Thursday, January 8, 2009

Cooking Ahead

One of my favorite cookbooks is Light Cooking For Two by Anne Chappell. I like it because it has recipes for everything from breakfast to breads to make-ahead meals for two. I took advantage of my day off today and made two recipes that make several portions so I could have a few meals ready for days when I work late.

First up is Hearty Meat Sauce. Ground beef, onions, celery, garlic, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth and a bay leaf simmering in the pan. I dressed up the recipe and added a splash of red wine and pancetta. This will make enough sauce for three meals for us. Can someone tell me why a recipe would call for canned whole tomatoes that you have to chop to use? Couldn't you just use canned chopped tomatoes? What am I missing?
The second pot is Brunswick Stew. Poached chicken with potatoes, onion, celery, lima beans and corn. I used frozen peas instead of drained canned tomatoes and added a splash of Marsala wine. We are having this for dinner tonight with hot biscuits. The remainder will be packaged for another two meals.
What kind of make-ahead cooking do you make, if any?

Sweet P

4 comments:

Kristie said...

Looks so good and yummy!!!
KRistie

Denise in PA said...

HI! That sauce looks yummy and I LOVE Brunswick Stew! I like to use canned whole tomatoes (San Marzano) - I find them more flavorful than the ones already chopped, so I'll do the extra work. I'd heard it from chefs and found it to be so for me. Just my 2 cents!

Darlene said...

Looks good. It sure seems like you are enjoying yourself. One thing I like to do when I cook a chicken or turkey, I put aside enough in several baggies for different meals. Two especially are chicken pot pie and chicken tetrazinni. I made with either chicken or turkey.

Tasha said...

The food looks so good baby thinks so also