Batch cooking ideas please

poodlehorse

Once you get the hang of this tonight have a look on here for burger recipes as there are loads of threads on same. You can add loads of different flavours to them to Heinz it up a bit and you can do it without egg and breadcrumbs if you don't have them in (I never use them just the mince and grated veggies and herbs). We'll have you investing in a burger press in no time.

I know you said you didn't like tomato but you mentioned a mincey type thing you used to eat at home and I thought of this recipe:

Italian Mince X4


½ lb mushrooms
tin condensed tomato soup
tin condensed mushroom soup
1 large onion
1 lb browned mince
Dash W Sauce
6 oz pasta shells, cooked
3oz grated cheese

Mix all ingredients together except cheese, top with grated cheese (you could add some crushed crips to this too) and cook covered at 350ºF for 1 hour.

poodlehorse

Or this one:

Chicken Divan
10oz cooked chicken
1 large tin Campbell’s chicken soup
1lb broccoli
1 cup mayonnaise
2 chopped onions
1 tbs Horseradish sauce
3oz grated cheese
1 pkt ready salted crisps

Boil broccoli for 3 minutes. Lay in bottom of lasagne dish. Fry onions and put over broccoli. Lay chicken on top. Mix mayo with soup and horseradish and pour over. Crush crisps and mix with cheese and sprinkle over. Bake 375ºF for 30-40 minutes 190ºC
Can make this up in morning and pop in oven when needed. Good for using up leftover chicken but if using raw then poach it in water until cooked then chop up. Freezes ok and very tasty.

I appreciate both these use canned soup as a sauce base and therefore not entirely from scratch but it is a quick way to get started.

Graham_Devon

My cheesy one is about 4 foot high. I couldn't get it any flatter while putting the cheese in.

Should be interesting getting me mouth around that one. Think I'll leave it to bake for an extra 4 hours.

All done now though and cooking. Got 10 burgers!

That was easy.

poodlehorse

Easy peasy, just remember the cheese will be VERY hot so watch when you are eating it and have a drink to three to hand. Yum, I might get one of my chilli burgers out of the freezer reading this thread. Slurp!

Graham_Devon

Ok, no photos, cus they look bloody awful.

The cheese one looks like it's exploded. Too much cheese me thinks.

But they do taste good! Just need to work on the appearance!

Graham_Devon

Well, that was nice. I don't think I will do that...ever again.

I saved my gormet burger until I had finished the first one, which, was erm, different.

Excitidly bit into it, no cheese, hmmm, like a jam doughnut, where is it. Half way through, I'm worried. So I split it up again. There is no cheese anywhere to be seen. It's all in a mess on the baking tray.

So, thats me through with cooking anything, ever again!!!

kittyscarlett

Graham, either check out the BBC good food magazine website or buy a copy of their latest magazine - some really good well tested recipes for at least 3 lovely soups suitable for freezing this month ( minestrone ( do you hate chpped tinned tomatoes or passata as an ingredient though ? ) , English Onion soup and honeyed carrot, plus a great recipe for spicey turkey burgers - all dead easy ) Really would advise you get a cheap wand blender - very easy to use and wash up - you can get em for under a tenner and you just stick it in a plastic beaker or even in the pan/bowl, no messing about with lidded containers etc. Makes pureeing down stuff for soup dead easy, also as I said, great for making dips, pates, shakes, smoothies etc - if you're tired, stuck for time and skint, whats easier than sticking a chopped up banana, a generous sploosh of milk and a spoonful of honey together and blending, you don't even have to chew !

I really will try and make some time to post or PM some recipes soonish but am b*ggered for time right now

kittyscarlett

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Well, that was nice. I don't think I will do that...ever again.

I saved my gormet burger until I had finished the first one, which, was erm, different.

Excitidly bit into it, no cheese, hmmm, like a jam doughnut, where is it. Half way through, I'm worried. So I split it up again. There is no cheese anywhere to be seen. It's all in a mess on the baking tray.

So, thats me through with cooking anything, ever again!!!

Grahame... cheese does melt... especially when cooked at high temperatures... you really needed to chill your mixture for a good while first for that inserted cheese thing to work.

For heavens sake, dont give up - yes a lot of us on OS are good cooks but we didn't spring like from the womb ya know ! Yes some of us had people that taught us, but a lot of the skills and knowledge have come from experience and we have all had our fair share of disasters, I promise you ! you need to keep on cooking, various things, over and over, until you learn how different foods behave under different circumstances. Don't get too ambitious, start off simple and basic, and KEEP GOING and don't get blinking well disheartened !!

skintlass

well said Kittyscarlet - experiment Grahame and if you don't like the results theres always cheese on toast to fall back on - thats what I do when my "creations" turn out wrong! When they turn out right I'm really proud and have a lovely meal and so will you

lindadykes

Remember that if there is only you, still make recipes that serve more than one and freeze the rest in those chinese cartons for another day.

Do try the streaky bacon well cooked until all the fat turns a sort of golden brown colour - I hate fat, nasty white slimy stuff, but love streaky bacon cooked till all the fat turns brown and crispy - kissened is what my mam called it.

Some of my quickest simplest recipes:

Put some pasta on to boil - depending on the shape it will take between 8-10 minutes, read the package to see how long.

1. Fry a chopped onion and some meat - i.e chicken, bacon or whatever else you fancy in a bit of olive oil - tip drained pasta into a bowl and and add the meat and onion mixture. Stir in a jar of pesto. Eat one portion - freeze the rest.

2. Pasta as above, but fry off any meat with garlic, onion and if you like mushrooms. Add a slug of white wine and a small carton of fresh cream. Take a desertspoonful of cornflour and mix to a smooth paste with a little water, add to the pan stirring all the time.

3.Nachos grande - Fry off some mince - that is put it in a frying pan and stir it around over a high heat until it all turns a brown colour. Add a finely chopped onion and a finely chopped clove of garlic. Add 1 teaspoon of chilli powder , 1/2 teaspoon of cummin, a tablespoon of tomato puree and about 1/4 pint water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Taste it and add salt/pepper and maybe even a pinch of sugar to taste. Meanwhile get a large shallow bowl and line it with tortilla chips. Take a small saucepan and two or three of the processed cheese slices that are used for cheeseburgers. add a little bit of milk and melt the cheese into the milk making sure thaat you stir continuosly. spoon the mince mixture over the corn chips and top with the cheese sauce.