Quick Pantry Meals

Written by Duncan Holmes | 12 January 2009

Along with the sound, the fury and the totally over-the-top translations that accompany the action, the best thing about the Iron Chef is that we get to marvel at just how many good things can be quickly created from the mystery item that squirms beneath über-Iron Chef Takeshi Kaga’s all-encompassing cloth. Voilà! It’s an octopus! A ten-kilo live eel! A seething peck of potatoes!

Making meals from what’s available is not exclusively reserved for the kitchen heavies of Japan and all of the television hours that the show has spawned on this side of the Pacific. For years, mystery “blackboxes” filled with a mini-pantry of mixed goodies have challenged chefs to take what’s in the box, to beat the clock in competition with their peers and to use what they were given to create a masterpiece.

For us at home, “mystery” boxes come in all kinds of shapes and sizes: the pantry that’s filled with exotic but unopened stocking stuffers; jars with labels and contents we don’t completely understand; tins that await the ever-possible earthquake. Then there’s the freezer and the back of the fridge: what could these frost-covered morsels be? The drawer at the bottom of the fridge, loaded with weary but still-edible vegetables. The spices you bought in the Marrakesh market that you wanted to try but never did.

Dinner in a hurry doesn’t always need to be scrambled eggs. Aided by a couple of things that you may have to pick up at the supermarket, the deli or the wine shop, you too can be an Iron Chef, a taste-master who accepts and wins the mystery-box challenge. Much of what you need is right there in your kitchen. 

Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Olive Oil and Pecorino

Hot Artichoke Dip

Caramelized Onion Tart with Grilled Pear & Wild-Mushroom Vinaigrette

Linguine with Baby Spinach, Olive Oil, Feta and Chili Peppers

Classic Crab Cakes