfect buttery crunch to add to so many meals.”
Her current dinner on repeat is a kale salad. She combines chopped lacinato kale, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
Glenda Hastings, owner of Napa Café, uses her home kitchen to test out recipes for the restaurant. “I grind dried rice to use as a binder for gluten free meatballs,” she says. “First you toast the rice and grind with a mortar and pestle.”
Private Chef Martavious McGee (@bluffcitychefmar) repurposes day-old rice with one of his favorite grocery store items – sesame oil. He starts with a pan and a tablespoon of sesame oil, minced garlic, ginger, scallion and ground red pepper flasks.
“After sautéing on low add soy sauce and brown sugar and a bit of oyster sauce, and then add precooked chicken breast, scrambled eggs and the day-old rice,” Martavious guides. “Stir until well combined and serve right away.”
Tuyen Le of Tuyen’s Asian Bistro echoes Chef McGee. “My ‘go-to’ item in my home kitchen is Kadoya Pure Sesame Oil, a product of Japan. I use it at home to quickly sauté veggies like green beans, to which I add fresh garlic and oyster sauce,” Tuyen says. “I buy my oil from the Asian market, in a large can, since I also use it at my restaurant. In my opinion, it's the only brand that's good.”
Riccardo Marciano, co-owner of Little Italy East, is a Memphian by way of Calabria, Italy.
He stocks imported cheeses for making pesto. “I always use fresh Pecorino Romano combined with fresh Grano Padano cheeses – not parmesan, which is most commonly used here.”
Riccardo recommends adding fresh spinach leaves with the basil. “You’ll have a brighter color, richer texture and flavor,” he says.
For lasagna he suggests layering in a bechamel sauce with a touch of nutmeg. “The bechamel makes the whole dish hold together better and enhances the flavors of the homemade Bolognese sauce,” says Riccardo.
"My go-to grocery store item is the entire spice section, " says Chef Kevin Sullivan of Tsunami and Ki Kitchen. "It’s kind of a cheat but it’s the truth. All types of inspiration hide in those little jars of spices. Most recently I picked up some dill pickle seasoning from Trader Joe's. And it tasted great- exactly like a dill pickle!" He used it for a dill pickle vinaigrette combining 2 tablespoons of the seasoning, 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and 1/3 cup of oil. He uses over a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and shallots.
"So peruse the spice aisle. Pick up something interesting and experiment the next time you’re in the kitchen," Kevin encourages.