Time-Saving Cooking Tips
Along the lines of our previous post about cleaning, here are some of my favorite cooking shortcuts. Cooking ahead and freezing are involved in both of these.
How many recipes do you know that call for chopped onions? I would suggest that at least half of mine do. I realized one day how much time I was wasting chopping onions everyday (and subsequently in cleaning the cutting board, etc.). So, I started buying several onions every couple of weeks, chopping them up really well and putting them in a freezer bag in the freezer. When I need onions, I just bang the bag on the counter and toss in however many I need. They don’t need thawing for casseroles and soups, and if you need to saute them, you do it just the same.
Bone-in chicken breasts were on sale for 88 cents a pound about a month ago. Or was it two? I stocked up and bought eight packages at 2.5 pounds each. I skinned them and stuck them in the crockpot with a little bit of chicken broth and cooked them until they were done. I shredded them up and then threw in another batch. I think I did five batches, but it was worth the time. I put them in two-cup increments into food saver bags with a bit of broth, vaccum-sealed them and froze them. They are perfect for soups, casseroles, enchiladas, pizzas, and more. If your mom didn’t give you her old food saver, you can put them in regular plastic bags, squeezing out the air.
Here’s a recipe that uses both of these time-savers. This is perfect for a cold winter day. Wait, what’s that? It’s 75 degrees out in mid-December? Yeah, maybe it will be good in January.
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
1/2 cup butter
1 small-medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped (1/2 cup?)
5 carrots, peeled and chopped (1 cup?)
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup flour
6 cups chicken broth
3-4 cups cooked wild rice
3-4 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup half and halfMelt butter in large saucepan. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute and additional 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir well. Gradually add the broth, stirring until all has ben added. Bring just to a boil and reduce the heat to low and simmer. Now, add the rice, chicken, seasonings and almonds. Let it get hot and then add the half-and-half. Let simmer for 1-2 hours, but don’t let it boil or it will break your roux. I freeze half of this in freezer bags and it makes for a very easy meal the next month. This goes really well with some good bread.