What would you do with all this meat?

[JenniferYellowHat1980]

I'm thinking of experimenting with a monthly batch cook and have used MySupermarket to price up meat by the kilo. I currently have the following in my basket for £68:

2.25kg 12% fat beef mince
1.4kg unsmoked gammon joint
20 pork sausages (DD is extremely picky and this is one of her staples)
2 x 2kg chickens
2.2kg leg of lamb
1.4kg beef roasting joint
1.2kg salmon
1kg chicken fillets

We are a family of two adults and two DCs. DS is a toddler and doesn't eat much in one sitting and as mentioned, DD will turn her nose up at most of this but will be offered it.

So, what would you do with all that? It might well last longer than a month.

Do you have a freezer and a slow cooker?

Yes - both.

Freeze it, either raw or made into casserole/curry etc.

12% fat mince is quite fatty. Not sure I'd buy that.

Ok. It's just that the 5% stuff doubles in price. I thought I'd skim it.

I exaggerate. It's about a third more expensive.

I'd use the beef mince to make three decent-sized hamburgers and a little hamburger, and freeze. The rest goes to make bolognese sauce, then freeze in several different containers.

Break the sausages up into separate bags and freeze as-is.

Freeze the gammon til you need it. You can get two hearty winter meals out of the joint, first simmer it in water or water/stock/dry cider, with celery, carrots, onion ,bay leaf or bouquet garni if you like . When it's done take the meat out of the cooking liquid (keep this for the second meal) finish the joint off in the oven for 20 to 30 mins spread with a glaze of some sort, (mustard/OJ/soft brown sugar?) during this time cook potatoes and mash them, serve the meat sliced with vegetables and mash, you can moisten it with a little of the cooking liquid if you like. 2nd meal -return any leftover meat (shredded) to the liquid you cooked it in, add more vegetables if needed including sliced cabbage or greens, and a cup or so of orange split peas. Simmer til the split peas are soft and mushy and have thickened the soup/stew.

I would put the portions back, buy an extra chicken (or maybe even two, depending on the per kilo price). I'd portion all bar 1 of the chickens. That way you have breast for curries, nuggets kievs etc and thigh and drummers for dinners and/or bbq-ing and one for a roast.

I'd make bolognaise sauce with 750kg of the mince, burgers with 1kg and a massive chilli with the other 500g. And freeze in tubs.

I'd save the beef and lamb for roast dinners and make leftover pie, casserole or curry with any remains. Gammon I'd probably cook for a 'normal' dinner and then use any left for sandwiches/lunches.

(I make chilli with dry spices, 5 canned tomatoes, 4 cans kidney beans, three cans sweetcorn, two optional cans of mixed pulses & splash of balsamic using a 7l pot) I also use chilli to make a chilli lasagne.

*not 5 canned tomatoes, 5 cans OF tomatoes

These are brilliant. Please keep them coming. I love the second day gammon stew - I think it would go even further than that based on the one I cooked at my DM'svrefently. Does anyone have a recipe for burgers that don't be dry and boring please?

Anyone else shop like this? We both work FT and to get out of the cycle of just getting by eating ad-hoc which means our duets are poor, we need to start meal planning.

Diets!

Love that chilli recipe too.

Oh and although I agree with the suggestion about chicken portions, I wouldn't feel confident in doing it myself.

Don't worry about the fat content of the mince at all. Fat is not the enemy. It will also add flavour to what ever you cook, make things richer too. Therefore not so much is needed. People need to stop obsessing about fat.

I shop like that, because there are only 2 of us often with meat joints I roast, slice and freeze in gravy it microwaves and stays really moist I cant really tell the difference between the first roast and the frozen batches, I do the same with carrots and potatoes roast both in massive batches, freeze on a baking sheet then bag up when frozen, and when I use them heat straight from freezer in my halogen oven. We have a lot of mid week roasts as they are done in 20 mins from freezer.
Also freeze the usual meals in portions lasagne, curry etc.

I make burgers which dh loves. Just mince, salt, pepper, a squeeze of ketchup and a dollop of Dijon. Mix it together (dont overwork it though). No breadcrumbs, no egg. It's just not needed. Test a little piece by cooking in the micro for a few seconds to check for seasoning. Make the patties and let them sit in the fridge to set before cooking, or simply freeze and defrost as required.

Ooh. You could crumble a bit of an oxo cube into the mind. Very tasty. Although that may put the salt content above what you're happy with. I'm a salt fiend with no dc to worry about yet.

mince!

poster anklebitersmum are you using 500g of mince, 5 cans of tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients you've mentioned in your post?

Are you going to cook it all before freezing OP in one big cooking session?

I shop like that because I moved further away from the butcher I use. I go there every two/three months and fill the freezer I freeze things like sausages in layers with a finger's gap in between them and split bacon into 5 slices and freeze layers of that in bags.

The only thing I cook ahead is a big pot of ragu, using 6lb of minced beef, 3lb lamb and 1lb pork - lasts almost 4 months generally!

Everything else I just use as normal, letting it defrost in the bottom of the fridge for 24 hours.

Having said that, I don't eat much meat these days and DD (9) has 'gone off the texture' of meat so I think my trips could become less frequent.

Jamie Oliver has a Butternut Squash, pearl barley and ham hock soup/stew recipe that is lovely. If you like roast gammon I would cut off a couple of good corners of your gammon joint and freeze it separately. That way you will have some for something like this stew.

The fatty mince is cheaper because you're paying for fat, which you then skim off and throw away. I'd prefer to pay for meat.

I always also check the water content of meat. Lots is injected with water to make it look plumper. Again I'd prefer to pay more, but be sure I'm paying for meat, not water.
off the point of this post I know

Once you have cooked gammon leftovers (and this works with almost any pig meat - bacon knuckle, chorizo, ham, sausages, etc) then you can make a fantastic stew with those, a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes, and a couple of tins of chickpeas or butter beans, or any other beans you like. It is so cheap, fairly healthy (the meat is balanced by the beans and tomato) and so EASY! With ham and stuff like chorizo, which is already highly-flavoured, you don't need much more seasoning, but with more bland meat, you might want to spice it up a bit.

If you want to get fancy (and add more veg) then you can start it off with a soffrito - finely chopped onions and carrot and celery, if you like celery, cooked until soft before you add everything else.

The longer you cook it the better - it's great for slow cookers. It also freezes really well.

I am loving these ideas. I got rid of the chicken breasts at £6.50/kg in the end, and will learn how to cut it myself!

antimatter yes, (sorry haven't been in for a day or three).

I use all the ingredients PLUS ONIONS and the pulses are great for added goodness on a budget. I do pop it in the oven or leave on low for a while to 'stew in it's own juices' and thicken up-usually as I bake spuds.

Tastes fantastic, makes a great alternative lasagne & freezes well too!
I always cook in huge quantities, with fouranklebiters and hungry hubby I have to

JenniferYellowHat1980 check out on jointing a chicken efficiently. Honestly, you'll have it down pat in no time!

His arch nemesis JO does the bestest easy and tasty curry pastes & recipes though.