Freezer Cooking

I should be crawling into bed right now, but I taught my Community Ed class on freezer cooking tonight, and need to unwind a little bit before I try to go to sleep. In order to do that, I was reading some blogs, and came across this Once A Month Cooking Festival at Moms In Need of Mercy. She invites us to post our favorite OAMC (or freezer cooking or cooking ahead) tips to share with everyone. I thought I’d share something I learned tonight from one of the ladies attending my class. We were talking about freezing recipes in single serving sizes and the best way to package those servings. One lady suggested using muffin tins – she uses a liner, fills it with the food, freezes the tin, then pops the frozen liners out, bags and freezes them. Specifically she was talking about sloppy joes, but this would work for many different recipes – casseroles, veggie side dishes, beans/rice/potato dishes.

One more tip I always pass on to my students: to make your own “refried” beans, sort and rinse one pound of pinto beans and put them in the crockpot. Add five cups of hot liquid (I use homemade chicken stock) and cook all day. Once the beans are cooked, I use the hand blender to process them until smooth. After they cool, portion them into quart-sized freezer zipper bags and freeze flat. I add a little salt, salsa and cheese when reheating. This method works well for ham and beans in the crockpot also.

Speaking of freezer cooking, tomorrow I’m going to make my pecan pies for Thanksgiving, and whip up some cookie dough for Christmas goodies. I’ll be back with the details.

Good night!

Parle Vous...

Cassoulet?

Cassoulet (from Occitan caçolet [kasuˈlet]) is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the southwest of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.



Awhile back I came across this recipe online, printed it out, and added it to my ever-growing stack of "recipes to try". Finally, last winter, I made it for the first time. Greg and I both really liked it, so it went into the "keep" pile. I have no idea who posted this recipe. I think it was someone on a freezer cooking email group I used to belong to, so my apologies for not being able to credit anyone.

This is a hearty dish, good for Fall and Winter. It's easy and cooks in the crockpot, so there's little effort or mess. Perfect for a busy day. And the leftovers freeze well.



Cassoulet
Layer the following ingredients in a crockpot that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Don't stir. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8-9 hours.

1 onion, sliced

3 carrots, sliced (I chopped up several baby carrots)

3 cloves, garlic, minced

3 cans Great Northern white beans with liquid


3 tsp. chicken boullion granules (I don't have that, so I used a very generous teaspoon of chicken base.)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp powdered thyme (I ran out to my herb garden and cut some fresh. Just throw the whole thing in - the leaves will fall off and the stems will be fished out later.)

3 sirloin pork chops, cut in half (I used 2 large-ish bone-in regular chops from a 'family-sized' package)
1/2 lb. smoked garlic sausage, cut in pieces (I used lean turkey sausage. Not as strong a flavor, but a little healthier)
1/4 lb. bacon, cut in small pieces (I used about half that much, and cooked it first)

Now put the lid on your crockpot and walk away. Don't stir this until you're ready to eat. And you'll be wanting to eat, since it smells so good as it cooks!

I'll use this as a one-dish meal since everything is included. That's the beauty of it. Only one crock to wash. We all love that!

Pot Roast, Southwestern style

This is the second time I've made this excellent recipe for crockpot chuck roast. The sauce is a little labor-intensive, but so worth it. The recipe comes from Kalyn's Kitchen - linked on my sidebar.

I served it with refried beans, fresh homemade guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

ENJOY!

Southwestern Pot Roast Cooked in the Crockpot

(Makes about 4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

3 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat

1 can reduced sodium beef broth 1 cup + 1/4 cup your favorite salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce - mild

steak rub or your favorite seasoning for steak to rub on meat before browning

1-2 tsp. olive oil for browning meat
Put beef broth in a small saucepan, removing any fat that has collected on top in the can. Boil until the broth is reduced to 1/2 cup.

While beef broth is reducing, trim all visible fat from chuck roast. You may need to cut the roast into several pieces to remove big pockets of fat. Rub pot roast on all side with steak rub (or your favorite seasonings for steak.) Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan (pans that aren't nonstick will give the best browning.) Brown roast well on all sides. Don't rush this step because browning provides flavor, and I think it's especially important in crockpot cooking. When roast is browned on all sides, put pieces of meat in crockpot, arranging them in a single layer.

Pour reduced beef broth into frying pan and use a metal turner to scrape off any carmelized bits from the browned meat. Add salsa and stir into broth, then pour salsa/beef broth mixture over pot roast.

Cook on high for one hour, then turn to low and cook 3-4 more hours, or until meat is very tender when pierced with a fork. (You could also cook for a longer time on low setting. If you don't have a slow cooker, cook in a heavy dutch oven on stovetop at lowest setting for 2-3 hours.)

Remove meat from crockpot and pour sauce into small saucepan. (If there is a lot of fat on top of the sauce, spoon it off or use a fat separator to remove the fat. You may not need to do this if you did a good job trimming.) Put meat back into crockpot to keep warm, then add final 1/4 cup salsa to the sauce and simmer until reduced to about 1 cup.

To serve, slice meat across the grain and serve hot, with sauce spooned over the top. I also think this meat would be great served as a filling for tacos or burritos.