Help!! I need good meals that can be frozen ASAP

[Joey Moss]

A co-worker of mine who is on maternity leave taking care of her two and a half month old just got diagnosed with cancer. The only thing that her husband requested is help with food. Now what, besides lasagna, are good meals that can be frozen?

[Headhunter]

Soups are good.

Easy to make, and easy to put in several smaller containers for easy defrosting/cooking.

I just made a monster batch of Gumbo this week-end and split it into several samller containers for easy access.

[Mikey]

chili

it's sort of like soup, but not really

[Headhunter]

Chopped beef also works well. We'll do a brisket from time to time, chop it, mix in some good BBQ sauce and then split into those little glad containers. Each container is a good sized BBQ Beef Sammich worth. It microwaves pretty well. Just add bun and pickle and you're set.

[Mikey]

ice cream

[BBMarley]

Eggplant Parm is easy to make and good to freeze.

Bread the eggplant, fry it then flash freeze it. After they start to harden up, seal em and then put tme back in the freezer. When ready to eat, just thaw the eggplant, make some pasta- throw some gravy & cheese on that bitch and you're ready to go

[BBMarley]

Soups are good.

Easy to make, and easy to put in several smaller containers for easy defrosting/cooking.

I just made a monster batch of Gumbo this week-end and split it into several samller containers for easy access.

HH- any chance of getting your Gumbo recipe? Been looking for a good one... but haven't been able to find any

[Headhunter]

Sure. This isn't exact, I improvise a lot when making, but this will get you going in the right direction.

Gumbos are easy to make. They just take some time to make.

1st, start with a good roux.

1 cup of oil, heated to almost smoking in a cast iron skillet or non-reactive pan. Make sure to heat on medium or lower temperature. You burn the roux, and you'll be making a pot of shit!
1 cup of sifted all purpose flour.

Stir constantly until the roux is the color of chocolate. This is going to take some time. About an hour. Don't half ass it either and let it sit. Stir that fucker constantly. You'll want a roux of uniformed color and consistency. turn off the heat, and transfer to a large stock pot. Keep stirring without any heat.

Now add about 2 cups yellow onions
a cup of chopped celery.
5-7 cloves of freshly chopped garlic
If you like bell peppers, add them here. I'm not a big fan, so I leave them out.
Same with Okra. I like it, so I put in about a pound.

Turn your heat on to low and stir the veggies until soft (3-5 minutes)

If you got shrimp stock, use it...If not add about 4 cups of chicken stock slowly, your roux will start to lump up in places so stir constantly while adding.

Here's where you go off on your own. Depending what type of Gumbo/seafood you like and whether the crowd you're cooking for likes spicy stuff.. Here's what I do

1/2 Tablespoon Cayenne
1/2 Tablespoon dried oregeno
1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 Tablespoon pepper (I like white for this, but if using black make sure to grind it fine)
2 tablespoons barley (optional)

Simmer for an hour.

1 pound Andouille sausage cut into 1/2 in chunks and skillet cooked in a hot pan. I like to get the cooked texture on the sausage. If you can't get andouille, any sausage will work, but don't buy the real greasy cheap shit like ekridge.

Simmer for another hour.

No we go into seafood.

I'll usually make a gumbo after a crab boil, So I have lots of crab meat. Make sure you pick it clean for cartlidge. They sell it pre-picked in the seafood section if you don't have whole crabs. When I buy the cans, I put two of the claw meat in a gumbo. Still go over it before adding.

Two pounds (Or more) pealed and deveined shrimp. I like the larger jumbo shrimp for gumbo.

If you want clams, or oysters add them at the same time as the shrimp. I'll often toss some little bay scallops in as well, but it seems like a waste for the jumbo sea scallops. But add them here if you want.

Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve over white rice with Gumbo File to add on the side.

That's a good starter gumbo that you can play with. It's not very spicy, and the ingredients are readily available.

Also, the slower you cook it the better. Just not the seafood. Make sure to cook the roux for at least two hours after you've added the stock to it, otherwise you get a floury taste. I usually take about 8 hours time from start to finish to make this. It's not all work, just mostly simmer time.

Let me know if you cook it!

[BBMarley]

Sure. This isn't exact, I improvise a lot when making, but this will get you going in the right direction.

Gumbos are easy to make. They just take some time to make.

1st, start with a good roux.

1 cup of oil, heated to almost smoking in a cast iron skillet or non-reactive pan. Make sure to heat on medium or lower temperature. You burn the roux, and you'll be making a pot of shit!
1 cup of sifted all purpose flour.

Stir constantly until the roux is the color of chocolate. This is going to take some time. About an hour. Don't half ass it either and let it sit. Stir that fucker constantly. You'll want a roux of uniformed color and consistency. turn off the heat, and transfer to a large stock pot. Keep stirring without any heat.

Now add about 2 cups yellow onions
a cup of chopped celery.
5-7 cloves of freshly chopped garlic
If you like bell peppers, add them here. I'm not a big fan, so I leave them out.
Same with Okra. I like it, so I put in about a pound.

Turn your heat on to low and stir the veggies until soft (3-5 minutes)

If you got shrimp stock, use it...If not add about 4 cups of chicken stock slowly, your roux will start to lump up in places so stir constantly while adding.

Here's where you go off on your own. Depending what type of Gumbo/seafood you like and whether the crowd you're cooking for likes spicy stuff.. Here's what I do

1/2 Tablespoon Cayenne
1/2 Tablespoon dried oregeno
1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 Tablespoon pepper (I like white for this, but if using black make sure to grind it fine)
2 tablespoons barley (optional)

Simmer for an hour.

1 pound Andouille sausage cut into 1/2 in chunks and skillet cooked in a hot pan. I like to get the cooked texture on the sausage. If you can't get andouille, any sausage will work, but don't buy the real greasy cheap shit like ekridge.

Simmer for another hour.

No we go into seafood.

I'll usually make a gumbo after a crab boil, So I have lots of crab meat. Make sure you pick it clean for cartlidge. They sell it pre-picked in the seafood section if you don't have whole crabs. When I buy the cans, I put two of the claw meat in a gumbo. Still go over it before adding.

Two pounds (Or more) pealed and deveined shrimp. I like the larger jumbo shrimp for gumbo.

If you want clams, or oysters add them at the same time as the shrimp. I'll often toss some little bay scallops in as well, but it seems like a waste for the jumbo sea scallops. But add them here if you want.

Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve over white rice with Gumbo File to add on the side.

That's a good starter gumbo that you can play with. It's not very spicy, and the ingredients are readily available.

Also, the slower you cook it the better. Just not the seafood. Make sure to cook the roux for at least two hours after you've added the stock to it, otherwise you get a floury taste. I usually take about 8 hours time from start to finish to make this. It's not all work, just mostly simmer time.

Let me know if you cook it!

Thanks man... I might make this on Saturday... I'll let you know hwo it turns out

[Joey Moss]

Awesome. Thanks alot.