🛒 Shopping List — Block 5–6: The 5 Mother Sauces

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How to use this list: Blocks 5–6 are butter, flour, and eggs weeks. Buy your dairy in full at the start — you'll go through more butter and milk than you expect. The eggs benedict (Session 21) requires prep the day before.

🥩 Proteins

Block 5:

[ ] Ground beef — 1 lb (Bolognese)
[ ] Ground pork — ½ lb (Bolognese — adds richness; can sub with all beef)
[ ] Pancetta or guanciale — 4 oz (Bolognese)
[ ] Bone-in chicken thighs — 4 pieces (chicken pot pie filling)
[ ] Ribeye or NY strip steaks — 2 (Session 20 red wine pan sauce)
[ ] Large shrimp (shell-on) — 1 lb (Service 5 fra diavolo — keep shells for the sauce)

Block 6:

[ ] Canadian bacon (back bacon) — 8 slices (Session 21 Eggs Benedict)
[ ] Lobster (pre-cooked) or large shrimp — 1 lb meat (Session 22 seafood roll)
[ ] Salmon fillets — 2 pieces (Session 23 Niçoise)
[ ] Bone-in pork chops (thick-cut, 1.5") — 2 (Session 24)
[ ] Thick-cut bacon or lardons — 6 oz (Service 6 Lyonnaise salad)
[ ] Ribeye or NY strip steaks — 2 (Service 6 steak béarnaise)

🥦 Produce

Block 5:

[ ] Carrots — 3 (Bolognese mirepoix + pot pie)
[ ] Celery — 1 bunch (Bolognese + pot pie)
[ ] Onions (yellow) — 5 large (Bolognese mirepoix 2 + pot pie 1 + general use 2)
[ ] Broccolini — 3 bunches (Session 20 + Service 5 gratin)
[ ] Garlic — 2 heads
[ ] Roma tomatoes — 4 (Greek salad)
[ ] English cucumbers — 2 (Greek salad)
[ ] Red onion — 2 (Greek salad + Bolognese)
[ ] Fresh flat-leaf parsley — 1 bunch
[ ] Mixed greens — 2 bags (salads)
[ ] Romaine lettuce — 2 hearts (Caesar salad)

Block 6:

[ ] Watercress — 2 bunches (Session 21)
[ ] Radishes — 1 bunch (Session 21 watercress and radish salad)
[ ] Butter lettuce — 1 head (Session 18 salad)
[ ] Green cabbage — ½ head (coleslaw)
[ ] Carrots — 2 (coleslaw)
[ ] Baby potatoes or fingerlings — 1 lb (Niçoise)
[ ] Green beans — ½ lb (Niçoise)
[ ] Cherry tomatoes — 1 pint (Niçoise)
[ ] Sweet potatoes — 2 large (Session 24)
[ ] Cauliflower — 1 large head (Service 6 gratin)
[ ] Frisée or endive — 2 heads (Service 6 Lyonnaise salad)
[ ] Apples — 2 (apple-cider pan sauce for pork chops)
[ ] Lemons — 4
[ ] Fresh tarragon — 1 bunch (béarnaise + hollandaise)

🧀 Dairy & Eggs

[ ] Eggs — 2 dozen minimum (hollandaise uses 4 yolks; Niçoise needs hard-boiled; omelette practice; crème brûlée next block. Buy extra.)
[ ] Unsalted butter — 4 sticks (beurre blanc, hollandaise, roux for béchamel/velouté, mashed sauces)
[ ] Whole milk — ½ gallon (béchamel, pot pie sauce, broccolini gratin)
[ ] Heavy cream — 1 pint (pot pie, pork chop sauce)
[ ] Sharp cheddar — 8 oz, block (mac & cheese)
[ ] Gruyère — 12 oz (broccolini gratin + cauliflower gratin)
[ ] Parmesan (block) — 8 oz (Caesar + Bolognese)
[ ] Feta cheese — 6 oz (Greek salad)
[ ] Kalamata olives — 1 jar (Greek salad + Niçoise)

🌾 Pantry & Dry Goods

[ ] All-purpose flour — 2 cups (roux for 3 mother sauces this week)
[ ] Elbow macaroni — 1 lb (baked mac)
[ ] Dried pasta (rigatoni or tagliatelle) — 1 lb (Bolognese)
[ ] Spaghetti — 1 lb (Service 5 fra diavolo)
[ ] Dry breadcrumbs — 1 cup (mac & cheese topping)
[ ] Puff pastry or pie dough — 2 sheets (pot pie)
[ ] Peas (frozen) — 1 cup (pot pie)
[ ] Canned whole peeled tomatoes — 4 cans (Bolognese + shakshuka + fra diavolo)
[ ] Tomato paste — 1 small can
[ ] Chicken stock — 64 oz (pot pie velouté + ramen)
[ ] Beef stock — 32 oz (pan sauces)
[ ] Red wine (full bottle, drinking quality) — 1 (Bolognese + pan sauce)
[ ] White wine (dry) — 1 bottle (hollandaise, pan sauce)
[ ] Apple cider or apple cider vinegar — 1 bottle (Session 24 pork chops)
[ ] Dijon mustard — 1 jar
[ ] Capers — 1 jar (Niçoise salad)
[ ] Tinned anchovies — 1 can (Caesar salad)
[ ] White wine vinegar — 1 bottle (hollandaise poaching liquid)
[ ] Cinnamon stick, bay leaves (Bolognese)
[ ] Bottled clam juice — 1 small bottle (fra diavolo)
[ ] Red chile flakes (fra diavolo)
[ ] Brandy — small bottle, optional (fra diavolo)

🥖 Bread

[ ] Hot dog buns (top-split preferred) — 4 (lobster/shrimp rolls, Session 22)
[ ] English muffins — 4 (Session 21 Eggs Benedict)
[ ] Crusty baguette (Session 19, for serving with Bolognese)

📝 Notes

Broccolini gratin (Service 5): Make the béchamel first, toss with blanched broccolini, and get it into the oven (400°F, ~20 min) while you build the fra diavolo sauce and cook the pasta.

Lobster rolls (Session 22): Pre-cooked whole lobster from a fishmonger is easiest. Or buy frozen lobster tails and steam them. Large shrimp are a fine substitute if lobster is cost-prohibitive.

Cauliflower gratin (Service 6): Make the béchamel/Mornay first, toss with cauliflower, and get it into the oven (400°F, 30–35 min) before starting anything else. It can hold under foil while you sear the steaks and make the béarnaise.