Last updated 12:17, Sunday, 09 March 2008

THERE’S nothing more frustrating than making your way through a recipe just to realise you are missing that last vital ingredient.

Our tip is to have a well-stocked store cupboard.

This will make your kitchen more flexible and can mean you can make meals without the need for a visit to the supermarket.

You may even be able to find a substitute for that last missing component for your dish.

This might sound a bit like cheating, but we feel the basics for a productive kitchen do include a few fresh items in your store cupboard.

It can be split between three areas: the cupboard/larder, the fridge and the freezer.

And if it's a day like today as we write, windy and rainy; there's no need to put a toe out of the door and you can still make a tasty, satisfying meal.

Here's our guide to your kitchen basics

The cupboard/larder -

Fresh

Eggs, onions, garlic, potatoes

Bottles, tins and jars

Oil (Vegetable and olive), soy sauce (for all things Asian, but also adds a savoury flavour to stews), stock cubes, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, lentils, pasta, rice, tins of beans (kidney, cannelloni etc), mustard (we've surely proved this is a must-have so far), tinned fish (tuna, mackerel etc), vinegar, honey, lemon juice, flour, gravy granules (for finishing a homemade gravy) and sweet chilli sauce (some would say that this is not life or death, but we definitely couldn't live without it)

Herbs and spices

Mixed herbs (ones that contain rosemary and thyme as a base are good), dried tarragon (good as a stand alone dried herb), paprika, mild chilli powder (good for giving chilli flavour but you can also control the strength of heat), curry powder (we almost always use a mild or medium strength, if you want a hotter curry, just add chilli powder to your curry powder), ground cumin and ground coriander (go in just about all of our spiced or curry dishes), chilli flakes (add a bit of va va voom when you are looking for a good chilli hit if you don't have any fresh).

And, of course, our friends salt and pepper

Fridge

Carrots, milk and butter. We have to say that we always stock low fat cream cheese as a substitute for any creamy ingredient to add to a dish, celery for soups, stews, curries casseroles and so much more and fresh coriander which we can't get through more than two days without using.

Freezer

Prawns (we have raw tiger prawns, but shrimps if you prefer), peas, minced beef, turkey twizlers (only joking! Just seeing if you were paying attention).

Bacon (as Ricky can't live without it).

And here is one of our store cupboard meals:

Special fried rice

Serves 2

Previously cooked rice (about 4 cups)

If we are making something like a curry or chilli, then we always purposely make extra rice to have some left over to make this dish the next day.

Otherwise, cook some rice according to the packet instructions.

Oil

½ onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 stick celery, chopped

2 eggs, whisked

2 rashers bacon, chopped

1 handful peas, defrosted

Splash soy sauce

1 handful prawns, defrosted

Heat some oil in a pan (we use a wok) then add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Fry over a medium heat allowing them to get a little colour and cook through.

Remove from the pan. We simply set them aside on a large plate.

Then add the prawns and the bacon, you may need a little more oil. Stir fry briefly until cooked. Again remove from the pan and set aside.

Give the wok a brief wipe with some kitchen paper, than add a touch more oil and add the eggs. Scramble them in the pan.

When almost cooked, add the rice, onion/vegetable mix, bacon, prawns and the peas.

Stir fry for around five minutes. Ensure that the rice is completely reheated in the pan and that it is piping hot. Add a splash of soy sauce to season. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

To finish this dish, we would add some fresh chopped coriander and drizzle with a touch of sweet chilli sauce.

This is a very flexible recipe and you could add or take away ingredients depending on what you have in the kitchen. Other additions could be ham, cooked chicken, bean sprouts, beef, broccoli or sweetcorn.