Sally’s Kitchen & Stuff

We all do it. Sure, we might have company over by 7:30 pm, but here we are, frazzled and just barely home by 6. Whatever should we do? We open the freezer.

What can we do to make frozen delights (ICK!) taste more delectable?

Vegetables
Turn the heat right up in a skillet, use two spoons of oil and a bit of butter spray. Add seasalt, a clove of REAL garlic, and saute until thawed. Then add chicken broth until cooked. If something goes awry and you have mushy overcooked veggies, puree it and use it as a sauce for your entree.

Appertizer - Meatballs
Panfry them! Forget the spaghetti and sauce and serve it with something off beat like soysauce + fish sauce + ginger + green onions.

Entree (uh oh. Now we’re in trouble.)
Steaks will take you an hour to defrost, but will only take you 15 minutes to grill. If you have less time than that, go with chicken. 20 Minutes defrost (use warm running water - not hot), then it’s a cinch to fry / saute / grill. If you’re using frozen pre-cooked chicken, add seasalt and crushed garlic.

And whatever you do, DON’T EVEN think about using a "frozen entree" where you just stick it in the oven. They’re undisguisable. If you must use pre-packaged stuff, use something that comes with separate packages of sauce. Just substitute your own and your friends won’t be able to tell the difference. If anything says "add water," add wine or chicken broth.

Dessert
This one’s tricky. Too elaborate and people will know that it came out of a wrapper. Pick something that is easy to make in the first place (apple blossoms is a good choice) and top with fresh fruits / real whipped cream. Don’t try to pass off the frozen New York cheesecake as your own.

And that, is this week’s lesson (hard-earned by yours truly) on "if you don’t have time for it, fake it."

Yes, nobody noticed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Sally's Kitchen Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.