COOKING SPRAYS (oil in a spray can) are very convenient. They make oiling baking dishes a snap. Look for pure olive oil or canola oil sprays, or find an oil spray jar in cooking stores and use your own oil.
CURRY PASTE is a Southeast Asian condiment that combines curry spices and vegetable oils to create a highly concentrated seasoning. Like curry powders, curry pastes have a range of flavors and spiciness. Curry pastes are available in jars at Indian groceries and in the Indian or Southeast Asian section of many supermarkets.
EDAMAME are shelled or unshelled fresh or frozen soybeans. Look for edamame in the produce department or among the frozen vegetables.
FENNEL (fennel bulb, anise) is a curious-looking vegetable with a sweet anise flavor and crunchy texture. Fresh fennel has a large, white, edible, bulbous bottom with green celery-like stalks topped by feathery fronds. The bulb is usually sliced, and the fronds make nice garnishes. The tough stalks should be discarded.
GINGER ROOT is a knobby, light brown rhizome with a clear, fresh scent and hot, spicy taste. Look for it in the produce section of food markets. If the skin is very thin and tender, there is no need to peel it before grating it (a microplane grater is the best). If the skin is blemished or tough, peel it first with a paring knife or vegetable peeler or by scraping it with the edge of a spoon.
GREENS
Greens is a term that refers to both raw salad greens and to cooked leafy greens. Popular salad greens include Boston lettuce, spinach, Belgian endive, mesclun (field mix, spring mix), loose-leaf lettuces, radicchio, and arugula. Cooked greens include chard, collards, escarole, kale, mustard greens, broccoli raab, bok choy, and watercress. We always rinse bagged and bulk salad greens, even when labeled prewashed.
ARUGULA becomes more peppery and sharp-tasting as it matures. Arugula is used both as a cooked green and raw in salads.
CHARD We use both red-veined ruby chard and green Swiss chard. Look for fresh perky leaves with bright tender stems and veins.
COLLARDS (collard greens) are mild-tasting, bluish-green, paddle-shaped leaves. To strip collards, hold a leaf by the stem, grasp the base of the leaf with your other hand, and pull your hands away from each other, stripping off the leaf. Frozen collards are widely available and are convenient and have pretty good flavor. They cook more quickly than most fresh collards. One pound of raw collards yields about 4 cups cooked.
ENDIVE (frisée, curly endive) is a delicate, bitter salad green with frilly leaves and a crisp texture. It will keep fresh in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Rinse well before using.
ESCAROLE has mildly bitter, dark green, wavy leaves with white sweet-tasting midribs. Avoid wilted, yellow, or brown-edged bunches. Escarole will keep in a perforated plastic bag for several days in the refrigerator.
KALE an exceptionally nutritious food, is available in several varieties. The most common varieties have bluish-green, frilly-edged leaves or smooth purplish-red leaves. Kale will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. To strip kale leaves, hold each leaf by the stem, grasp the base of the leaf with your other hand, and pull your hands away from each other, stripping off the leaf. One pound of raw kale yields about 4 cups cooked.
MESCLUN (field mix, spring mix), a combination of various sweet, sharp, and peppery baby salad greens, such as lettuce, baby spinach, mizuna, and mustard greens, is available in bags or in bulk in most supermarket produce departments.
MUSTARD GREENS are a spicy, mustardy green, terrific for flavoring and good as a companion to milder greens such as collards or spinach. Young red mustard greens are often included in mixes of mesclun or baby greens. Wrapped in a damp towel in plastic in the refrigerator, mustard greens will keep for about 3 days.
SPINACH We like baby spinach for its timesaving convenience: no stemming and chopping. If you use regular spinach in a recipe calling for baby spinach, remove the large stems and coarsely chop the leaves, and then measure it. Buy frozen spinach that is packaged in bags rather than in blocks, because in bags the spinach is frozen in separate clumps, so portions can be easily removed and the bag resealed.
HERBS, FRESH AND DRIED The scent, bright color, and fresh flavor of a fresh herb can make the simplest dish delectable, but dried herbs work better in some dishes. As a rule of thumb, use about half the amount of dried as fresh herbs. To test for strength of flavor, rub a pinch of dried herb between your fingers and breathe in the scent. Adjust the amount you use according to the intensity of the aroma.
HOISIN SAUCE a sweet Chinese condiment, is a deep chocolate-colored purée with a smooth, thick texture. It usually contains soybeans, sugar, vinegar, and spices.
HORSERADISH A pungent condiment. Most supermarkets carry jars of grated horseradish mixed with vinegar and salt.
IMMERSION BLENDER A lightweight electric blender with a shaft that can be immersed in hot soups or sauces right in the pot. They save time and cleanup (and are safer than pouring hot soup into a blender jar). Also, you can use them to blend whole tomatoes right in the can.
KEIFFER LIME LEAVES (kafir lime leaves, magroot, makrug, wild limes), used in Thai and Indonesian cuisine, are the glossy, dark green leaves of a tree grown in Southeast Asia and Hawaii. They have a unique lemon-lime perfume and wonderful flavor. Whole leaves, like bay leaves, are used to flavor hot foods and then discarded before eating. When finely shredded, they can be eaten cooked and raw. Keiffer lime leaves freeze well—just place dry whole leaves in a freezer bag, and they’ll retain flavor for months. Look for them in the produce section of large supermarkets.
KITCHEN SCISSORS Buy sharp kitchen scissors to snip fresh herbs into neat, finely chopped garnishes; to trim the sharp points from fresh artichoke leaves; to cut cooked noodles and parchment paper; to create vegetable, flower, and fruit decorations. Carefully
