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Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
Earlier this week we talked with Rebecca Smith of Smiths in Bloom about her working mom who made dinner every single night, how she blends Ecuadorian and Jamaican cooking for her two girls, and why most people who say they can’t cook are really just short on time. If you missed it, read the full Order Up! conversation right here.
Now for the rapid-fire round. Rebecca shares the pantry staples she never runs out of, a Jamaican sauce that fixes pale food in two dashes, and the two gadgets she can’t choose between, plus the friends she cooks from when she wants to try something new.
Three pantry staples and three fridge staples you always have on hand?
Pantry: coconut milk, beans, and rice.
Fridge: a tomato of some sort, red tomatoes or tomatillos, because I make salsa at least once a week. Cilantro, which is in everything I cook. And green bell pepper. Onions, garlic, and green bell pepper are huge in Ecuadorian cooking, but onions and garlic live in the pantry, so green bell pepper it is.
One Ecuadorian, Mexican, or Caribbean pantry ingredient everyone should try?
For Jamaican, browning sauce. If your food looks a little pale, like it’s missing that caramelized look, add a couple of dashes. It doesn’t alter the flavor, it adds to it. It’s basically caramelized sugar.
For Mexican, chipotle in adobo. Add it to mayo for an aioli, or blend it with broth using your immersion blender and you’ve got a sauce. It’s spicy, but it’s amazing.
For Ecuadorian, honestly, rice, beans, and cilantro. I don’t know that there’s one pantry item.
A favorite sauce, adobo, or seasoning blend?
Loisa. It’s women-owned and Dominican-owned, out of New York, organic, and free of colors and dyes. We haven’t had anything like that in our community. It’s been long overdue. Their seasonings for sure, and if I don’t have time to make my own sofrito, theirs is a pantry staple too.
The weeknight dinner you make on repeat?
Picadillo. It’s Cuban, it has olives, and it goes in my Instant Pot. It’s a 15-minute thing, and I always have ground beef on hand. [Check out Rebecca’s Instant Pot Picadillo recipe right here.]
One under-30-minute recipe on your site you’d point someone to first?
One of my sheet pan dinners. Sheet pan dinners are quick, and everything is in one place.
The kitchen tool that earns its counter space?
It’s a tie between my Instant Pot and my Breville Sous Chef.
One affordable thing every home cook should own?
A good knife and a knife sharpener. If you can chop things quickly and it’s not the frustrating part of your day, that saves you time.
And if anybody knows a good peeler, tell me. I go through them like nobody’s business!
A creator or cookbook you’re into right now?
I really love supporting my friends. Ebony at elicitfolio makes a red rice with bacon that’s divine. I’ve recreated it since we had it together.
If I’m going to try a Jamaican recipe, I’d go to Anjali at The Stush Kitchen. She makes a lot of desserts, and her recipes are easy to follow. Or TyphanieCooks.
And my friend Jake, @the_therapeutic_chef, came over a couple of weekends ago and showed me three blender sauces, gluten-free and dairy-free, under four ingredients. He uses cashews for the creaminess instead of cheese. I’m obsessed with that right now.
