@BuffyTheBuffetSlayer
Re: batch cooking, I wasn’t sure if you meant batch cooking in general or just wanted to know what I meant by batch cooking meat?
I do usually stick to batch cooking dishes that come in a sauce (chilli/curry/tagine/stew/pasta sauce/etc) since they lend themselves better to being frozen as well as being reheated. I just cook double or triple as a matter of course and freeze portions from that.
But it can be quite helpful to have pre-prepared meat in the freezer too, in smaller portions, so that you can easily and more quickly build a meal around it for just you if need be.
You do have to accept that the end result is likely not going to be as succulent as it would otherwise be, but it’s still perfectly edible and tasty.
For me the key elements for freezing meat without a sauce are a) plenty of flavour and b) ease of incorporation into a meal.
So chicken wings sliced, pan fried with plenty of oil plus onion, peppers and lots of tex mex spice, for example. Or with peri peri spice mix or chilli sauce if you like it hot! Don’t overcook it. Left to cool and divide into bags or small containers. It’s a bit more versatile because you can then do what you want with it, so it can fit with what others are having, whatever you’ve got to hand or what you fancy that day.
Then all you need to do is take the portion out of the freezer in the morning. When you need your dinner pop it into a frying pan, add any other components such as more veg, give it a quick fry to warm it through properly, and hey presto you have a meal without having to do much — as the meat is already cooked it only needs 10 minutes to get hot. Then use however you wish - A bowl of salad mixed with the chicken, avocado sliced on top, and topped with salsa/guacamole/sour cream/coriander/spring onion etc.
When I make meatballs I often make double or triple and freeze them dry so that I can easily add them to various dishes. I add lots of flavour with herbs, Parmesan, garlic and onion, spices and so on to compensate for the fact that they won’t be cooked in the sauce for long enough to take in all that much flavour from there. I cook them in the oven because it’s less effort. I usually stick to Italian style meatballs for beef, Asian style for pork, and Middle Eastern for lamb.
You can also just fry off the mince (beef, pork, lamb, turkey) as is with some salt and pepper and add it to a sauce or dish on the day; again, only takes as long to make as it takes to warm through.
Pork belly strips/pork ribs/etc can be braised until tender, then seasoned with salt and pepper and frozen. Can be roasted up or fried and eaten just like that, or had in an Asian broth, or wrapped in lettuce with a dipping sauce, or wrapped up with an omelette and veg in seaweed wraps.
The other day I decided I wasn’t in the mood to make spiced lamb meatballs after all, so I made some simple lamb patties for our dinner that day, and with the rest of the mince I just fried it off with onion, lots of spices (cumin, ras el hanout, garlic granules, a bit of oregano) and a couple of tablespoons of rose harissa. I’ll add it to one of our Middle Eastern inspired meals next week or the week after.
Same goes for chicken legs or thighs - cook them plain (seasoned of course) or with plenty of veg (courgette, peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, red onion, aubergine, olives, etc) as a traybake with whatever aromatics you want - spices, herbs, garlic. Lots of oil. Left to cool, and again, portioned up into bags or containers.
As the meat is already cooked you don’t need to wait for ages to eat - should only take about 25 min to heat through from chilled. Or, if you forgot to take it out of the freezer and have to heat it from frozen, at least it won’t be any effort at all - no figuring out what you can make with the bits you have, no chopping, no hassle - just pop it on a tray and cook for about 45 min.
It’s very useful to batch cook tomato sauce, as well as dishes like ratatouille. Keep a stock in the freezer for those days where you don’t want to think — Small one or two person portions, to be combined with the meat options.
I try to keep a good store of frozen veg at all times. These can easily be combined with the above to make a well balanced and tasty meal. At the moment I’ve got peppers, mushrooms, whole leaf spinach, cauliflower & broccoli (both of these are excellent roasted from frozen), leeks, sprouts, petit pois and a ‘green medley’ (broccoli, peas, sugar snap peas, green beans and edamame).
Root veg can be boiled, mashed and frozen. I like a mix of everything - celeriac, carrot, parsnip and swede.
Soups freeze well. Either homemade or fresh ones from the supermarket.
I use takeaway-style containers as they stack well in the freezer.
Not sure if I’ve explained myself very well but I’ve yet to catch up on my sleep and have had to be up early yesterday and today...hope some of that helped at least!