Ingredient substitutes you might just have on hand

DEAR ACCIDENTAL CHEF: It always seems like when I start cooking a recipe, I'm missing something, and I have to head out to the store to buy more ingredients. Can some ingredients be substituted, like the basic stuff, so I don't have to keep going to the store? - Ready for a Swap

DEAR READY: Boy, have I been there on this one. On more than one occasion, I have found myself cozied up in the kitchen wearing a nice, warm pair of sweatpants ready to cook away the evening, and, aghast, I have no lemon juice for my marinade. So, off go the sweats and on go the jeans along with a heavy winter coat, and off into the chilly night to hunt down one stupid lemon.

But, lemon juice and many other ingredients have easy substitutes, many of which we often have on hand. For example, for one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, you can substitute a half a teaspoon of white vinegar in most recipes. While the end results may not taste exactly like fresh lemons (I'm not talking miracles here) you will have added enough acid to better balance your dish since lemon juice and vinegar both contribute acidic flavors when cooking.

There are a plethora of substitutions out there to play around with when you're in the throes of culinary creativity and just don't feel like trekking to the store.

Here are a few good ones.

If your recipe calls for buttermilk and all you've got is regular milk, you can add a tablespoon of vinegar to the regular milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes. What results is pretty darn close to buttermilk (the milk thickens and sours). I've experimented with this concoction when making buttermilk biscuits, and I honestly could not taste the difference.

Need a cup of brown sugar? Try mixing one cup granulated sugar with one tablespoon molasses for similar results. Another method consists of adding ¼ cup molasses to one cup of regular sugar, but then you'll need to decrease the overall amount of liquid in your recipe by a quarter cup in order to balance its consistency.

Amaretto liqueur is a good substitute for almond extract.

Replacing corn syrup with honey works, especially when it comes to maintaining consistency, and if you're out of honey, try dissolving 1¼ cup white sugar with 1/3 cup water to achieve similar results for a recipe that calls for one cup of honey.

No chives? Use green onion tops instead. No shallots? Substitute equal part finely minced red onion.

Need ketchup? Try making your own. If your recipe requires ½ cup ketchup, try mixing ½ cup tomato sauce with two tablespoons sugar and one tablespoon vinegar. Viola! You've just made ketchup.

Don't want to spend money on expensive crème fraIche for your next smoked salmon appetizer? Mix together equal parts heavy whipping cream with sour cream for a similar taste.

And, don't forget your cache of dried herbs if you're out of fresh. A general rule of thumb for substituting dry for fresh is for every tablespoon of chopped fresh, use half a teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of dried. Just remember, dried is much more pungent than fresh, so be sure to check your flavors as you go before adding more dried anything.

In a nutshell, when you're out of an ingredient or two, it pays to be creative. It's also wise to keep a list of easy substitutes on hand. This way, you can spend more time in the kitchen wearing your comfy clothes and less time (and money) trekking to the store.

For a more detailed listing of ingredient substitutions check out:

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Commonsubstitutions/Detail.aspx

Kendra Bailey Morris is a Richmond-based food writer, culinary instructor and author of "White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for Down-Home Entertaining" (Ten Speed Press). Send ideas, tips or culinary questions to info@theaccidentalchef.net or visit www.theaccidentalchef.net.