How to Cook Ahead

At the end of a busy day wouldn't you rather have more time to spend with your family or friends than face a bare table without a moment to spare and the faintest idea of what you'll prepare for dinner? Utilize your freezer and do prep work ahead of time for more enjoyable evenings and no-stress meals.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Start a new mantra: Your freezer is your friend. Side dishes, entre'es and desserts freeze well and can be reheated for ultraeasy cooking.
2. Plan your menus and do your shopping (see 297 Plan a Week of Menus), and then chop, julienne or dice any of the ingredients you'll need for the week ahead. Prep work is the real time thief in the kitchen.
3. Make stocks or soups up to a week ahead and store them in the refrigerator; or freeze extras in 2-cup rations for future use.
4. Stock your fridge with a few days worth of essentials: Using your food processor's chopping blade (or a knife), chop three yellow onions and six to eight garlic cloves and store separately in zipper-lock plastic bags in your refrigerator. (For recipe purposes, one small garlic clove is roughly 1 teaspoon, and half an onion is roughly 1 cup chopped.)
5. Make extra waffles, pancakes, biscuits, muffins or scones on lazy weekend mornings to freeze. During the week they can be toasted for a fast, delicious breakfast.
6. Double (or triple) your recipe for pasta sauce and freeze familysize portions for easy lasagna, baked ziti and spaghetti.
7. Slightly undercook pasta, vegetables and rice for frozen casseroles or entre'es. They will continue to cook when you reheat the entre'e.
8. Freeze batches of appetizers for easy entertaining. Make individual portions of empanadas, phyllo spinach triangles or miniquiches and freeze them in a single layer on baking sheets. Once they're firm, transfer them to labeled zipper-lock plastic bags. See 315 Plan Party Foods Ahead.
9. Fill pie tins with rolled-out pastry dough, and wrap and freeze for up to a month. They can be filled and cooked the day before you need them.

Tips & Warnings

• For fresh lemon juice (for salad dressings, desserts or sauces), juice five to 10 lemons into a glass jar, seal and refrigerate. The juice will keep for about two weeks.
• See 302 Create Effective Shopping Lists.
• To reheat frozen foods, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bake according to the recipe; if still slightly frozen in the center, add about 10 to 15 extra minutes to the baking time.
• Fish should always be cooked fresh. Meats, unless they're a casserole ingredient, should be saute'ed or grilled at the last minute.
• Store foods correctly. Foods that oxidize (turn brown), such as apples and avocados, should be chopped and used at the last minute. Custards and curds should be covered with plastic wrap touching the surface so they don't develop a film on top.