Not the weather. (But it’s still really windy.) No, we’re talking about my freezer, which I want to get as near empty as I can in the next week so that I can defrost it (a few things can be wrapped up and put in the fridge to keep frozen during defrosting if I get it done quickly; trouble is, the fridge is fairly crowded as well). Then I’ll stock up again at the farmers’ market on Saturday week…
This is going to require eating rather more meat than usual. (I know you only ever see pictures of the carnivorous meals, but I usually eat meat only about 3 times a week.)
The Inventory
Uncooked meat:
1 portion of chicken livers – simple: coat in flour and fry quickly, serve with spicy tomato sauce and couscous. Love that dish. (I like offal.)
2 bags of diced pork (couple of portions each) – will probably be combined to make a big casserole or curry. (Need to check up whether it’s okay to freeze stuff again after it’s been cooked… Anyone?)
1 lamb chop (taken out for tonight) – something very traditional with potatoes and vegetables
1 bag of bacon – various possibilities
5 beefburgers (that’s nearly a full box, oops) – might eat one of these, but mostly will be going back to my nice clean freezer. (These are not your average burgers, by the way. So no way are they going to waste.)
Meat meals:
1 tub of beef chilli (you’ve seen this one already)
1 tub of some kind of casserole or chunky soup (I can be really bad at labelling things), probably lamb or beef.
Non-meat meals:
Several tubs of soup of some sorts (also rather lacking in the label department; mostly, I suspect, potato and cauliflower or leek concoctions). If these don’t all get eaten up I shan’t be that bothered. This will shock my friends, but I think I may be a bit bored of potato-based soups now. I need to do something different for a while. (I should get myself a copy of this.)
(Thinking about it, I’m fairly sure that two of the tubs are carrot and coriander, which I’d forgotten I made. That’s more interesting.)
Plus some frozen veg (must stop buying frozen spinach if I’m not going to eat it). Oven chips (eat with burger), hash browns (only a couple left: add bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and frying pan, and we’ll have a thoroughly unhealthy Sunday brunch!!).
A small tub of milk that’s been in there, I suspect, for far too long. Throw it out.
……..
So now you know what I’ll be eating for the next week. What about you?
Early Modern Notes 
No vegetables, that’s for sure. Have spent the past week trying to cook with only an onion (not ONLY an onion, but that was the only vegetable). I’ll be straight with you, it’s not working, and a mission is currently being carried out to come back from Borough Market with a ton of the bloody things.
Also, the ongoing boyfriend-girlfriend brown bread-white bread tug-of-war continues. A gamble everytime: laziness at not going out to buy bread vs. the risk she’ll buy white. As a sort of evolutionary mechanism my body seems to have adapted to not being so disgusted by white bread. So roll on the laziness… ;)
I don’t think you’re supposed to refreeze meat that has already been frozen, even after cooking. There’s some technical microbiological reason that I learnt in second year microbiology a long time ago and have now forgotten, but …. not advisable.
Culinarily, refreezing is a bad idea–the quality of the food deteriorates rapidly. Defrosting sets into motion a number of chemical changes that change the nature of the ingredients, and constant refreezing of water creates crystals that cut into cell membranes, which makes it easier to introduce bacteria (that are normally only on the surface of meat) into the meat itself.
My A-Z of Freezing says this, however, on checking it out: “Frozen raw materials can be refrozen when they have been cooked (eg frozen meat can be made into a casserole, which is then frozen).” And Leith’s Cookery Bible agrees, though it puts it the other way round: “Do not refreeze completely thawed food without cooking it first.”
Rob: have you tried making French onion soup? Gorgeous stuff (with cheese on toast). Also, if you have a freezer, bread freezes pretty well (though not very crusty bread or rolls – the crust comes out soft). So you could buy one each, split the loaves in sections (ie, however much bread you’d eat before it goes stale) and *both* have the bread you like… Or buy small loaves.
I know you don’t want to know but I shall be eating mostly cheese & onion quiches and crisps this week :D :D Can you tell my cooking hasn’t improved much…
Got a cooker yet?
I have a table top one – does that count???
Baby Belling type, you mean? Don’t see why not. But first you’d have to use it, of course…
If someone tells me where the On switch is, I would. And what’s that dial for that goes from around 100 to 240??? It’s not the scoreboard for darts or some weird card game, I take it.
I just did this! Use coolers or ice chests if you have them, otherwise take several large cardboard boxes and line them with about an inch of newspaper. Pack the frozen food tightly into the boxes. Stack the boxes close together in the coolest location you have and cover the whole stack with a couple of quilts or blankets. Everything will stay hard frozen for about six hours, even ice cream.
Sharon in Phoenix, AZ
PS. I was defrosting a 22 cubic foot upright freezer, so it took a LOT of boxes and coolers LOL
Thank you for that, Sharon W! I have a small cool bag with an icepack that can go in the fridge, but it is small. But I do have a lot of old newspapers which I haven’t got round to disposing of yet. Could take the pressure off…
Hee. Why does it not surprise me that your fridge sounds just as full as mine!
The chop – do it with mash (of course). I actually cooked a bit over x-mas, including this, but the mash had smoked applewood cheese (Charnwood as some places now call it) and spring onions chopped and melted in.
As for the bacon – an old northern prole fave is bacon fried in a tiny bit of fat with softly bolied spuds, then pour a bit of the liquid bacon fat over the spuds. Very nice, especially this time of year. Cook sometimes does this below stairs for the staff.
I did, Steve. Mmmmmm… Mash, glorious mash. :)
However, I’ve decided to use the bacon with some fennel that’s in the fridge to make a risotto. Still starchy comfort food though.