Why Call It “Pantry Cooking?”
Well, Bernadette always shares terrific recipes and stories about food – and what inspired her this time was a cold, dreary day! As she posted:
“This pantry dinner came about on a cold, dreary January day in New Jersey. I couldn’t summon the will to brave the elements and go to the market to buy ingredients to make dinner. I looked in the fridge and found a tin of this, a bottle of that, and decided I would plunge ahead with dinner.“
And plunge ahead she did!
Click here to see her inspired use of pantry, refrigerator and anything else in the house – we all have to do that at times, and what she came up with looks delicious!
Now, I want to address something, only because Bernadette herself wrote this:
“Recently, I was criticized for proposing to make a cake that started with a cake mix. The criticism was that it wasn’t “from scratch”. I came home from that encounter feeling like perhaps I was a fraud and really should not be writing this blog.“
Well, that really bothered me, because as I pointed out to her, unless someone grows their own wheat and mills the flour, has chickens for the eggs, and has a cow for the milk and butter, the idea that you can only cook “from scratch” is ludicrous.
It also reminded me that, no matter how much fun you want to share on a blog, there will always be someone who will find a way to be sour and negative…I get those comments as well as I’m sure most do.
I can only imagine what that person would have thought of this:
In the same spirit of Bernadette, I took leftover pizza and added some pantry items to make a “pizza lasagna” and I’m not ashamed of it…you can see my recipe here:
Back to Bernadette’s recipe: I think Tuna is under-used in the US, with the exception of “Tuna Fish Sandwiches”, which are so basic…why not make a cool meal out of it like Patricia Wells does?
Patricia makes an amazing Pan Bagnat sandwich, which includes tuna but so much more!
See the history of this provencal dish by clicking on my story here:
If you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!
Let me know how creative you like to get with your food!
Bravo once again to Bernadette for a terrific recipe, and if you like this, please share on social media! Thanks!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Food Pictures, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Thanks again John for your loyal support. And, the Patricia Wells sandwich looks amazing.
Just a great use of Tuna like you showcased!
I admire Bernadette and her cooking from whatever is in the kitchen. It takes a certain skill set and confidence to be able to create a meal based on whatever is available to you. You are also very good at trying new combos, John. When I was a single mother I did this out of necessity and I named the recipes , like cowboy roundup casserole, and gave copies of my ‘recipes’ on recipe cards to each of my daughters when they got married as a fun memory. We had lots of good laughs over the years about them
I LOVE THAT! Will you ever share the “cowboy roundup casserole?” If you did, I’d make it!
absolutely
Not a fan of tuna, but I could easily substitiute that. Nice idea for a recipe, John.
Best wishes, Pete.