Ready to Eat Wishlist

[Pam R]

If you could have a favourite local shop that prepared foods that you could stock in your freezer, what would you like them to carry? Or better yet, do you already have one and what are your favourite items?

Right now I can't keep the freezers full in my store and I'd like to offer my customers some more variety. Whatever we put in them gets snatched up. We have a freezer full of soups, make our own tv dinners, chicken fingers, lasagnas, and traditional Jewish items (knishes, kreplach, kugels, etc.).

What would be your ideal frozen food items -- knowing that the items are fresh and made with great ingredients. I can only do kosher items, but I think it would be great to hear about anything you'd like to be able to pick up.

[Chris Hennes]

I make and freeze large quantities of chicken croquettes—sort of old-fashioned, but if you make them small (golf ball-sized) they reheat to a nice crisp exterior in about 20 minutes in the oven. I think if you bind them with a veloute made using schmaltz instead of butter, which I generally do, they would be Kosher (but I'm no rabbi, so YMMV). Package them up with some mashed potatoes and gravy and put the canned corn display next to the freezer case and you've got the whole meal covered.

[Chris Amirault]

Meatballs and sauce (in separate packages). Braised proteins with sauce or gravy (again, in separate packages). Cabbage stuffed with (uncooked) rice and (cooked) meat.

[Lilija]

It's funny, I was just thinking about this the other day, when I was sick and crampy, and needed to make fresh egg noodles, for something. I see fresh pasta all over the place. I would KILL for a pound of fresh, homemade egg noodles, or at least a rich eggy noodle dough, to take home. I know it's easy, but sometimes I don't want to flour my whole kitchen, y'know?

Doughs are good, bread dough, pizza dough, fresh pastas, etc, but no one has the market cornered on egg nooodles!

[Pierogi]

The meatballs & sauce idea is great, as is your lasagna. I'd suggest......

A *GOOD* meatloaf, ready to plop into the oven

An enchilada casserole (or just plain enchiladas) also ready to go (maybe you'd need the sauce separate from the filled tortillas so they don't get soggy)

Biscuits/scones frozen individually so they could be baked off as needed

Soups or chili ready to go into the pot to thaw & rewarm......

I'd buy all of 'em.

[Margo]

Chicken pot pies.

[Peter the eater]

I'd buy homemade meat pies -- chicken, pork, sheppard's, steak & kidney, etc. I make them in ramekins and freeze for lunches at work.

Pierogi are pretty popular out your way, and they freeze well.

[prasantrin]

If you already do pierogi, add gyoza/potstickers to the mix. You can vary the fillings--use ground lamb or chicken instead of pork, and you can also do mushrooms for vegetarians.

Like PtE and Margo, I'd make more meat pies. When I was in junior high and high school, my after-school snacks were usually Schneider's meat pies or Schneider's sausage rolls (I'd add those to your list, too, but again, sub ground chicken or lamb for the pork).

Lamb is kosher, isn't it?

For higher-end stuff, could you do osso bucco and freeze it? I'd buy frozen osso bucco if you had it in single servings. Or any kind of braised thing like stews, because though I don't mind spending the time to make them, I can never eat the whole pot.

I'd also stick a few more items from other cuisines in there, like frozen Japanese items (you can buy frozen donburi in Japan, so maybe you could experiment with something with rice and a meat topping, like gyudon), Greek (spanakopita), etc. It's nice to have variety.

[rooftop1000]

I was going to say hors'd oeuvres...well I just did...because they sold very well at the last caterer/store that I worked at, and all we did was re-package some really good stuff. Spinach/cheese packets, mini chicken wellingtons etc..

Then my mind wondered thinking about the Kosher part which of course makes one think of Sausage

but how about some chicken sausage patties, like b'fast sausage and some apps like sausage in puff or other pastry

So I really was still thinking hors'd oeuvres

I'll shut up now

tracey

[Sony]

Hi Pam!

To the list, I'd add/reinforce:

Pizza dough

Stuffed shells

Gougeres

Muffins (for easy breakfasts/snacks)

Pesto frozen into tablespoon portions

Onion confit frozen in small portions

High-quality pie crusts, fluted and pretty and ready to go

Individual or family-size shepard's pies, chicken & dumplings and quiches

A line of great "simmer sauces". Could be sold individually or as sets- like rojo/verde/mole sauces, vindaloo/jalfrezi/korma, etc.

French onion soup

Gumbo

Homemade broths/stocks

Homemade ice creams or sorbets

Good luck!

ETA some more ideas.

Edited January 25, 2009 by Sony (log)

[jgm]

Ditto all of the above.

Small cakes/desserts, in single portions, which can thaw while dinner is being served.

How about some interesting side dishes? The idea being I can broil/grill meat, do my own potatoes (which are difficult to freeze), and then have a couple of nice side dishes to add.