FOOD & DRINK

Dinner's a breeze when you cook in bulk and freeze

By Addie Broyles
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cooking in bulk and freezing meals before you're ready to eat saves money and time, the two things no one ever seems to have enough of. If you're already having nightmares of chicken tettrazini and lasagna spilling out of the freezer, relax. There are all kinds of healthy, unique recipes that won't remind you of your home-economics class.

Cynthia Townley Ewer, editor of OrganizedHome.com, which is based in Washington state, says cooking in bulk and freezing meals is worth the effort because you don't have to face the "what's for dinner?" tango every night.

If it's your first time cooking several nights' worth of food, consider taking a meal preparation class where you can learn a few recipes and tips to get started. She also says inviting a friend over makes it a little less daunting.

"Two pair of hands speed the process from chopping to cleaning, while two heads have much more fun than one," says Townley Ewer, who has been writing about bulk cooking and freezer meals since 1994.

One of the main concepts of cooking in bulk is to freeze the meal before it's fully cooked, Townley Ewer says.

Try to interrupt the cooking sooner than you would for a fresh meal. "Reheating your freezer fare will complete the cooking process with less moisture loss for better taste."

Also, freeze parts of a meal and then combine them when it's time to eat. For example, don't freeze beef-vegetable soup after it simmers because taste and texture will suffer. "Instead, make your soup as usual, but package freezer components separately," she says. "Tuck browned beef cubes into a freezer bag, and bundle with frozen stew vegetables and pre-sautéed onions. Combined later with canned broth or soup base, you'll have fresh taste from your freezer meal."

One way to ease into bulk cooking is to make twice what you need for dinner and freeze half of it. You can do this with meat, rice or even basic things such as sautéed onions.

Getting started

Don't cook the same day you go grocery shopping, most once-a-month-cooking die-hards say. You don't want to burn yourself out before you've even started.

Stock up on freezer bags, aluminum foil and tin-foil pans.

Clean out and organize your freezer and fridge before you go to the grocery store to see what you have and to make room for ingredients and meals.

Pore over the grocery specials. Supermarkets distribute fliers to advertise specials on meat and produce, which can help you plan which meals to make. You can still buy plenty of cuts of meat for less than $3 a pound, but the trick is knowing what's on sale.

Use the Internet to inspire you! There are dozens of once-a-month-cooking sites out there, complete with recipes and even forums to ask questions of the cooking professionals.

Pull out cooking magazines, cookbooks and recipe clippings. Pick dishes you know you'll want to eat again and again. The truth is that most recipes freeze well (see box for do's and don'ts), they might need just a little tweaking. Don't prepare anything because you feel like you have to (casseroles come to mind here). If you're not feeling inspired, wait. There's nothing like opening the freezer to find a dozen meals you really don't want to eat.

Start small. Don't plan on cooking every breakfast, lunch and dinner the first time!

If you have a bumper crop of zucchinis, peas, beans, okra, etc., think about ways to incorporate your garden veggies into the meals.

Get a baby-sitter and clear the day of errands, important phone calls, etc.

Shopping

Be prepared to spend more than you usually do. Remember, you're cooking for several weeks' worth of meals.

If frugality is your motivation, shop around for the best deals. You might hit Costco or Sam's Club for some items, then head to H-E-B or Randalls to buy something on sale.

Cooking

Use the grill! You can freeze grilled meats, then use them on salads. Grill veggies and add them to your favorite jarred pasta sauce. Not everything has to be made from scratch. Remember, the idea is to save time. Even semi-homemade cooking is less expensive than going to a restaurant or buying everything pre-made.

Prepare common ingredients together. If several recipes call for garlic, chop it all at once and divide.

Utilize the slow cooker you haven't used since Christmas last year.

Go easy on the seasoning! Many seasonings increase in potency when frozen, especially salt. You can easily add many spices and herbs when reheating.

Don't be afraid of whole chickens. Roast them or cook them in a slow cooker, then watch a video online of how to cut one up to use individual pieces.

Make a marinade and freeze raw meat in it.

Divide food into the serving size you want to reheat. For example, don't put all the sauce in one bag or else you'll have to reheat it all at once.

Label everything! There's nothing less appetizing than an unidentifiable lump in the corner of your freezer.

After a long day of cooking, treat yourself (and the baby-sitter and any helpers) to a dinner out. Order in a pizza, put your feet up and smile at the thought of not having to cook again for at least a few weeks.

Safety

Let food cool completely before freezing. The dining room table works well for this.

Make sure your freezer is as cold as possible. The closer to 0 degrees, the longer and safer you can store food.

Don't overload your freezer, because if it's too full, it won't stay as cold. Many freezers won't hold an entire month's worth of meals.

In the freezer, leave a little space when you first put items in to allow cold air to circulate and freeze the items faster.

Don't reuse margarine or cottage cheese containers or bread bags. They are not moisture-proof, so whatever is inside will quickly lose flavor and texture. This also goes for regular sandwich bags. Splurge on the kind made specifically for freezing.

Reheating

One of the best tips to defrost meals is to put what you're planning on eating for dinner in the refrigerator before you go to work.

You can use cold water or a microwave to defrost, too.

It's not necessary to defrost food before cooking it. But if you cook something that's frozen, it will just take longer.

If you use one of those large — and pliable — foil containers, use a baking sheet to help take it out of the oven without accidentally dumping it out.

You might want to keep a list of what you make on the fridge and scratch off items as you use them. Tracking your freezer inventory allows you to see exactly what you have on hand, especially if you freeze partial meals.

Don't feel just because you made all these meals that that's all you get to eat all month long. Think of these meals as dinner staples, but you still have breakfasts, brown-bag lunches and snacks to think about. Eggs, for example, don't freeze well, so you'll still have to do some light shopping through the month to keep fresh fruits, milk, eggs, etc. in stock. You could incorporate lunch into your daylong cooking session if you (or your kids or spouse) have access to a microwave at lunchtime.

RECIPES

Stuffed mini peppers

The summer abundance of fresh, colorful, mini peppers means that you can make dozens of stuffed peppers and freeze them for later. This recipe uses two products from Nita Garcia, aka Aunt Nita, who is a fixture at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market with her pre-made side dishes.

2 lbs. pork sausage

4 Tbsp. flour

1 cup milk

3 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. fat rendered from pork sausage

1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup Aunt Nita's carrot and raisin slaw

1 cup Aunt Nita's black bean corn and rice salad

1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds

Parmesan or Cotija cheese

24 mini peppers

Take pork sausage out of the casing and crumble in a pan. Brown the sausage and remove from pan. Remove the grease, leaving the brown bits. Measure 1 Tbsp. grease, add back to pan. Add 3 Tbsp. butter, melt and slowly add flour, stirring to brown. Take time with this; the flour will lose the raw taste and begin to take on a nutty flavor. Slowly add milk to the sauce, stirring with a whisk. As it heats, it will thicken. Add the pork back to the sauce. Mix well. Set aside to cool.

With the room temperature mixture, add some of Aunt Nita's Carrot and Raisin Slaw and her Black Bean Corn and Rice Salad to taste. Add crunched sliced almonds for texture.

Stuff mini peppers of all varieties, sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Cotija cheese and freeze. When it's time to eat, pull them out of the freezer and put in 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

— Rusty Irons

Tandoori chicken

6 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1-2 jalapeño chiles or serrano chili, seeded and minced

11/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 lbs. skinless chicken legs or skinless chicken thighs

Stir together lime juice, yogurt, minced chiles, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, and 1 Tbsp. of oil in a mixing bowl. Cut slits across the meat of chicken and rub spice mixture all over chicken. Put chicken in the marinade mixture and freeze.

On serving day: Thaw and discard marinade.

Preheat the last Tbsp. of oil in the bottom of a roasting pan and layer chicken pieces in the bottom of pan.

Bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is done (you may want to check the chicken about 5-8 minutes before and it may even cook longer than the 40 minutes, depending on size of pieces).

— Once-a-Month-Cooking World

Pizza

For the topping:

12 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated

1/4 lb. Italian sausage, browned

1/4 lb. ground beef, browned

1/4 cup onion, chopped and sautéed

2 oz. pepperoni slices

2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

1 pizza crust

11/2 cup marinara sauce

salt to taste

For the crust:

2 cups flour, all purpose

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup water, warm

2 Tbsp. olive oil

For automatic bread machine, place crust ingredients in container in following order: water, olive oil, flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Select dough setting and press Start.

For food processor, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a measuring cup; let stand until bubbly — about 10 minutes. Stir in olive oil and salt. Insert metal blade or plastic dough blade. Place flour in work bowl. With motor running, pour yeast mixture through the feed tube in a steady stream, as fast as the flour absorbs it. When the dough forms a ball, stop the machine. Process continuously for 45 seconds to knead. Shape the dough in a ball and place in greased bowl; turn to grease top. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 11/2 hours.

Spray pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Gently stretch pizza crust to fit pan, forming raised edge at lip.

The key to making frozen pizzas yourself is to add the cheese first, then top with sauce.

Sprinkle crust with grated mozzarella cheese. Dot with browned sausage, ground beef, pepperoni and chopped and sautéed onion. Gently spread marinara sauce to cover cheese and toppings. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and salt to taste. Flash freeze pizza in pan. When frozen, wrap in aluminum foil.

Do not thaw pizza when you're ready to prepare it. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake frozen pizza for 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is browned, sauce bubbles and cheese is fully melted.

— Cynthia Townley Ewer

Calzones

6 (7-inch) pizza crusts (see above recipe)

12 Tbsp. pizza sauce plus extra for dipping

12 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg lightly beaten

6 tsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded

For Garden Calzone add:

1 Tbsp. chopped green pepper

1 Tbsp. onion, diced

1 Tbsp. sliced mushrooms

For Meat Lovers Calzone add:

2 Tbsp. Italian sausage

3 slices pepperoni

For Supreme Calzone add:

2 Tbsp. Italian sausage

2 slices pepperoni

2 tsp. chopped green pepper

2 tsp. onion, diced

2 tsp. mushrooms

Place a piece of wax paper on a work surface. Arrange 6 crusts on the wax paper. On each crust, spread 2 Tbsp. of pizza sauce on one half of crust to within 1/2 inch of edges. Do not spread to edges or calzone will not seal well.

Top each calzone with your choice of one of the suggested topping combinations.

Top each calzone with 2 Tbsp. of shredded mozzarella cheese. Fold crust over filling. Use tines of fork to seal edges. Brush top of calzone with egg. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. of Parmesan cheese.

To Freeze: Freeze in covered pan or wrapped in aluminum foil.

Cooking Day Instructions: If thawed: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Bake on lightly greased baking sheet for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

If frozen: Keep frozen. Heat oven to 425. Bake on lightly greased baking sheet for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

— Once-a-Month-Cooking World, www.once-a-monthcookingworld.com

Freezer Carrot Cake

4 cups flour

4 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups salad oil (or 1 cup oil, 1 cup applesauce)

8 eggs

6 cups carrots, finely shredded (about 2 lb.)

For Cream Cheese Icing:

2 3-oz. packages cream cheese

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup broken walnuts

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and lightly flour two 13-by-9 inch sheet cake pans (or four 9-by-9 inch square cake pans).

Using large stand mixer, combine all dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Add carrots, oil (or oil and applesauce) and eggs. Beat on low until mixed, then increase mixer speed to medium and beat for two minutes. Spread batter in pans.

Bake at 325 degrees until the cake centers spring back when touched lightly — about 45 minutes for large pans, 35 to 40 minutes for small pans. Allow cakes to cool in the pan on a cooling rack before frosting with cream cheese icing.

For icing, allow cream cheese and butter to come to room temperature. Place in mixer bowl and beat on high speed until combined. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy — 2 to 4 minutes. Ice tops of cakes only. Sprinkle frosting with chopped walnuts.

— Cynthia Townley Ewer