Challenge: Cook your way through your freezer (part 1)

[kayb]

23 hours ago, MelissaH said:

I'm thinking tonight might be, from our freezer, meatballs in BBQ sauce. But I'm drawing a blank on what to serve them with. Any suggestions on how to use them? Bonus points if they'd meet challenge criteria.

 

Got a baguette squirreled away? Meatball sandwiches! Since they're in barbecue sauce, add some tangy vinegar-based slaw instead of the traditional cheese.

 

[Beebs]

Continuing on with the Great Dumpling Dump....  Perogies with Pork sausages last night.  

 

Full confession - this was a bit of a backslide.  There were only a few perogies left, not enough for dinner for two.  Since DH really wanted perogies, we ended up buying a second pack (and the sausages) to make up for it.  Unfortunately, in some weird paradox, I now have more perogies in the freezer than I started with, about two-thirds package. 

 

On the other hand, I did toss out a pile of beef bones that have been taking up the bottom freezer drawer since the dawn of time....

[MelissaH]

4 hours ago, kayb said:

 

Got a baguette squirreled away? Meatball sandwiches! Since they're in barbecue sauce, add some tangy vinegar-based slaw instead of the traditional cheese.

 

No baguette, or any other kind of bread.

 

I wound up serving the meatballs with green chile cheese cornbread that I also found in the freezer, and my husband used up the last little bit of cabbage from the fridge (along with a carrot and a red pepper) to make a coleslaw.

 

Too bad nothing in BBQ meatballs starts with C!

[Anna N]

 

This will in no way atone for my freezer sins committed today. Chicken vegetable soup from the freezer enjoyed after an unexpected but welcome road trip.   I will make a full confession later.  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I took a ground beef chuck patty and a bag of French style green beans from the freezer for tonight's dinner. I started off with a quasi Caesar salad and used a boiled egg yolk in the dressing after smashing it up with a fork. I got the idea from Lidia Bastianach while watching her TV show the other day on PBS. Her recipe is here, but it has little semblance to what I ate tonight. I had no Romaine so I used red leaf and I also included some Scarlet Pearl grape tomatoes, which can be relied on for some pretty good tomato flavor in mid winter. I liked the addition of the cooked egg yolk, and will be doing this again.

 

Next I made a small serving of spaghetti with a sauce of butter, garlic, crushed red chili, butter, pasta water and parmesan. I ate this by itself while it was piping hot, as I'm not a fan of cold or lukewarm pasta.

 

Then I put together the infamous and trashy, but delicious Campbell's green bean casserole and put it in the oven, and waited for it to be mostly done and then topping it with Trader Joe's French Fried Onions, returning it to the oven and dropping my burger into a hot skillet to sear off for a few minutes to me served up med rare and very juicy.

 

This was a very satisfying meal and I have quite a bit of leftover green bean casserole. I'll try not to waste it, but I'm finding I'm not a big leftover fan, at least not more than two or three times.

[Beebs]

Dessert this time - apple tart.  Puff pastry with thinly sliced apples (Pommes???) layered on top, sugar, butter, a bit of cinnamon.  And vanilla ice cream!

 

All of my FCO projects have been randomly on purpose so far.  Yesterday I pulled out, in a more random fashion...a Golden Pompano (Fish).  It was still solidly frozen this morning, so I don't know if it'll be tonight's dinner.  In any event, I've no idea what to do with it, nor why I bought it in the first place .  Steamed, Chinese style? Baked??  Suggestions welcome!  (It's a whole fish.)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I made a pan of olive oil/rosemary cornbread first because it needed a higher temperature than the frozen stuffed flounder from Quality Foods out of Elizabeth City, NC. I had part of the leftover green bean casserole with this.

 

The leftovers were leftovers, the fish was good, but the cornbread slathered with butter was the star of the show.

 

I put five wedges in the freezer, but two of them will come right back out to go with the pork and pinto beans I pulled out to thaw.

[scubadoo97]

That corn bread will always be the star of the show for me.  Sounds delicious 

[kayb]

No alliteration involved, that I could see, but I pulled a couple of tilapia filets out and subbed them for the bluefish in the NYT's recipe for Vietnamese Caramel Fish. Served with plain brown rice and frozen peas.

 

Unfortunately, the fish served as a reminder as to why freezers should be cleaned out. It wasnt' dated, and showed no sign of freezer burn (the filets are individually vacuum sealed), but, cooked, had an unpleasant, strong "fishy" taste. Peas and rice were good, though, and I wound up scrambling a couple of eggs to mix in with both as a sort of faux fried rice after discarding the fish.

 

 

[scubadoo97]

Kayb, that fish looks delish.  Can you share that link?

[kayb]

@scubadoo97

 

Here.

 

I love this stuff. It cooks up quickly, so you'd better have your rice on ahead of time. It does NOT make enough sauce if you want to dribble some over your rice, btw. I've used both tilapia and salmon, and both are good this way.

 

Just don't use in-the-freezer-too-long fish.

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by kayb (log)

[ElsieD]

55 minutes ago, kayb said:

@scubadoo97

 

Here.

 

I love this stuff. It cooks up quickly, so you'd better have your rice on ahead of time. It does NOT make enough sauce if you want to dribble some over your rice, btw. I've used both tilapia and salmon, and both are good this way.

 

Just don't use in-the-freezer-too-long fish.

 

 

 

 

 

I had a look at this and a number of reviews said not to use the full amount of sugar.  Do you use the full amount?

[scubadoo97]

1/3 cup brn. sugar sounds like a lot.  Certain you could cut back a little and still be good although I haven't made the recipe,  just an intuitive assumption 

Edited February 17, 2017 by scubadoo97 (log)

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, kayb said:

I love this stuff. It cooks up quickly, so you'd better have your rice on ahead of time. It does NOT make enough sauce if you want to dribble some over your rice, btw. I've used both tilapia and salmon, and both are good this way.

 

Coincidentally, I read this recipe quite recently and thought I'd like to do it someday, then promptly forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder. 

[Dejah]

We were invited out for supper on Tuesday, then last night I didn't get home until 7:30, so I invited "Wendy" home for supper.

Back to the freezer for tonight. Had picked up a large try of chicken thighs a while back. I should have bagged them into portions for two people. I think I was trying to get the package into the freezer before hubby saw it.

Thawed the whole thing last night, and today, I seasoned 1/3 with Ethiopian Berbere seasoning, 1/3 with New Orleans seasoning, and the other 1/3 naked but pan fried in butter (for the kiddies). The other 2/3 were baked in the oven.
We ate some of the berbere ones for supper with leftovers from the fridge - spaghetti squash au gratin, and a mix of green beans and asparagus...no alliteration tonight going down tonight but the freezer-contents is! Soon I'll be able to shop again!
We liked a squeeze of lime on the chicken...tangy, spicy, aromatic.

                                                      

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by Dejah (log)

[kayb]

12 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

1/3 cup brn. sugar sounds like a lot.  Certain you could cut back a little and still be good although I haven't made the recipe,  just an intuitive assumption 

 

 

and @ElsieD --

 

I use a scant 1/4 cup, and it does well for me. It has a sweet-tangy taste, from the fish sauce and soy sauce.

Edited February 17, 2017 by kayb (log)

[kayb]

And here, sigh, is where cleaning out the freezer goes bad:

 

I pulled out a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 small half-breasts in a package, from my organic chicken farmer). Cooked them from frozen in the Instant Pot, shredded them, made a cream sauce of butter, flour, onion, garlic, concentrated chicken stock from the freezer, cream and grated cheese. Cooked some wide egg noodles. Combined all of the above with some poppy seed, and topped with crumbled-and-buttered Ritz crackers.

 

And portioned it out into one casserole dish to bake for last night, and two other foil dishes to go in ... the freezer. As the total freezer space consumed is double the original mass of the chicken and baggie of stock, I'm presuming I lost points. Ah, well.

 

 

@Thanks for the Crepes, these are the foil dishes I referred to earlier. They're about 4 x 6, and stack nicely.

[rotuts]

the New Look F_B :

 

 

I since the FCO has started I have not purchased animal products .  I did get some eggs  .............

[Porthos]

56 minutes ago, rotuts said:

the New Look F_B :

...

 

I since the FCO has started I have not purchased animal products .  I did get some eggs  .............

 

Looking good, very good.

[rotuts]

thanks !

[Anna N]

 

x

[rotuts]

Im willing to pass along to you

 

@Anna N

 

an eGullet Dispensation.  eGD.

 

Ive just invented this , and thus Claim it as My Own.

 

[ed.: it possible that the new eGD is available for Local Licensing : by PM only !   a tasty RX , an excellent URL , etc  prices vary w content offered. ]

 

as I understand it , you can't just Motor out at any time of your choosing.

 

did I mention to redeem the eGD  you have to at least consider posting a pic of the freezer after its refill

 

it would also be helpful to explain what a Jamaican Pattie is .  One seems to have Moved On.

 

 

[ElsieD]

Lamb Shanks tonight but nothing starting with an L or an S to go with it, unless salt counts.  Everything was cooked in the IP, 30 second green beans as per @JoNorvelleWalker, mashed potatoes as per @Anna N, carrots cooked a tad too long, some pearl onions added to the sauce as it was reducing.  Just realized that potatoes are also known as Spuds so I guess I'm okay.  Last night we had chicken drumsticks but they don't count because they went into the freezer after the FCO started.

[Porthos]

Corned Beef, Baked Brown Rice, Steamed Carrots.

[kayb]

Pork tenderloin from the freezer, marinated and SV'd in char siu sauce, then  brushed with a combo of char siu sauce and honey and baked at 450 convection in the CSO. Cauliflower by the NYT recipe, but I think I left something out,as I was going from memory (never a good thing at this stage in my life). Not bad, but lacked something. Corn casserole with Jiffy cornbread mix, an old favorite and always good.Corn was some of last summer's, from the freezer as well. I'm having a real problem with alliteration this week, though. 

 

 

Kudos to @rotuts for a wonderfully sleek-looking freezer! (You're welcome to come defrost mine...)