Friday, September 9, 2011
Yesterday I shared how I'd fallen off the menu planning wagon, and that I was going to jump back on it with what I call a Big Cook. For those who aren't familiar with that, it is my term for a one day bulk cooking session that cooks up 15 or more dinners in one setting. I freeze them individually so that every night I just have to pull dinner out of the freezer. This is one of my biggest tricks for saving time as well as money long term, especially when you are busy and don't have time or the energy to cook most nights. It had been at least six months since my last Big Cook, so I was a bit rusty at first, but eventually I got the hang of it again. In all, I spent about five hours in the kitchen, but packed away 22 dinners. It would have gone faster except the whole chickens just would not thaw fully, so instead of going in at the beginning as I usually do, they had to go in at the end--adding an extra hour to the cooking process. I started yesterday by surveying my pantry and freezer for items I already had on hand. I focused on one-dish meals or meals that wouldn't take a lot of side dishes, to keep the Big Cook as simple as possible this time around. Normally that doesn't matter, but I knew I was rusty at this and my time was limited, so I went with simpler dishes. We had bought half a cow earlier in the year, so we had lots of grass-fed beef on hand, plus some whole chickens, some Anduoille sausage I'd found on manager's special and frozen, a few bags of frozen shrimp, some saffron rice and lots of chicken stock as well. I decided to make these dishes:
- Paella
- Roasted Chicken
- 'Broasted' Chicken
- Chili
- Homemade Marinara
- Pot Roast
- Beef Bourguinon
My stove and oven got a real workout!
"Broasted" chicken thighs are browned and ready for the broiler
The thing that most people don't know about bulk cooking is that while you're cooking a lot of food, it actually saves a lot of time in the long run. When cooking each night, the bulk of your time is spent pulling out items, cutting/arranging and then putting it all away. What bulk cooking does is maximize that time, doing it all at once for multiple dishes. I was able to smash three heads of garlic at once, instead of pulling out clove by clove as I needed it each night. Same with cooking up ground beef--I boiled four pounds at once, instead of browning one pound at a time. The big key to making bulk cooking go so fast is to use all of your burners, oven and cooking appliances at once. I used my stove, oven, standing roaster, crockpot and microwave to cook all at once. You don't need a huge kitchen to do this--just a plan and some organization. If you want to try bulk cooking, you can get started simply by tripling whatever meal you were planning to cook in the next few nights. It only takes an extra 15-20 minutes but you'll have two extra dinners in your freezer!
About half the meals I made yesterday, ready for the freezer
Here's some of the recipes I used. Follow the links above to recipes I've shared in the past. I'll share more next week!
Homemade Marinara Meat Sauce
4 large cans crushed tomatoes
1/8 cup kosher salt
1/2 bottle red wine (I use Yellow Kangaroo Merlot $6)
10 large leaves fresh basil, chopped
2 stems fresh thyme, leaves pulled off stems
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 lb ground beef, cooked
I dump in the cans of tomatoes, salt, red wine and let them heat up for a bit over medium low heat. I then add in the spices and garlic, and then cover it, turn it down to low and let it bubble for about an hour. Then I add the meat, stir and turn off the burner. When it is cooled I package it up.
The wine and the salt give it a real depth of flavor. It is important to use Kosher salt, not iodized salt, as it is softer and gives more flavor without being an overpowering "salty" flavor. You can add fresh ground black pepper as well, if you like your marinara to have some zip to it. This will make about six to eight jars of sauce.
Pot Roast
8-12 lb large beef roast (I used an 8 lb grass-fed roast)
6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Six large potatoes, quartered
one bag baby carrots
In a bowl, mix together the garlic, oil, salt and pepper until it makes a chunky paste type substance. Take the roast and with a sharp knife, stab through the meat all around it, going into it but not cutting all the way through it. (This is to allow holes in the meet for the rub to soak into) Using a spoon or your hand, rub the oil spice mixture over all sides of the roast. Place the roast in the pan, and surround with potatoes and carrots. Roast at 350 degrees for one hour, then turn down to 250 for three hours. The rub will create a "crust" around the outside of the beef, and seep into the meat over time, but flake off when fully cooked. By lowering the temperature for the last few hours, it keeps the center of the roast slightly pink. When finished cooking, slice the roast into two or three pieces, and freeze the extra pieces along with the potatoes and carrots.
I also make this same recipe with a leg of lamb, only I add a carton of whole cream to the rub mixture. This is an adaptation of an Emeril Lagasse recipe.
I'll share the recipes for Paella and Beef Bourguinon next week. Those are so easy to make, are one dish recipes and taste SO good!
I already had most of the ingredients in my house. I did spend $45 at the store yesterday getting a few more ingredients, like the fresh basil and thyme, the potatoes, the canned tomatoes and some chicken thighs. All in all it was five hours worth of work, with a few breaks in between as items cooked. I think to spend five hours and $45 to get 22 meals is well worth it!
Posted by | | Filed in beyond basics
Print
E-mail
Leave a reply
by 
