Staples

[sibyllevance]

I'm very much a beginner in all things kitchen so I tend to stick to recipes for the most part but obviously I can't work on recipes every day. I've just realized today while cooking 'by myself' (i.e. without a recipe) that I had some habits I frankly never realized I even had.
I almost always start by melting onions in a good chunk of salted butter, especially when I have no idea what I'm going to do. It seems like the right thing to do somehow (one of my housemates melts his onion exclusively in oil but I think I won him over just with the smell of mine).

So, what are your staples? Can be an ingredient or a 'foundation' for a recipe (frying onions for me)

Comments

[holyschist]

Depending on the approximate culture of origin of the recipe, most of what I cook starts with:

Frying onions, garlic, and ginger (in that order) in peanut oil.

Carmelizing onions in ghee, with some salt to release the liquid faster.

Sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil.

Assorted key ingredients: Onions, garlic, ginger, olive oil, fish sauce, coconut milk, plain yogurt, soy sauce, lemons, limes, peanut oil, the arsenal of 60+ herbs and spices, pasta, rice (jasmine and Indian basmati, mostly), chicken broth.

I keep lamb stew meat, ground hamburger, salmon filets, and Italian sausage in the freezer most of the time.

Everything else varies wildly.