We will be travelling for 2 weeks for Christmas and will arrive home on the new year’s eve around 10pm. Going to restaurant is out of questions with baggages and a pet. A quiet quick meal, a bit festive will be ideal. Last year, we arrived around the same time, and I have tried a few frozen prepared items from Picard, good looking but not very interesting in degustation. Any ideas to make something before leaving that I can freeze or keep in fridge for 2+week. Note that fresh ingredients will not be available, and shops will be closed on 1 Jan.
This is a great question, I’ll have to give it some more thought.
But my knee jerk reaction is a “heavy appetizer” style dinner (one of our favorite types). There are tons of appetizers that freeze really well (phyllo wrapped style comes to mind right away) and are easy to then just bake off and serve with some cheese and salami (both of which should last 2 weeks in the fridge).
Phyllo wrapped chicken: diced chicken, tarragon, a little mayo
Phyllo wrapped mushroom: mushroom duxelle, a little cheese of your choosing
Phyllo wrapped steak: minced steak, sauteed onion, a little mustard
(I’m sure a google search will come up with hundreds of recipes)
Get a little round of brie and do a baked brie along with that. A nice bottle of wine/champagne . . . . I’d be happy.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
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I’d add a jar of pate to Thimes’ cheese and salami to keep in the fridge. Make a nice soup for the freezer - it’ll warm through from frozen and will give the meal a homely touch.
Are you flying on this trip and returning to CdG? Does the airport have a small supermarket that might still be open when you arrive - for bread, fruit and anything else that may add to what I see as a picnic.
No, we are travelling by train. We will arrive at the train station at 9 pm, I guess most places will be closed. If we need certain things, we need to get that in the morning and travel with us home. Pate is interesting, I will probably look at that this week.
Soup is a good idea too, thinking of something seafood or scallop.
I make a quick shrimp with frozen shrimp, canned tomatoes and feta , which I serve with rice or orzo, in approximately 30 minutes. Quicker to the table than a frozen lasagna.
Phyllo wrapped beef roll is fantastic
Recipe was given to my very good friend, Salha (rip) , originally from Alexandria , Egypt a famous couture then, who escaped to UK, then to Paris and became a seamstress at Chanel. They were sponsored by a very nice Jewish family, came over to he US. She used to sew for me. I will always remember her baklava as well as this phyllo wrapped beefs used to serve.
I had made it many times for a crowd at work that I do not like to be frying spring rolls, but just pop into the cafeteria’s center top oven.
Here is a rough recipe, I tweak a bit
Brown ground beef, make sure they are not lump
drain, then add caramelized onions, garlic powder, S/P, a bit soy, a small amount of cider vinegar , add Evoo, taste. when cool, add olives, raisins ( I prefer craisins)
Assemble phyllo dough as though making baklava
Here is a savory recipe I just found for phyllo meat rolls
This wil show you how to assemble it
I take this to work, pop in the small oven and is always a hit!
I like butter because it comes out very very flaky and crunchy
as you see from the recipe enclosed, you can add cheese etc.
nah, you can take this on our short trip and wil be ready to eat in just 15-20 minutes! I have never froze them but I suppose you can as I was given a large box of sweet baklava from Sam’s Club for Xmas a couple of years ago. No Way U can eat that huge box. I froze it and from time to time, I would just take a piece out and eat frozen and it was still delicious. Here is about freezing baklava if you have to
So generally we would suggest that the Baklava is at its best if eaten within a day of being made. … To freeze , wrap the tin of baklava tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a double layer of foil. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature for 4-5 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Let me know how it turns out if you decide to try this.
HMMMM I might use my group duck when I have chance to get to store for net get together
Not frozen - linguine and clam sauce is fast and easy. Fast and pleasant after a day on the train.
Cooked chicken in the freezer, some shredded.
I’d bring bread and maybe berries home on the train from wherever you are visiting.
Breakfast on the 1st - omelets, bacon from the freezer, berries.
Lunch - chicken salad from the shredded. Onion will last 2 weeks in the pantry, celery in the fridge, carrots in the fridge. Mayonnaise should last but easy to make from eggs and oil, or just use a vinagrette.
Dinner - Chicken marsala or chicken piccante with frozen broccoli, dried mushrooms, canned corn and canned black bean salad.
Phyllo question, which is better? The phyllo wraps completely cooked with the pastry dough before freezing, or just whatever inside is cooked and wrap with the uncooked phyllo dough and toss into the freezer?
Hmmm, are duck confit legs a possibility for the freezer? Then you could make a quick batch of lentils for duck confit on lentils, which feels festive to me anyway.
I have also eaten codfish served atop a bed of lentils, and of course the fish could be frozen and thawed quickly.
Thought of this because I have a friend who tells me Italians eat lentils for luck at the New Year (the round shape recalls coins of money). I enjoy lentils, so I say to myself why not?
When I do phyllo apps, I cook the filling (especially if freezing), wrap filling in the raw phyllo with butter brushed between layers, then freeze (phyllo dough still raw). Then cook from frozen to crisp and brown the phyllo dough.
There are also countless shapes you can make (logs, squares, triangles, “bag shapes”, etc, etc) so that they are easy to tell apart once they are cooked.
spinach and feta (a la spanakopita) is another one I’ve done, forgot to mention above
My favorite last minute dessert . . . . chocolate fondue with assorted cookies/fruit/etc.
Chocolate and cream to make a ganache - serve individual portions in small cup/ramekin with assorted cookies (shortbread, tuiles, etc), marshmallows, fruit (since you’re gone for 2 weeks I may do oranges, bananas, pears - all of which should be okay slow ripening in the fridge while you’re gone).
and don’t underestimate what you can do with puff pastry last minute . . . always seems a little on the fancy side naturally
savory - roll it out a little, cut into two rectangles, spread some olive tapenade over one - top with the other piece, cut into bite sized squares, and bake
Palmiers - sweet or savory - freezes well, just bake off when ready. the sweet ones you could easily dip in the chocolate fondue above too
sweet - apples will keep well while you’re gone, can make a quick apple compote, top with a piece of puff pastry and bake off. the compote should freeze well too (or it is pretty quick to make once you’re home too).
I buy them uncooked in a sheet.
Here is a picture of the ones from Wegman’s ( grocery store to in my area but close to my work before I retired) but you can buy them fro other grocery stores. Her his a picture with instructions if you scroll down .
You are correct.
Looks fancy but not really,
I am now used to just buying spanakopita ( phyllo with spinach and feta) from Costco when they are on sale as my 2 babies absolutely adores them!
Frozen cheesecake
President’s Choice tiramisu is quite good. It’s available at the Loblaws/No Frills/Great Cdn Superstore chain in Canada, and possibly is carried by D’Agostino’s in NYC (other PC items used to be carried there) I’d think Wegmans has an equivalent or better frozen tiramisu.
I confess that when I have scraps of frozen pie dough, I cobble together a crostata with that leftover dough and use exceptionally nice jam as filling. Fig is a favorite of mine.
With a bit of ice cream, creme fraiche, or creme anglaise added as you may like when serving, you can have dessert practically on demand. A drizzle of caramel sauce is another agreeable option, depending on the filling you use.
