What canned items do you keep in your pantry?

Carrie's thread got me wondering about this. Most of us probably don't have a lot of canned items around (well, not canned items other people canned!).

At present I have: mandarin oranges; lychees; tomato paste; garbanzo beans; black beans; kidney beans; crushed pineapple; pinto beans; baking powder.

How about you?

Garbanzos, vegetable broth, lotus seeds, San Marzano tomatoes (won't use those for a few moths!), inari, coconut milk, chipotles in adobo, El Pato salsa jalapeño.

Carrie's thread got me wondering about this. Most of us probably don't have a lot of canned items around (well, not canned items other people canned!).

At present I have: mandarin oranges; lychees; tomato paste; garbanzo beans; black beans; kidney beans; crushed pineapple; pinto beans; baking powder.

How about you?

Canned items include: black beans, navy beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, tomato soup, garbanzo beans, shoepeg corn, chicken and beef broth, green chiles, tomato paste, tuna, chicken, sweetened condensed milk, sliced pineapple and a few other "unmentionables".

[Robin Garr]

A lot of the stuff that Stuart said. I like quality canned tomatoes better than long-distance winter tomatoes, and actually find after taste testing that Red Gold (a good regional supermarket brand) gives me better natural tomato flavor than San Marzanos. Also Red Gold vegetable juice, a better quality alternative to V8. Coconut milk, chipotles en adobo, Sichuan hot brown bean sauce, garbanzos ... hey! Didn't Stuart say that already? Plus anchovies, Italian tuna and Italian clams, which Stuart probably did not say.

Also lots and lots and lots of cat food, but it has pop-off tops.

There are six cans in our pantry; one each of:

Tuna
Bamboo Shoots
Fat Free: Cream of Celery Soup
Fat Free: Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
Fat Free: Evaporated Milk
Sugar Free: Pear Halves

The last four are hers!

Great minds think alike....

Tuna
Anchovies
Black beans
Kidney beans
Cannellini beans
Evaporated milk
Sweetened condensed milk
Tomato paste
Whole tomatoes
Diced tomatoes
Green chiles
Chipotles in adobo

Linda, you have me so curious! What "unmentionable" could possibly be stored in a can?

Actually, I just thought of two... Spam and Vienna Sausages

Actually, I just thought of two... Spam and Vienna Sausages

You're half right - a can of vienna sausage. At the risk of being banned from the forum I also have canned spaghetti sauce (I do doctor it up a bit and add ground beef), and green beans, canned peaches, sardines and pork & beans that I use to make quick baked beans.

Robin, which San Marzanos did you try? There's a big difference between brands and the ones I see most often (they're in a white can) are tasteless New Jersey specials. If you tried something like La Valle and ended up with a local brand, I need to arrange to get some cans of that local brand!

1)Chopped tomatoes
2) Baked Beans
3) Red Kidney Beans
4) Chick Peas
5) Marrowfat peas
6) Anchovies

1 - for cooking with, ratatouille, pizza sauce, chilli etc
2 - side dish (v. popular in UK, similar to USA vegetarian baked beans "1.5 million cansare eaten every day" )
3 & 4 - for making chilli-sans-carne
5 - side dish with fish
6 - pizza topping

coconut milk
smoked eel
tuna
Illy coffee
when my fresh or frozen tomatoes are no longer available, Muir's crushed, and diced.

(it's so easy to make both vegetable and meat stock and then freeze it, that I no longer have any of that stuff in the pantry, but I used to have it)

[Robin Garr]

Robin, which San Marzanos did you try? There's a big difference between brands and the ones I see most often (they're in a white can) are tasteless New Jersey specials. If you tried something like La Valle and ended up with a local brand, I need to arrange to get some cans of that local brand!

Never New Jersey, that's for sure! I generally used Italian brands, based on the magical thinking that real Italian tomatoes would impart a real Italian flavor. They were generally good, too. But Red Gold is <i>very</i> good. It's not exactly a local brand, more like regional - they're based in the Tomato Belt in Northern Indiana and Northern Ohio, where I understand most of America's canned tomatoes and tomato projects are grown.

To the best of my knowledge it's a large, successful family firm that has managed to avoid having to sell out to the majors. They don't have national distribution but are a standard supermarket brand in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and probably surrounding states.

<b>Red Gold Website</b>

[Jenise]

Okay, just took an inventory:

Trader Joe's canned tuna in olive oil (the best!)
water chestnuts
bamboo shoots (well, they're actually in jars)
black olives
jalapenos en escabeche
tomatillos
Muir Glen tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste
Black, kidney, cannelini and garbanzo beans
anchovies
coconut milk
straw mushrooms
chicken broth
-and-
crowder peas which I have no idea what they are, I just saw them and bought them, they appear to be a garbanzo like thing and they're from Arkansas--can someone shed some light?

So Jenise, I notice the Muir tomatoes on your list.

I am impressed by the quality of their crushed and diced tomatoes. I've never tried their sauce--always like to make my own--how is it, compared to homemade sauce?

[Jenise]

Thomas, I quite like it, and find it rather indispensable when homemade isn't possible. Probably my #1 use for it is to mix a small can with vinegar, cayenne, worcestershire and a little brown sugar to make a quick and spicy barbecue glaze.

Jenise, crowder peas are some of the "southern" peas (related to b;ack-eyed and field peas), that no self-respecting Deep South gardener would be without. Pick the young pods before they fill out and they make a decent substitute for green beans.

The matured ones, when shelled out and cooked up with some fatback or ham hocks make scrumptious eatin' with some hot, crusty skillet cornbread. Sorta like cooking pinto beans.

Growing up, I spent many a hot summer day first picking, then sitting in the shade of an oak shelling out the peas, along with my younger sisters and mom & assorted other relatives.

Here's my current list from my shopping list -- almost all are in stock on our shelves:

Alaskan salmon -- Vital Choice
Anchovies
Artichokes
Beets
Black olives
Biscuits -- camping food, but if they are good enough for Jenise ...
Cannellini beans
Cherries -- King Orchard
Crab meat
Chick peas
Chicken stock -- College Inn -- low fat/salt
Cranberries -- two versions
Condensed/evaporated milk
Cookies -- several different types, all imported
Crackers -- ditto cookies
Hearts of palm
Herring
Kidney beans - white and red
Lichee nuts
Navy beans
Olive oil
Pinto beans
Peaches -- work great in a Pepin recipe we like
Pineapple -- muffins particular favorite
Pumpkin
Sweet potatoes -- NOT in syrup
Tomato paste -- prefer tubes if possible
Tuna -- Vital Choice
Glen Muir tomatoes, paste, whole and diced
Sauerkraut
Water chestnuts -- whole only -- slice them myself
V-8 Juice

And for Clive as a special treat -- dog food.

Regards, Bob

I like quality canned tomatoes better than long-distance winter tomatoes, and actually find after taste testing that Red Gold (a good regional supermarket brand) gives me better natural tomato flavor than San Marzanos.

Try Muir Glen tomatoes; they're great.

I'm a squirrel. I have such a plethora of canned everything (foreign and domestic) that I could open a grocery store. So, unfortunately, I don't have time tonight to list everything.

Crowder peas are a little like black-eyed peas, but maybe sweeter. I like them, but for some reason, I haven't had them in years, so now I hafta.

[Robin Garr]

Try Muir Glen tomatoes; they're great.

Muir Glen tomatoes are good, and they're widely available here. They're more expensive than Red Gold, though, and in side-by-side tasting I find better tomato flavor with Red Gold, so it's an easy choice for me.

That is your story, and you are sticking to it.

Chopped, steamed okra
Gabuzell
Head cheese
Natural sausage casings
Tapioca
Tripe

Garbanzos
Muir Glen Crushed Tomatoes

rwj

Black, cannelini, and garbanzo beans
Tomato soup (kids')
Beef barley soup (wife's)
Muir Glen tomatoes, diced and whole
DeNapoli tomatoes, whole
Stanislaus Products tomato sauce with porcinis (excellent base for pasta or pizza sauce)
Custard powder
Powdered buttermilk
Tuna (3 kinds)
Chicken broth
Hatch chiles
Tikka masala (where the hell did that come from?)
Sweetened condensed milk
Evaporated milk
Lyle's Golden Treacle
Salmon (a gift from a friend)
Yes, about ten cans of baked beans (wife and kid)
and probably some other stuff buried under this stuff.