Good morning. I have three freezers in my house. One is at the bottom of the fridge in my kitchen; one is at the top of another fridge in my pantry; and there’s a chest freezer in the basement that’s deeper than it is wide, which means the stuff at the bottom needs to be periodically excavated. I did that recently, and among the ground turkey, sausages and chicken thighs, I found a package of pig trotters, a lamb heart and a bag of chopped suet. This all needs to be cooked sometime in the very near future — but not, I don’t think, into the same dish.
I also defrosted some lamb shoulder, which I braised with olives and tomatoes. We’ve eaten about half of it, and I’ll pack the rest into containers and return it to the freezer for future meals. It’s this kind of freezer economy that helps me live my best cooking life.
Curry chicken and rice is always nice
I wouldn’t put Genevieve Ko’s new recipe for baked curry chicken and rice in the freezer. The potatoes and coconut cream sauce probably wouldn’t defrost well. But there’s a good chance you won’t have any leftovers to freeze, anyway. With its tender pieces of chicken and vegetables seasoned with turmeric and soy sauce, this one will be gone in a flash. You can read more about her dish here.
View this recipe: Baked curry chicken and rice
Recipes for your week
A trustworthy, never-fail dinner is always worth its weight in gold. That’s especially true this time of year, when calendars move from busy to Busy. Here are five five-star recipes that our readers lean on (and many of them are freezer friendly).
And before you go
Last time I was in Asheville, N.C., I had a terrific meal at Cúrate, the tapas bar that Katie Button founded with Félix Meana. Katie just published a cookbook called “Spanish Accent” (written with Kate Heddings) that combines Spanish classics with the American favorites she grew up with. On my list to make: orzo with garlicky shrimp and sherry; asparagus with marcona almond cream sauce; and pumpkin flan, an autumnal take on her more traditional flan de leche.
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back on Saturday.
Melissa Clark has been writing about food for The New York Times since 1997 and is the author of 46 cookbooks. You can reach her at hellomelissa@nytimes.com.
Editors: Mia Leimkuhler and Li Goldstein. Host photo by Melanie Dunea. For help with your New York Times Cooking subscription, please email cookingcare@nytimes.com. Was this email forwarded to you? You can sign up for our New York Times Cooking newsletter here.
