Friday July 30 , 2010

Comfort Ready to Freeze

These ready to freeze comfort food recipes require minimum effort, yet you'll get top flavor. Find out a medley of terrific dishes, ready to freeze, to lift your mood later with warm, comfort food as leaves fall.

Ready to freeze comfort food

Find out a medley of terrific dishes, ready to freeze, to lift your mood later with warm, comfort food as leaves fall: minimum effort, top flavor.

Who would not like to come back home to a hot, flavorful meal to share with the family when that cooler weather appears? But usually you have to cook it when you get home… that’s the drawback.

What about making some meals in advance and freezing them? This way, you will have your hot meal ready in a few minutes. With a little planning and preparing them as explained, you will have several individual portions in your freezer, ready to enjoy the best autumn flavors on demand.

Cooking the food yourself, you get the added bonus of having healthy meals, perfectly suited to your needs. You know for sure all the ingredients and their quality.

From the fresh mushroom cream to the angel food cake, going through the recipe for stuffed onions and the autumn spaghetti, you are sure to find something to tempt your taste buds. And don’t forget the ever useful tips about how to freeze a soup, how to freeze pasta, how to freeze fresh herbs, or how to freeze egg whites.


How to freeze food

Cool any leftover food as quickly as possible.

Once the food is cool, place in freezer bags or a sealed container. Label with the dat and type of food as it may be difficult to tell once frozen.

It may be useful to freeze food in individual portions. If you don't have individual containers, improvise by fitting a small freezer bag in a soup bowl or a cup.

Defrost overnight in the fridge or in the microwave. Once thoroughly defrosted, heat until all food is piping hot.

Heat only once, the food will not be suitable to freeze a second time.


Freezing soup portions
Set small freezer bags inside soup cups. Fill the bags with soup. Close them tightly and freeze until hard.

Put the small bag with the frozen soup in a larger bag and, close it and store in the freezer. The individual rations can be defrosted as required.

Defrost in the microwave or submerge the soup bags in boiling water.

Freezing pasta
Set small freezer bags inside soup bowls. Fill the bags with the cooked pasta.

To prepare the pasta, cook 24oz spaghetti in abundant water, until tender, drain and divide in four equal portions. Let them cool down and put into the freezer bags previously prepared.

Defrost in boiling water or in the microwave –in this case, sprinkle some water over the pasta before.

Freezing egg whites
Distribute the egg whites in the compartments of a flexible ice tray. Keep in the freezer until hard.

Once frozen, keep the egg white cubes in a plastic bag, tightly closed, stored in the freezer until required.

To defrost, place the frozen egg whites into a bowl and place this bowl inside another filled with hot water. Use as indicated in your recipe.

Freezing Fresh Herbs
Since some herbs, like basil, have more flavor and aroma when they are fresh, and they are difficult to find during the winter months, freezing them is the best way to enjoy their flavor during the cold season.

Wash the sprigs and dry them with kitchen roll. Separate the leaves and chop them; store in the freezer in a tightly closed small freezer bag.

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