Roast Chicken Stock

Fresh chicken stock is a staple in my freezer, because the store bought stock powders have so many strange ingredients and doesn't taste nearly as good. I use stock for a whole range of things, including seasoning mince meat (cook it down so that the liquid boils down), soups, stews, casseroles and risotto (a favourite of mine).

Stock is extremely easy to make and if you're not picky, you can basically make it from whatever you have in your fridge and cupboard.

The easiest stock is plain vegetable stock which contains whatever vegetables you like, although I recommend onions, celery and carrots as a base. You can even make stock with vegetable peelings. Just dump the veggies in a large pot and top up with water, bring to the boil and simmer for an hour. Done.

But I like a richer stock and my favourite is chicken stock. I used to make it with just leftover chicken bones or a carcass and veggies (and there's nothing wrong with that), but now I've found a flavourful recipe.

Ingredients:

6 - 12 chicken wings (more means more flavour)

2 onions

2 - 5 garlic cloves, bruised

1 leftover chicken carcass (optional)

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

Season and roast the chicken wings in the oven. Meanwhile sauté the onion in a large pot until it starts to caramelize. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and continue to sauté until the vegetables are soft.

Add the chicken carcass (if using) and roasted wings to the pot. 

Deglaze* the roasting pan with water or simply scrape out as much of the sauces and bits into the pot and top up the pot with more water.

Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and leave to simmer for up to 2 hours.

Once done, strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or muslin and discard solids. 

Let the stock cool before placing it in the refrigerator. The fat with solidify on top and make it easy to scoop out before transferring to freezer bags or containers. Remember to mark the containers clearly.

To make beef stock, substitute the chicken wings and carcass with beef soup bones or bone-in stewing beef.

The great thing about stock is that you can play around with the ingredients until you find a combination that you love, but you can also whip it up with whatever you have on hand, making it cheap and easy to make and always have fresh stock on hand.

You can also season stock the way you like: salt, pepper, bay leaves, rosemary, oregano, etc. Some people prefer not to season stock at all so that they can play around with the seasoning of the dish they use it in eventually. I always season mine with salt and pepper.

*Deglazing: heat the pan and add some liquid (water, wine, etc) while stirring and scraping to loosen all the fragrant pieces and juices left in the pan.

Bolognese Sauce

This is a lovely sauce that is used in a lot of Italian dishes. You can use it for just about any pasta dish. Or toss it with pasta as it is and it's a meal. So easy! That's why (and because my husband loves it) I keep lots of it in my freezer.

Recently Bolognese sauce evolved to be a tomato based meat sauce, while if you look at its history, you'll learn that it is a meat sauce that is supposed to be flavoured with some tomato. We all know it as a red sauce, but in fact it's not supposed to have that much tomato in it at all. That's if you want it to be authentic, of course.
I've adapted my old tomato-packed recipe so that it more closely resembles the authentic recipe.

Ingredients
olive oil (for frying)
1 cup chopped bacon
4 cups chopped onion
3 cups grated carrot
2 cups chopped celery
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2kg mince meat (preferably beef)
4 bay leaves
3 cans tomato or about 10 large tomatoes
1 cup red wine
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the bacon until cooked through. Turn the heat down to medium low and add the onions, carrots and celery. Sauté until the onions are soft. Add the tomatoes. If you are using fresh tomatoes, let them soften, otherwise just let them heat through before blending it until smooth. Set aside.
Using the same pot, add cooking fat of your choice and the mince meat. Stir-fry until the meat starts to brown and add the tomato base back into the pot. Add the wine, bay leaves, salt and pepper and stir.
Turn the heat down to low and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.
Check the seasoning and adjust f needed before you leave it to cool for freezing.

And there you have it! (Almost) Authentic bolognese sauce! Use it with just about any pasta dish you can imagine, like layering a lovely lasagna. It's perfect for those days when you really don't know what to cook: just thaw, cook some pasta, mix and serve.

Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is a tomato based sauce from southern Italy. It is lovely just as is with pasta and parmesan or it can dress up numerous other dishes.

Tip: to make cheat's Bolognese sauce, mix some of the freezer mince with marinara sauce.

Ingredients
4kg tomatoes (fresh (chopped) or canned)
4 cups diced onions
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups diced celery
4-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste

Sauté the onions, carrots and celery in a large pot, adding the garlic once they start to soften. Once the onion mix is soft and fragrant, add the tomatoes and seasoning, put the lid on and let the tomatoes simmer on low-medium heat. If you're using canned tomatoes, just let everything heat through. When the tomatoes are soft (about 10-20min), transfer the mixture to a blender in batches, or blitz with a stick blender until smooth.
Return to the pot and simmer on low heat with the lid on for 30-60min. This just intensifies the flavour and softens the texture even more. Remove form the heat and let cool to room temperature before dividing into containers to freeze. I like storing my marinara sauce in 1 cup containers.

Note: You can spice up your marinara sauce by adding some wine (red or white), italian herbs, olives, red peppers, chillis, beetroot and other veggies you may find on sale or have in the fridge. Just keep in mind that the colour of the vegetables will effect the colour of your sauce. I recommend sticking to reds, oranges and purples and avoiding greens.

Meatballs

Another staple in my freezer. Meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked first and then frozen. Either way, they are easy and quick for any meal. I like putting raw meatballs in the slow cooker with whatever sauce I want and the meatballs turn out delicious, juicy and very soft.

Ingredients
3kg mince meat
2 cups grated carrots
3 cups diced onions
2 cups diced celery
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten
6t salt
pepper and other seasonings to taste

You'll notice that this recipe is just about the same as my mince meat recipe, it only adds eggs. For this reason I sometimes mix everything together, except the eggs, and split into two: one for meatballs, one for the meatballs and add the eggs to the meatball mix. This significantly cuts down on my preparation time and makes it all easier to handle.

Mix all the ingredients together and roll into balls. You can decide how big they should be.
Place the balls onto a baking tray. You can either put them in the oven now to cook or place them in the freezer until frozen. Once frozen, transfer to freezer bags. This helps to only pick out the few meatballs you need instead of thawing the whole batch at once.
If you decide to bake, place the meatballs in the oven at 180 C (350 F) for 25-45 min (depending on how big the meatballs are). Let them cool completely before freezing.

Notes: Play around with the recipe. You can add more vegetables, add parmesan, maybe roll the meatballs around a block of mozzarella for a gooey, cheesy centre, and so on. Be creative! Cooking could be or become a chore if you don't make it fun for yourself.
Kids can help rolling the meatballs - get them involved in the cooking process and help them learn how fun and delicious it is to make your own food.

Mince Meat - updated

My first freezer staple is cooked mince. I use this for a whole range of dishes like lasagna, bobotie, chilli con carne, pasta, stuffed peppers, spanish rice, and so on. It's perfect for those quick cooking days. See my quick meals at the bottom of the post.
For my mince I use beef and sometimes add 1/3 pork, but you can use chicken, lamb, turkey or any other mince you like.

Ingredients
2kg mince meat
2 cups grated carrots
2 chopped onions
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)
3t salt
pepper & other seasonings to taste
olive oil or cooking fat of your choice
2-3 cups broth (optional)

I like to make the veggies almost undetectable since I have a picky one-year-old. There are two ways to do this: either chop the veggies really finely beforehand (use a food processor) or sauté roughly chopped veggies and dump in a blender afterwards.

Heat a large pan on medium heat and add the oil or fat and vegetables. Sauté the vegetables until tender and fragrant. Scoop out into a large bowl and return the pan to the heat. Brown the meat in batches, making sure to season every batch. Finally, mix the cooked meat and vegetables together and taste it to make sure that it is seasoned to your liking. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

I found that broth really makes the meat moist, tender and taste incredible, but it is up to you if you want to go through the extra trouble (which is not difficult or hands on, it just takes time). Add the broth to the meat and veggie mixture in a large stockpot, stir to combine and leave on med-high heat to reduce. It is ready when the liquid no longer pools on top and when there is no runny liquid when stirring through.
I try to make all my at-hand food to be as nutritionally dense as possible, because my one-year-old eats very little. That is why all my food is packed with veggies and the broth I use is homemade bone broth.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature before dividing it into freezer bags or bowls. I like storing mine in 500g portions for ease of use later.

To use later, pull the amount you need out of the freezer and thaw (it can be defrosted in the microwave). That's it! Easy!

Notes: You can add any other vegetables as well. Onions, carrots and celery give an amazing flavour to the meat and it also makes it moist. Check your refrigerator for vegetables that will go bad before you can use it or buy some on special. Good choices include spinach, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, eggplant, grated potatoes, etc.
If you're on a tight budget, you can also stretch the meat further with oatmeal. I recommend using about  half a cup per 500g meat. If you use more, it could take over.

Quick meals using the mince meat
Bolognaise Sauce: Add a can of chopped tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar if you want.
Shephard's Pie: Add some peas to the mince, place in a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. Bake in the oven if you like.
Chilli Con Carne: Add a can of mixed beans (and/or corn or chickpeas), dried or fresh chillies to taste and taco seasoning. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream or greek yoghurt, spring onions and cheddar cheese.
Spanish Rice: Add cooked rice, bacon bits and spring onions.