Being pushed for time doesn’t have to mean a
takeaway or a ready meal. Instead, stow away batches of our triple-tested,
freezer-safe recipes when you do have time to cook. You’ll have good-to-go,
made-from-scratch, delectable dishes ready when you need them…
Perfect for vegetarian guests
Freezer know-how
Freezer
know-how?
The cold atmosphere in a freezer is very
drying, and direct contact with frozen air can give your food ‘freezer burn’
(discoloured, dry patches). Always wrap food well before freezing.
Decant cooled soups and sauces into
freezer-proof bags, then freeze flat to save space.
Freeze single portions of recipes, or fruit
or vegetables, and you’ll only ever have to defrost exactly what you need. To
do this, simply freeze the items on open trays or baking sheets. Once they’re
frozen solid, you can wrap or bag the items and keep them in the freezer until
they’re needed.
Take the guesswork out of defrosting by
always labelling your freezer fodder with what’s inside and the date when it
was made/frozen.
A full freezer costs less to run than a
half-empty one, so set aside regular time to cook and keep it stocked up.
If you’re lucky enough to have a freezer
with a fast-freeze compartment, use this for the actual freezing process. Once
food is frozen, transfer it to main body of the freezer for storage.
Thawing frozen food should be done as
slowly as possible – rapid thawing leads to loss of moisture and subsequent
dryness.
