Kitchen & Bar

On this phone

How to get around

The bar under the name is the map. Swipe it sideways if a destination sits off-screen. On Tonight, the button pinned to the bottom cooks the lead dish.

  1. Tonight — What you can cook first, plus drinks that fit the same shelf.

  2. This week — Five dinners from the shelf, urgent things cooked first.

  3. Shelf — Edit what you actually own.

  4. Written methods — Every dish and drink with a method somebody wrote out.

  5. The pantry — Start from one ingredient: what it does, and everything built on it.

  6. Out of it — What to use instead, judged by the job the missing thing was doing.

  7. Photo review — Review a demo shelf photo and confirm every item before adding it.

  8. Flavor Lab — Pairings with a track record: classic matches and the mixology behind them.

  9. Wild cards — Combinations with no tradition behind them, only shared aroma notes.

  10. Send to Occasion OS — Prepare confirmed shelf availability for Occasion OS.

  11. The field — The gap this layer owns.

Keep it on the home screen

  1. iPhone — tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Android — open the browser menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.

After that it opens as Kitchen & Bar, not a browser tab. Inventory stays on this device.

Substitutions · 49 dishes here use it

Out of dijon

Sharpness and, more usefully, emulsifying power — a spoonful is what holds oil and vinegar together in a dressing that would otherwise split. Cooked hard it loses the sharp part and keeps the body.

Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.

17 of the 49 dishes here that mention dijon list it as optional — 35% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.

What to reach for

Instead · 1

whole grain mustard

one for one

What it gets you
The same acid, the same heat and the same emulsifying power, which is the job in a vinaigrette.
What it costs you
Smoothness. The seeds stay visible and a sauce made with it will never look glossy.

Instead · 2

yellow mustard

one for one, then taste

What it gets you
Acid, salt and enough mustard flavor to hold a dressing together.
What it costs you
The depth. Yellow mustard is milder, sweeter and more vinegary, and it brings turmeric color with it.

Instead · 3

mustard powder mixed with a little water

a teaspoon of powder in two of water per tablespoon of dijon

What it gets you
The heat, at full strength, once it has sat five minutes to develop.
What it costs you
The vinegar and the salt, both of which the recipe was probably counting on.

Where you can just leave it out · 17

These dishes list dijon as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.

Where the swap will be tasted · 16

These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer, which makes dijon a quarter of what is in the pan. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.

Check what else is in the pan

The company dijon keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.

What to make with dijonRank what I can actually cookAll substitutions