Pantry Perennials: Pepperoni

Yes, it's the ubiquitous pizza meat, which I find funny since 1) I don't make pizzas at home and 2) I hardly order pepperoni on my pizzas (meatwise, I'd much rather have my pies topped with sausages, bacon and ground beef, and the occasional ham/Canadian bacon if I'm feeling "Hawaiian".)

But I keep sliced pepperoni around because it's such a versatile, multi-tasking ingredient, since it contributes:

• Oil: Instead of vegetable oil or butter, I sometimes begin my stir-frys and sautés by throwing a few snipped slices of pepperoni on the skillet and wait for that brilliantly orange-red, spice-infused oil to leach out within a minute. I then take the pepperoni out and have vibrantly-flavorful cooking oil to start with.
• Seasoning: for similar reasons to the oil, I will regularly add pepperoni at the end of cooking a dish to do double duty of adding saltiness & spiciness at once. And just like extracting the oil, it doesn't take long for the dish to be boosted with the meat's flavors.
• Texture: pepperoni slices crisps up quickly and wonderfully, and it makes for a delightful change of pace from other crunchy toppings (breadcrumbs, frizzled onions, and heaven forbid-- Bac-O Bits, which I just found out don't even contain any animal products.)

While I can go on and on about my uses for pepperoni -- currently, my favorite is to crisp up pepperoni slices on the skillet & crumble it and using the spicy oil for a vinaigrette, making for a fantastic dressing & topper for a salad. Or, when I want a near-instant snack, crisp up the pepperoni and use the oil to grill a slice of bread and eat both with some olives or pickles.

Although I do rotate between a few brands, Fresh & Easy's is one of my regular go-tos. The flavor is great (just salty, spicy & complex enough), and I appreciate its lack of nitrates & unnecessary chemical gnarlyness. I also like its larger-than-norm slices (which I can snip down if I need to), and at 60 calories per 1 oz serving & priced at $3.49 - it's not a bad deal for the wallet or waistline either.

Pantry Perennials: Trader Joe's Garlic Flavored Oil

While I do collect flavored salts & sugars without abandon, I do draw the line at flavored oils -- primarily because I so sparingly use them that they'll likely go rancid before I can finish the bottle.

The single exception I make to that rule is garlic-flavored oil, particularly Trader Joe's Organic Garlic Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I know, it's not that hard to freshly mince/grate a clove or two into a neutral oil while it's heating up, and there are plenty of times when I've done just that, but there are also moments when I'm too lazy for it but still crave an instant hit of allium (usually when I'm trying to cook breakfast without having had that glorious, life-breathing first cup of coffee beforehand.) 

And it's also great for adding a hint of garlic fragrance & flavor without having to worry about getting a big ole punch of pungency, like when I'm making a salad dressing or just a finishing spoonful in a soupy noodle dish. Or making melted garlic butter on the fly for this past weekend's clambake. 

Of course, I can always go the DIY route and batch up my own garlic oil, but at $3.99 for 250mL -- I'm perfectly fine with the TJ route and save myself some greasy cookware, and smelly fingers, to clean up too.

Photo courtesy of Trader Joe's.