‘Defrost and dump’: gradual cooker recipes for the time-poor | Australian foods and drinks

One among our favorite methods of utilising our treasured time is to make a meal recent and prep a freezer bag of raw components on the identical time.

For instance, whereas making Mongolian lamb for dinner, you can even make a bag of the raw marinade and freeze it. So when you understand that you just received’t have time to prepare dinner, you may defrost and dump the freezer bag into the gradual cooker with little to no different prep.

Whereas gradual cooking takes many hours, it requires solely a small quantity of preparation time earlier within the day. Plus, cooking meat, greens and sauce multi function pot – like these recipes under – considerably cuts down on the washing up.

Learn how to defrost a dump bag

Defrosting meals safely is as essential as safely making ready your meals.

• Take away your dump bag or leftovers out of your freezer and place them within the fridge the day earlier than you intend to prepare dinner them, at a temperature decrease than 5C. Make sure the contents have totally defrosted earlier than cooking.

• Maintain defrosted meals within the fridge, for now not than 24 hours, till you’re able to prepare dinner or reheat it. If you’re reheating leftovers or defrosted frozen meals within the microwave or on the stovetop, stir intermittently to make sure they’ve been reheated appropriately and evenly.

• In case you have cooked frozen pies, lasagnes or pasta bakes from the freezer, guarantee the center has cooked completely and to an applicable temperature – it’s possible you’ll want to permit extra cooking time than you’ll if cooking them recent.

Mongolian lamb

We recommend utilizing extra reasonably priced lamb shank meat when it’s available. As this meal is gently gradual cooked you may attempt totally different meats with equally good outcomes: hen thighs, beef rump or sirloin, and even pumpkin for a vegetarian possibility.

Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 3 hrs
Serves 4 (plus a dump bag for the freezer)

500g lamb shank meat, lower into 2cm strips
2 tbsp cornflour
¼ tsp Chinese language 5 spice
1 brown onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 spring onions, finely chopped, plus additional to serve
2 tbsp salt-reduced soy sauce
60ml hoisin sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or mirin
1 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp sesame oil (optionally available)
Steamed brown rice (or rice of your alternative), to serve
Steamed Asian greens, to serve
Toasted sesame seeds, to serve (optionally available)

Place the sliced lamb within the bowl of a gradual cooker. Sprinkle over the cornflour and Chinese language 5 spice and toss to coat. Add all different components besides the sesame oil. Pour over 180ml water and stir to mix the components and submerge the meat.

Cowl and prepare dinner on low for 3 hours. Test the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened, and prepare dinner for an extra half-hour if required. Stir by way of the sesame oil if desired.

Serve with rice and steamed greens, and sprinkle with sliced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds if desired.

To make a dump bag, double your components and place half of them in an hermetic container or freezer bag with air expelled. Freeze for as much as two months, thaw when wanted, and observe the recipe from step one to prepare dinner. Leftover Mongolian lamb could be saved within the fridge for as much as two days, or particular person parts frozen in hermetic containers for as much as two months.

Butter hen

Prep 25 min
Cook dinner 2-4 hrs (relying on gradual cooker setting)
Serves 6-8

1 tbsp tomato paste (with no added salt)
200g passata
270ml tin coconut milk or cream
1kg hen thigh fillets, lower into 2.5cm items

For the onion and spice combine (halve the components if making ready solely the recent model and never the dump bag)
80g ghee
2 small brown onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm piece ginger, finely grated
1½ tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp floor cumin
1 tbsp floor turmeric
3 tsp paprika
3 tsp floor coriander
1 tsp floor cinnamon
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder (or a gentle chilli powder), to style (optionally available)
1 tsp salt (optionally available)

Further dump bag components
1 tbsp tomato paste (with no added salt)
200g passata
270ml tin coconut milk or cream
1kg hen thigh fillets, lower into 2.5cm items

To serve
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice (optionally available)
Basmati rice, naan or roti
Greek-style yoghurt (optionally available)
Steamed inexperienced greens

For the onion and spice combine, soften the ghee in a heavy-based saucepan over medium–low warmth. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes or till softened, being cautious to not brown an excessive amount of. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for an extra minute.

Add all of the spices, and salt, if utilizing, together with 125ml water to the saucepan and stir for 3 to 5 minutes till aromatic and the combination resembles a paste. Decrease the warmth and add a contact extra water if the spices begin to burn or keep on with the underside of the pan. Flip off the warmth and permit the combination to chill barely.

Switch half the combination right into a gradual cooker. Set the remaining onion and spice combination apart to arrange the dump bag.

Add the tomato paste, passata, coconut milk or cream and hen to the gradual cooker and blend effectively. Cowl and prepare dinner on low for 4 hours, or on excessive for 2 hours.

Flip off the warmth, stir by way of the lemon or lime juice (if utilizing) and serve with basmati rice, naan or roti, yoghurt and a few steamed greens.

To make a dump bag, place the reserved onion and spice combination and the dump bag components in an hermetic container or freezer bag with air expelled. Freeze for as much as two months. You may freeze this with out the hen, so as to add recent when able to prepare dinner your ready dump bag. To prepare dinner, add the complete dump bag contents into the bowl of the gradual cooker, cowl and prepare dinner on low for 4 hours, or excessive for 2 hours.

Leftover cooked curry could be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as two days, or frozen for as much as two months.