Substitution!

If you're anything like me, you've read recipes before that you would love to try, but there's that ONE item you just don't know where to get, or dislike using for whatever reason, and so you toss the recipe aside, gloomy and disappointed with the world.

The St. Petersburg Times (my old town newspaper) put out a list of various substitutions in their food section a while back, and my grandmother, Memo, graciously sent her fledgling chef the clippings. I'm going to share them with you, because i thought it was just awesome!

Photo courtesy of: ralphbijker

Shallots -> Replace with Sweet Vidalia Onion, or if it is in a cooked dish any onion will do with little flavor difference.

Sliced Portobellos -> Button mushrooms are a good replacement for both sliced portobellos and Cremini mushrooms

Grand Marnier -> substitute with frozen orange juice, The concentrate sort, or simmer regular orange juice reducing it by half.

Heirloom Tomatoes -> can be substituted with and ripe tasty tomato

Panko -> can be replace with an dried bread crumbs, though they'll be heavier than the Japanese Panko

Arborios Rice -> Substitute with any short grain white rice

Serrano chili -> Green Jalapenos

Fresh Basil thyme and oregano-> replace with dried herbs but cut the reduce the amount by 1/3

Mace, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice -> interchangeable with one another, any mixture of two out of the five will work well

Creme Fraiche -> though not as thick, Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt are capable substitutes

Mascarpone -> mix 8 oz of cream cheese with 3 tbl sour cream

Bittersweet Chocolate -> substitute with semi sweet chocolate, most people won't notice the difference in a recipe.

Red or Yellow bell peppers -> easily interchangeable with green bell peppers, of the recipe calls for roasted red bell peppers, cheat and buy them in a jar ;)

Prosciutto -> In cooked dishes you can substitute with Bacon, in uncooked dishes use thinly slice ham

Leeks -> Substitute with Scallions or a combination of scallions and any thinly sliced onions.

Fontina cheese -> Swiss cheese shares the tasteful tang, and is just as easily grated.

Yukon potatoes -> Yellow, white, and russet potatoes are good stand ins

Marsala wine -> Pinot Noir, port wine, or any sweet red wine will work just as well

Cocktail Sauce -> Ketchup and horseradish with a generous squeeze of lemon juice will do in a pinch

Asagio Cheese -> though they taste slightly different Parmesan or Romano cheeses are good substitutes that work well with many of the same dishes as Asagio

Fresh Ginger -> for every 1 tbl of fresh ginger you need you can use 1/8 tsp of ground ginger

Vanilla Bean -> Use 2 tsp of vanilla extract for every 1 vanilla bean your recipe calls for

Cured Chorizo -> replace with Spiced salami, if using the meat raw, choose Andouille or spicy Italian sausage

Balsamic Vinegar -> Red wine Vinegar

Red Pepper Flakes -> a few dashes of hot sauce (when cooking of course) and you'll never know the difference... heat wise.


Some of these seem pretty much no brainers, but every now and then, when you're in the heat of the moment... You just need that little kick.