"Fast food" from "Slow Cooking"

[Anna N]

Mottmott threw out the challenge:

"Even if you overlook the many dishes that can be prepared ahead such as soups, stews, casseroles that can be frozen, etc. which we might take up in a companion thread."

What do you cook and freeze for a fast meal at another time?

Anna N

[GG Mora]

Good question. It's always a delight to rifle through the freezer on one of those "I just don't have the time" days and find some planned-ahead treasure waving its arms at me from behind the ice cream.

Since I usually DO have the time (or more to the point, make the time) to cook, I don't bother caching anything too special, and I'm probably not alone in only stocking the freezer in the colder months. In spring and summer, isn't it too damned easy to toss some animal flesh on the grill and yank some greens from the garden for an instant dinner?

But to actually answer the question: I pack away soup, chili, and "asian" chicken broth. Most common soup is a hefty beef/vegetable, next up is "peasant" soup -- a melange of leeks, cabbage, green beans, cannelini beans, potatoes, garlic and ham in a tomato base. Chili, well, we all have our own best recipe, no? And the asian chicken broth can get a simple treatment of tofu cubes, chopped cilantro and lime juice or get all tarted up with coconut milk, curry paste, shrimp, etc. for something a little more substantial.

[fifi]

Oooo... Oooo... My favorite thing. Now that summer is coming to an end, well in a couple of months here in the Gulf Coast, I can really get back into my "pots of things". Always, around Thanksgiving, there has to be a pot of gumbo. And chile of course. I just finished the last of a really nice batch of red beans. I love long simmered pots! I store the end result in the freezer either in the deli containers that I get at the restaurant supply or in freezer ziplocs. I like to do the ziplocs in single servings, squeezing the air out and freezing flat on a baking sheet. A few minutes in a bowl of hot water and they thaw in no time.

My other favorite is slow braising or smoking some hunk of protein. Pork is the all time favorite. I store the portions of meat in foil packets in a large ziploc in the freezer. A few minutes in the DeLonghi convection oven and I have the start of dinner. (I don't like nuked meat.)

[browniebaker]

My freezer always contains some of the following, for very quick meals:

beef chili - to be served with tortillas, tortilla chips, cornbread, Fritos, shredded cheese, and sour cream

coq au vin -- to be served over boiled, quartered potatoes

chicken-and-sausage gumbo -- to be served over rice

stew of red beans and sliced smoked sausage - to be served over rice, for rice 'n' beans

stew of Chinese red-braised pork shoulder or chicken, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushroom, and fried tofu - to be served over rice

dirty rice -- a meal in itself, with a salad or sautéed/steamed vegetables

Hungarian goulash -- to be served over egg noodles or boiled, quartered potatoes

chicken soup with noodles or rice -- also a meal in itself, with a salad or sautéed/steamed vegetables

Brunswick stew - a meal in itself

baked lasagna - cut into serving-size squares before freezing

meatloaf - sliced before freezing

sloppy joe filling - to be served in hamburger buns or over cornbread

coooked meatballs in tomato sauce - served with spaghetti

Chinese pot-stickers -- served with a dipping sauce

[Carlovski]

Not as much for freezing as sitting in a big pan on the stove , but a wintertime staple is a hearty soup made with onions, pancetta, lentils and cannelini beans, spicked with a bit of chilli, and a glass of something alcoholic and slightly sweet - Marsala, Madeira or sherry usually. I warm up a portion of it in a separate pan, and add some sort of greens, to add a bit of freshness to the savoury depth. A last minute drizzle with olive oil and a copious amount of parmesan go well too.

Another favourite is a sort of spanish lamb casserole I make. Cube some chorizo, and place on a medium heat in a big casserole dish with a small puddle of oil. Let the bright red fat come out and cook until they turn cripsy and coloured, remove and add cubed lamb which has been dusted with flour and pimenton. Cook in the chorizo infused oil (You may need to add some oil, depending how much fat the chorizo exuded) until well browned and then remove and place with the chorizo. Add a couple of chopped onions and a couple of cloves of garlic and sweat down on a medium heat. Add a Tin of tomatoes, add the meats and about 250 ml of dry sherry. Cook, covered in a 180 C oven for about an hour. Then add a couple of chunkily chopped red peppers, cook for a further 30 minutes, uncovering for the last 10 minutes or so. I sometimes add a tin or two of chickpeas - which makes it a complete meal, with a bit of bread, and maybe a salad. Add a good handful of chopped parsley - but not if you are going to freeze.

And Chili of course. Somehow even better after freezing!

[bloviatrix]

Like everyone else here, I make huge pots of chili and divide it among quart containers. Also, pots of soup. At any given time there will be butternut squash or mushroom barley soup. Finally, brisket. I find that braised brisket freezes very well, so when I entertain I'll make a very large one and freeze the leftovers in 2 serving packages.

Unfortunately, my freezer is too small to keep much more in it, although last night I was re-evaluating my space so see where I can hide a small stand-alone freezer (my husband thinks I'm nuts)

[tryska]

right now i've got 9-bean soup and chicken corn chowder in the freezer.

Edited October 8, 2003 by tryska (log)

[Jinmyo]

As well as demi-glace, stocks of various kinds, herbs of various kinds, nuts of various kinds, meats of various kinds, kombu for second-soaking dashi, parsley stalks etc etc my freezers currently have:

About ten kinds of dumplings.

Cooked ziti in sausage and tomato sauce to pull out to make pistacchio with.

Individual steak and kidney, lamb and mushroom, rabbit and tomato pies.

About four servings of daube.

Fresh porcini that were blanched. (These thaw really well.)

Several kinds of soups (strained of solids).

[tejon]

I was just given a stand alone freezer, so I'm taking notes from this thread :-). We currently have a side by side refrigerator, which means almost no freezer space, but I have that packed with soups, single serve amounts of many different dishes, stock, frozen lemon juice and zest, puff pastry, butter, nuts, etc. I can hardly wait to start filling the deep freeze, especially knowing that the foods in it will keep for much longer without too much degridation in texture and flavor.

[skmcdade]

Soup, soup, and more soup. Green lentil, red lentil (my fave), split peas (green or yellow), beef and vegetable, turkey noodle.

Also spaghetti sauce. This is especially good, since I can take time to make a really good sauce with good ingredients and then freeze it for quick use later, instead of making packet sauce or using jarred sauce because I am too lazy!