The Studio Pantry
Updated: 2 days ago
TRANQUIL • LUMINOUS • ROOTED
Stories from the studio, reflections on process, and the art of the handmade.
What I Keep Within Reach
I've found myself returning to a small collection of favorite pantry staples, some I've used for years, others newer discoveries, that have earned a permanent place in my kitchen. Over the past few months, as the Studio Kitchen has taken shape, so has the pantry behind it.
This isn't meant to be a definitive list. There are hundreds of wonderful olive oils, vinegars, mustards, salts and spices to choose from. These simply happen to be mine, the ones I know, enjoy and keep within reach.
I think of them in two groups.
The first is The Pantry: the oils, vinegars, salts, spices, cheese and other ingredients that add depth, brightness or that little something a dish needs.
The second is The Foundations: pasta, polenta, pizza dough and crackers, the things I can pull from the pantry and turn into dinner with whatever I've made and tucked into the freezer.
Together, they have become the working vocabulary of the Studio Kitchen.
THE PANTRY
Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
This is my everyday olive oil, the bottle I reach for without thinking. This Olive Oil has a subtle peppery finish. I use it for roasting vegetables, sautéing, vinaigrettes, sauces and the everyday cooking that happens here constantly. It's good enough that I enjoy its flavor, but practical enough to truly use. Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Lucini Organic Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil
And then there is what I think of as my good olive oil. This is the bottle I reach for when the olive oil itself matters: a drizzle over finished pasta or polenta, vegetables just out of the oven, a little over a bowl of soup, or anywhere that final fruity richness won't disappear into the cooking.
Having both may seem unnecessary, but I've found they serve two very different purposes in my kitchen. Lucini Organic Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Edmond Fallot Burgundy Mustard
A good mustard is one of those small pantry ingredients that can completely change a dish. I use this one in vinaigrettes and sauces, with roasted meats and vegetables, and whenever something needs a little acidity and sharpness. It has character without overwhelming everything around it. Edmond Fallot Burgundy Mustard
Lucini Olive Oil Lucini Olive Oil Reserve Edmond Fallot Burgundy Mustard
SALT, THREE WAYS
I don't think of salt as a single ingredient anymore. I keep three Jacobsen salts on hand because each does a slightly different job. Jacobsen is harvested salt from the cold, pristine waters of Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast to create a bright, briny, and crunchy salt that is a reflection of this bay. The flavor of this salt is superior in my pantry.
Jacobsen Pure Kosher Salt
The everyday one. This is the salt for cooking, the one I reach for while seasoning vegetables, sauces and nearly everything else. Jacobsen Pure Kosher Salt
Jacobsen Pure Italian Fine Sea Salt
Finer and more delicate, this is useful when I want salt to disappear quickly and distribute evenly rather than remain on the surface. Jacobsen Pure Italian Fine Sea Salt
Jacobsen Pure Flake Sea Salt
This one is about the finish. A few flakes over roasted vegetables, pasta, bread or something freshly baked give both flavor and a little texture. It is less about making something salty and more about that final touch. Jacobsen Pure Flake Sea Salt
Jacobsen Pure Kosher Sea Salt Jacobsen Pure Italian Sea Salt Jacobsen Pure Flake Sea Salt
A FEW MORE FLAVOR MAKERS
La Boîte Aleppo Chili
Warm, fruity and gently spicy, Aleppo chili is the kind of heat I enjoy most. It adds warmth without taking over the dish, which makes it especially useful with vegetables, pasta, tomato-based preparations and roasted foods. La Boîte Aleppo Chili
La Boîte Pierre Poivre
This is the ultimate peppercorn blend, one of those spice blends that can make a very simple dish feel considered. I like having a few ingredients in the pantry that do a lot of work without requiring a complicated recipe. La Boîte Pierre Poivre
La Boîte Cancale
Another La Boîte blend that has found a place in the Studio Pantry. I reach for these blends when I want another layer of flavor rather than simply more seasoning. Cancale combines delicate salt crystals and the classic pairing of fennel and orange. You sometimes just need a delicate sprinkle and it will transform a dish. La Boîte Cancale
La Boite Aleppo Chili La Boite Pierre Poivre La Boite Cancale
La Boîte Pomegranate Molasses
Sweet, tart and wonderfully concentrated, pomegranate molasses only takes a little. A drizzle can bring acidity and depth to roasted vegetables, caramelized cabbage, dressings and sauces. It is one of those ingredients that makes you stop and wonder exactly what you're tasting. La Boîte Pomegranate Molasses
La Boîte Smoked Cinnamon Maple Syrup
This falls somewhere between sweet and savory for me, which is precisely why it is interesting. The smoke and cinnamon make it useful beyond breakfast, particularly where a little sweetness can balance something salty, earthy or roasted. I often use this when I want to add a little sweetness without overwhelming a dish, and the smoked cinnamon adds a bit of mystery.
The Spice House Tuscan Harvest
A useful blend to have nearby when I want the flavors of herbs and aromatics without pulling out half a dozen jars. It fits naturally with the simple pastas, vegetables and roasted dishes that make up so much of the Studio Kitchen. The Spice House Tuscan Harvest
This item can also be found at Costco.
La Boite Pomegranate Molasses La Boite Smoked Maple Syrup The Spice House Tuscan Harvest
VINEGARS & ACIDITY
Arvum Reserve Sherry Vinegar
Sherry vinegar has become one of my favorite ways to wake up a dish. A small splash can bring balance to something rich or earthy, and I particularly like it in vinaigrettes, sauces and some of the preparations I make for the Studio Pantry. Arvum Reserve Sherry Vinegar
Healthy Harvest Balsamic Reduction
This is the easy finishing bottle, the one for a small drizzle when I want sweetness, acidity and concentration without making a reduction myself. Healthy Harvest Balsamic Reduction
Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar
My everyday balsamic. Useful for vinaigrettes, vegetables, marinades and all the places where I want balsamic's sweet acidity to become part of the dish. Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar
Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar — 13 Year Reserve
Like my good olive oil, this is one I save for when I actually want to taste the vinegar. A little goes a long way, and I prefer using it simply—as a finishing touch rather than something that disappears into a recipe. Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar — 13 Year Reserve
AND ONE VERY SPECIAL CHEESE
Cougar Gold Cheese
Living in this part of the country, Cougar Gold has become a wonderful ingredient to keep on hand. Rich, sharp and beautifully suited to cooking, it finds its way into pasta, polenta and other dishes where I might otherwise reach automatically for Parmesan or cheddar.
It is exactly the sort of ingredient I love in the Studio Kitchen: distinctive enough to make something interesting, but useful enough to become a workhorse. Not to mention, Cougar Gold is made on the campus of WSU my alma mater. Cougar Gold Cheese
Cougar Gold can often be found in the deli section of local markets throughout the Northwest, and occasionally at Costco. Availability and pricing vary by location.
Arvum Reserve Sherry Vinegar Healthy Harvest Balsamic Reduction Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar Bariani California Balsamic Vinegar Reserve Cougar Gold Cheese
Favorite Pantry Staples: The Foundations
These are the things that make the Studio Pantry practical.
I've made many of these things from scratch, and sometimes that's exactly what I want to do. But I've also learned that when someone else has already done the hard part beautifully, I don't necessarily need to do it again. A good instant polenta means I don't have to stand over the stove stirring for half an hour. A beautifully made pizza dough means I can concentrate on what goes on top of it rather than beginning several days ahead. And pasta? I admit I'm a little obsessed with having a wonderful selection of shapes to choose from.
These are shortcuts, perhaps, but not compromises. They're good ingredients that give me a starting point. Add a spoonful of mushroom conserve, a puck of basil concentrate, roasted tomato sauce, citrus conserva or one of the other things waiting in the freezer, and dinner begins to take shape.
Roland Instant Yellow Polenta
Traditional polenta can be a labor of love, requiring a good amount of time at the stove and plenty of stirring. Roland's instant polenta gives me the creamy foundation I want without the thirty-minute commitment.
I can make it soft and creamy for dinner, or pour the extra into a dish, chill it and turn it into polenta cakes the next day. It's one of those pantry staples that makes a simple meal feel much more substantial with very little effort. Roland Instant Yellow Polenta
Roland Yellow Polenta
Etto Pasta
I confess: I'm a little obsessed with good pasta, and with having a selection of shapes to choose from.
Etto makes its pasta simply, from organic durum semolina flour and pure water, using traditional Italian methods alongside modern equipment. The pasta is bronze-die extruded and slowly dried, a process that gives it wonderful flavor and, just as importantly for me, texture.
That texture is one of the reasons I keep coming back to it. Unlike a very smooth pasta, Etto has a slightly rough surface, with ridges, curls and crevices that catch the sauce and all the little ingredients I add to it. A spoonful of mushroom conserve, bits of caramelized vegetables, cheese or a little pasta water don't simply slide off, they become part of every bite. This pasta has incredible flavor, texture, and for me is the perfect pasta. I have a shelf in my pantry dedicated to this brand.
I've settled into a small collection of shapes that I genuinely enjoy using.
Creste di Gallo has a wonderful shape for catching sauces and vegetables.
Casarecce works beautifully with rustic sauces and preparations that settle into its twists.
Trombe is particularly good with substantial sauces, the kind with mushrooms, vegetables and texture.
Radiatori may be one of my favorites for dishes where I want every little ridge to catch whatever is in the pan.
Choosing the shape according to what I'm cooking has become part of the fun. Etto Pasta
Etto Pasta Creste di Gallo Etto Pasta Caserecce Etto Pasta Trombe Etto Pasta Radiatori
Poco Bero Pizza Dough
I've been down the road and rabbit hole of making my own pizza dough. A really good dough isn't difficult so much as it requires time, sometimes several days to develop the flavor and texture I'm looking for.
Poco Bero has already done that heavy lifting.
Made in New York with New York water and premium ingredients, it gives me the flavor and texture of a properly made dough without having to plan dinner days in advance. I can concentrate instead on the part I enjoy most: deciding what goes on top.
A little good olive oil, vegetables, cheese and something from the Studio Pantry, and I have another blank canvas for dinner. Poco Bero Pizza Dough
Poco Bero 12" Pizzas Poco Bero Pizza Dough Hand toss for a thinner pizza
CRACKERS
I keep several because, much like pasta shapes, they don't all serve quite the same purpose.
Flouwer Co Crackers
Beautiful when the cracker itself is part of what I'm serving, not merely a vehicle for something else. This colorful cracker is full of organically grown edible flowers as well as garden herbs like woody rosemary, fresh dill, and a burst of chive. This colorful and savory cracker is well deserving of space on any cheese and charcuterie board. Crisp, colorful & perfectly salted!
North Hill Bakery Crackers
A favorite! These are exactly the sort of crackers I want alongside cheese, a mostarda or one of the savory spreads from the Studio Pantry. North Hill Bakery Crackers
I order these crackers on repeat! They are all handcrafted and melt in your mouth.
Rustic Bakery Organic Sourdough Flatbread
Crisp, simple and versatile. I like having something relatively neutral on hand when the topping is meant to be the star. Rustic Bakery Organic Sourdough Flatbread
These crackers can also be found at many specialty grocery stores in the deli department.
Flouwer Co Crackers North Hill Bakery Crackers Rustic Bakery Organic Sourdough Flatbread
None of these things is essential. There are wonderful alternatives to every item on this list.
But that isn't really the point of my Studio Pantry.
Over time, I've learned that having a small collection of ingredients I genuinely love makes cooking simpler. I know how they taste. I know what they work with. And when I open the pantry or freezer at the end of the day, I can begin putting things together without necessarily having a recipe in mind.
A pasta shape. A jar or puck from the freezer. Good olive oil. A little vinegar. Perhaps some cheese.
Dinner begins there.
From Foundations to Compositions
The Pantry and Foundations were never meant to live separately. The pleasure is in bringing them together — a jar or puck from the freezer, a favorite pasta, a pot of polenta, or a pizza crust becoming the beginning of dinner.
The Foundations in my Studio Kitchen aren't simply ingredients I keep on hand. Each one found its way here for a reason — sometimes through nostalgia, sometimes through trial and error, and often because it solved a very practical problem in my own kitchen.
The Compositions tell those stories while showing how something from the Studio Pantry and a Foundation can become dinner:
A little note: I have no affiliation with any of the companies or products mentioned here, and none of the links are affiliate links. These are simply things I purchase, use and genuinely enjoy in my own kitchen.
New to the Studio Kitchen?
If this is your first visit, I invite you to begin with Welcome to the Studio Kitchen, where I share the philosophy behind these seasonal recipes, pantry staples, and stories from the garden.
It's the place where this collection begins.
This is where I'll preserve not only the harvest, but the recipes and stories that accompany it.
From the Studio
The Studio Kitchen grew from a simple idea, that creativity doesn't end at the studio door.
Sometimes it takes shape in handmade books, collage, and paper. Other times it begins in the garden, continues at the kitchen table, and ends with a recipe shared among family and friends.
Whether you've arrived here through my artwork, the Studio Kitchen, or simply a love of thoughtful making, I'm so glad you're here.
Thank you for spending a little time with me today.
From the garden • Through the studio • To the table
Melanie Grant — Northern Idaho
Melanie, this post, and all your posts, are worth gold! Your generous shares, elegant photos, informative links, and inspiring ideas are such a joy.
It’s early in the morning, and I’m already dying to get into my kitchen and start trying things out… but first, I need to make a few purchases. How in the world do you find such delicious mustard, the right sherry vinegar, and all those wonderful ingredients? Do you try many different ones before finally settling on the best?
That pizza dough looks especially intriguing, and I may have to try it, too.
Thank you so much for sharing this new Studio Kitchen with us!