Smithy

I wish I'd remembered (or looked for) this topic last October, when I received a 5-gallon bucket of russet potatoes! My DIL and her family had been out to a potato patch after the harvester had gone through, and they quickly scooped up buckets and bags of the things. I've been working away at my stash since then and marveling at the sturdiness of the potatoes. I didn't think to try burying them in sand, though. They're just in the same bucket they came in. Since I'm in northern Minnesota, they're quite frozen now. There may be some degradation in quality, but as long as I wash and process them from frozen they're holding up pretty well.

They're sitting in a 5-gallon bucket in an unheated garage. Here, at this time of year, it means they're all frozen. I mean, really frozen. When I bring some in to wash them I get a glaze of ice on the exterior when the water hits them! There's some degradation in texture -- that is, as I scrub them some of the peel comes loose as that layer thaws -- and there may be some loss of flavor by now, but it's an interesting experiment. They're certainly edible. Incidentally, these are russets. I've no idea whether more waxy potatoes would behave the same way. Edited to add: I've just rediscovered a topic on potato storage, here. I wish I'd thought of it last October!

I'm still trying to work through the bucket of potatoes given me last October. Sometime last week I boiled a bunch and mashed them, peels and all. I had the idea of making potato madeleines (see this old topic) but decided I didn't have the energy for such fussiness. Besides, they probably aren't smooth enough with all that peel. So...potato ball fritters! I rolled them in a mixture of bread crumbs, corn meal, garlic salt and oregano, then deep fried in my Fry Baby. I know I've shown this before but I'm showing it again. The "dipping sauce" that's working out best is mayonnaise and Boursin with garlic and cheese. The pictures aren't pretty, but the flavor is good. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and not nearly as watery as the original mash.

This is a paraphrase of Mario Batali's Molto Italiano (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). The recipe name is Red Cabbage Braised in Vinegar (p.424) and I have a note on it that it's "Excellent!" although I confess I'd forgotten all about it. Cut a medium head of red cabbage into 1/2" strips. Thinly slice a medium red onion. Saute the onion and 2T caraway seeds in hot olive oil until the onion is soft. Add the cabbage, 2T sugar, and 1/2c red vinegar; stir; cover, and cook until the cabbage is tender. He says that's about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. He says it can be eaten warm or cool. I have no idea how well it would take to being frozen.

That does look good. I wonder how it would fare if frozen and then thawed and reheated sometime during the recovery from surgery? Edited to add: @blue_dolphin, you and I posted at the same time, so I'll ask you why you think it would be amenable. (I may try it myself!)

Welp. It's another bust, as far as I'm concerned. I bought this with a mixture of misgivings and hope. On the plus side: citrus! garlic! chicken! easy cooking and disposal! On the misgivings side: black beans and plantain...not that I actively dislike either, but they aren't on my list of favorite flavors. I'm sorry to report that the entire dish was on the gummy side. Did I simply overcook it, so the rice was overdone? I don't know. But I didn't especially like the plantains, and black beans are my least favorite of the legumes, and there was the gumminess of the overall dish. Any pleasure I might have gotten from the chicken and garlic was lost. Oh, and I neglected to gussy it up with cilantro as shown in the box photo, even though I just came from the grocery store and have some fresh. I ended up salting it, to drown out the sweetness of the plantains. I'm sure the sweetness would appeal to a lot of people, but it doesn't to me. On the bright side: here's another dish I tried once, for not much money, and won't need to try again. And hey, cleanup is easy!

I suspect you're very good at making sauces! Matching a sauce to the dish in question may be an issue, and I'm not sure I can help much with that. I need to explain that I'm on a crunchy cabbage slaw kick right now, thanks to @blue_dolphin and to my best friend, so cooked cabbage isn't really at the top of my mind. I think I could cheerfully live on a nice, crunchy slaw (cabbage, celery, carrots, radishes, peanuts or walnuts thrown in) with a good dressing for many days. That said, and given that you're looking at cooked dishes to freeze, thaw and reheat, I'd give some thought to flavor compatibilities and personal tastes. Would you like beef and cabbage together? I don't find the idea especially appealing, but if you do then the demi-glace might be an idea. Is the cabbage supposed to be the star, or a supporting actor? If the star, then I think the first two sauce ideas sound like good ways to gussy it up. I do think the potatoes and Gruyere sound more like a way to hide the cabbage than to celebrate it. There are recipes also for braised cabbage, with or without chicken. If that appeals, I'll post the one I have. It takes the dish into the acidic region thanks to vinegar.

The (black) bear I've had has been very mild, almost sweet.

@TdeV, I have to admit I've been focusing on the hot meals, which in my book means mostly dinner (maybe lunch). But what are you planning to do about breakfast, if you're a 3 meals-a-day person? Yogurt? Cereal? Toast? Or do you need to be considering things like egg bites and muffins? I know both freeze well. Waffles?

Tomato - based (like spaghetti sauce, with or without meat and veg) Herb based - basil pesto, for instance Cheese sauce (might need to investigate how to do this without sauce breaking on reheat) Butter and garlic Soy sauce based...out of my wheelhouse but someone here can help Hollandaise (don't know if it would break) There's a peanut sauce, like you'd find in mafe, that I think would freeze well. Lemon and butter I'm freewheeling here, but I can imagine all those things over rice or noodles, with or without meat and veg, that would take the dish in very different but delicious directions.

Another topic you may find useful is here:

That. Topic. Is. Brilliant! I'd forgotten all about it! Thanks for bringing it up!

i finally tried some of these last night. The texture was a bit firmer than I'd expected: more solid than a good meringue cookie, but certainly softer than a "firm" cookie like an Oreo. The flavor is good, at least for the vanilla and chocolate. I'm no more fond of the strawberry flavor than I am of frozen strawberry ice cream! But that's just me. 😀

I confess, I didn't read far enough to see that she's putting together "meal kits" rather than reheatable dinners. Thanks for pointing that out. I think her Cheat Sheet gives the kind of information @TdeV is looking for to predict behavior of specific ingredients when frozen.

I just took a quick glance at the Freezer Meals 101 site linked above. It may be exactly what you need!