The Ice Kitchen. Shivi Ramoutar
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We are all time-strapped, wallet-wary, environmentally aware and mindful of what we consume, while still wanting to enjoy exciting, flavoursome homemade meals at the drop of a hat. Basically we want it all. And you know what? We can have it all!
Freezers (and their contents) have long been deemed unfashionable and retro, bringing to mind highly processed, ice-burned or long-forgotten meals (who knows exactly what that was?) that inevitably get thrown out after being discovered in the frozen-pea-scattered, over-iced depths a few years down the line.
Let me introduce you to The Ice Kitchen Method of cooking, eating and (if it isn’t too over the top to say) of living! All the hard work and planning has been done for you: you will rarely need scales to measure out ingredients; there will be no waste; there is always a use for that random carrot/chicken breast/lemon half; you’ll be able to tailor meals to your fussy child/partner/guest; and dishes will be packed with vegetables, goodness and flavour. You’ll learn to cook once and eat twice; avoid expensive, often insipid, and likely nutritionally poor takeaways and instead indulge in simply delicious meals that are wholesome, homemade, cost-effective and quick, and where you know exactly what has gone into your food. All this is possible within that icy realm of the kitchen that we all already have … the freezer!
According to an Open Access Government article with research carried out by Gousto, £494 million worth of food is thrown out every week in the UK (about eight meals a week per household, says WRAP), with vegetables topping the list. Over a third of us forget what we have bought in our weekly shop and usually cook too much food. A fifth of us throw out food because we don’t plan our meals properly. Freezers are the perfect tool for reducing this monumental food waste and making it easier to meal plan. According to WRAP, using frozen food can reduce household food waste by as much as 47 per cent.
Freezers are also the way forward for making your shopping cost-effective, as you can buy produce in bulk (which tends to be cheaper than buying smaller-packaged quantities) and cook larger batches of meals to freeze for future use, thus making the cost per person per meal cheaper overall.
Freezers make the most of seasonal produce, which again tends to be cheaper when bought at the right time of year. When you can bulk-buy and freeze food, either by cooking into a meal, or by freezing individual ingredients when they are fresh (vegetables and berries, for example), you’ll end up in the advantageous position of being able to extend food’s seasonality, enjoying it for many more months without the air miles of imported produce!
Freezing food locks in its nutritional value. Using the freezer to store ingredients and meals literally presses ‘pause’ on fresh food; taking something out of the freezer presses ‘play’, meaning that you can enjoy that ingredient or meal at a time convenient to you, with the same level of nutritional value as the day that you froze it! In some form or another, most of us already have this perfect preservation tool already taking up space in our kitchen.
Given our busy, time-strapped lifestyles it makes so much sense to utilise this clever tool to ensure you get delicious, fulfilling and wholesome meals, without the effort: make a meal once and eat from it at least twice! What’s not to love about having a range of delicious, tailored-to-your-tastes meals for the whole family (whatever this means to you) right at your fingertips, whether during the mad midweek rush, or the relaxed feasting of the weekend?
Given that most of us have a freezer, it really surprises me that so few of us really know how to make the most of it, how to use it properly, or just feel comfortable enough with the freezing and defrosting process. Food from the freezer doesn’t have to mean fish fingers, cardboard-textured pizza and potato waffles. Yes, it’s great for storing leftover bolognese and other comforting feasts, but it can also be a clever tool to give you so much more. Nearly every meal in The Ice Kitchen can be cooked straight from frozen so no need to plan ahead.
The Ice Kitchen Method is all about putting this right! You will find chapters filled with deliciously simple breakfast and brunch ideas (from humble sweet oats to decadent savouries); exciting meals and flavoursome snacks that go from freezer to table, perfect for weekend feasting and midweek eating; complete ready-made meals for those days that you only have time to open and close your freezer and oven door; puds and iced treats that you won’t want to live without; and hacks, solve-all sauces and bases that can transform into a rainbow of quick meals, making life (and preparing a gorgeous homemade meal) that little bit easier. Let’s face it, we ALL deserve that. Think warming, freezer-to-table earthy one-pots, decadent puds, cool desserts, fresh (yes!) brunches and, my personal favourite, the Salvation section: pure ‘saucery’ via ready-to-go sauces (some bagged and some frozen into ice-cube portions) along with clever bases that you need to have stashed in your freezer. These can be transformed into a host of dishes, with ingredients of your choice for quick-fix midweek magic meals. And my Salvation Suppers: Feasts-in-Foil are exactly that: complete ‘ready meals’ that you can put together and enjoy with all the ease of shop-bought ready meals but without the unnecessary additives and excess salt, sugar or fat.
Harking from a Caribbean background of writing tropical carnival-coloured recipes choc-a-block with flavour, it should come as no surprise that this book contains recipes that are packed with some subtle (and not so subtle) inspiration from across the globe.
At the same time, it also celebrates those lovely homely recipes that also have an important place in my life – like a quick pot pie, eaten on the sofa under a blanket when the dreaded sniffles rear their head, or, for those that know me and my obsession with ice cream, my ultimate ice cream sandwich (for any occasion!).
Having recently welcomed a second (very hungry!) son into my family, now more than ever I find I need swift, but nonetheless happy-making food that is packed with goodness, flavour, convenience and comfort – in every sense of that word. The Ice Kitchen wholly represents the way I cook and eat, from midweek meals to weekend feasts for my family, friends or sometimes just for me (in those rare moments that I catch myself alone at mealtimes!). I do also try to do my bit for the environment, making the best efforts to avoid wasting food, eating seasonally, (where possible) and using up whatever we have in the kitchen first, before resorting to buying more ingredients (often referred to as a fridge forage – what a superb term!). It’s also a fantastically cost-effective way to eat!
In the light of the above, I like to make food that can easily be switched up to take into account what ingredients I do have immediately available; food that can be tailored for children and fussy eaters (young and old alike, I may add); and more importantly, food that is full of flavour. The recipes are to inspire your own versions of freezer meals, so feel free to twist recipes, change ingredients and experiment with flavours. And when I say freezer meals, dispel that image of grey pre-packaged meals; I am talking about a rainbow-coloured, flavour-riddled array of breakfasts and brunches, meals that go beyond lasagnes and bolognese, sharing snacks, clever midweek freezer hacks, puds and cold desserts for you to paw over. Delicious food that just happens to be perfect for the freezer, and thus perfect for simple but satisfying dining.
There are handy guidelines in many of the recipes to help you make the dishes entirely your own, so you can use up those last few sad-looking vegetables lurking in your fridge, swap the pork mince for that beef that needs using up, or simply change the vibe of a dish from a traditional British flavour to a sun-drenched tropical one with the addition of a few spices.
I hope this book lets you realise the amazing capabilities of your freezer. and how it can transform your weekday meals, weekend feasts and everything in between. By simply learning a few tricks and tips and understanding how truly easy it is to use this resource (one that pretty much all of us already have in our homes), you will make