Caitríona Redmond: Batch cooking to save time later
Slow-Cooked Pork and Apples: delicious served with mashed potato
If you ask me, weekends are made for long lie-ins, walks in the park, snuggling on the sofa, reading a good book, listening to great music, and connecting with family and friends.
That sounds idyllic doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it bears zero resemblance to my life at the moment and it’s a very aspirational weekend.
Until recently my weekend batch-cooking consisted of a full day’s work in the kitchen from about 9.30am and finished around 4pm. However, weekend batch cooking freed up my time during the week. Time for ferrying the kids to and from their very many clubs and activities, more time to work, and more time off in the evenings. That all makes perfect sense to me as a busy working mother.
However, I threw a spanner in the works in early January when I took on part-time study. It turned out to be a little more intensive than I had bargained for including every Monday and Wednesday evening, and every second Saturday for a full day,as well as commuting to and from the college. That’s a lot of extra activity to factor into a busy week, so on the weekends when I was studying, I simply couldn’t face a full day in the kitchen on Sundays. It felt like I was either working or studying and there was no space in between for myself.
I’m sure that most people know what it feels like because sometimes when you reach the end of the working day, tackling the household chores and making dinner feels like more work — and unpaid work at that.
So I needed to come up with a new way to manage the meals. I’ve managed to get around this by using some clever hacks that have not increased the cost on the household but have reduced my stress.
Firstly, I keep a stash of varied frozen vegetables, such as onions, peppers, and garlic, on hand — all the base of great sauces. Next, I don’t fully cook all the meals that I batch cook at the weekend. One meal I prepare and cook from start to finish making a double portion one to eat today and one to save for another time in the future. Then another two meals I prepare with raw ingredients and package straight into a freezer-proof baking tray and cover. It’s easy to pull out the freezer meal and pop it into the oven or slow cooker knowing it’ll be cooked in time for dinner.
Now I have more time to myself on the weekends, and I have batch cooked meals for during the week. It’s a win-win situation and I continue to save money on my grocery budget.
If you were to ask me what products I splurge on rather than save on, it’s products that I know have longevity.
On a cost-per-use basis, kitchen utensils can be the hardest working pieces in your kitchen and therefore, you need to make sure they last.
Durability and protection is important in the kitchen because the more you use an item the more likely it is to come apart from wear and tear.
Think about pots and pans with stainless steel handles, or a sturdy lidded casserole dish that will withstand the rigours of cooking on a hob and high intensity heat in the oven.
While buying a new cast iron casserole dish might cost you more than €60 for decent enough quality, on a cost-per-use basis it will pay you back in spades.
I keep a small savings pot for replacing and maintaining my kit and add €2 in change into it every week. It’s enough to keep my equipment ticking over and up to the tasks at hand.
Slow-Cooked Pork and Apples
A slow-cooking classic, perfect for doing up in batches.
Servings
4Preparation Time
20 minsCooking Time
4 hours 30 minsTotal Time
4 hours 50 minsCourse
MainIngredients
500ml cider (perry which is made from pears would work well here too)
500g onions, peeled and finely sliced
500g apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into small chunks
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp plain flour
1 pinch each of paprika, cracked black pepper and sea salt
1 tbsp cooking oil (I use olive oil)
500g chopped pork pieces
Method
Slow cooker method
Make sure your slow cooker is turned off at the start. Put the cider, onions, apples, garlic and Worcestershire sauce into the slow cooker. Stir well so that all the ingredients inside are coated by the cider. This will prevent the apple chunks from browning. Put the lid on and turn the slow cooker on high.
Put the plain flour and seasonings (paprika, salt and pepper) onto a plate and combine together. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium. Once it has reached heat. Dust the pork with the flour mixture. Fry the pork on the frying pan in batches until they are golden on each side. Once golden pop the pork straight into the slow cooker.
When all the pork is in the slow cooker; give it a final stir to make sure everything is coated with the liquid. Cook on high for 4 hours.
Serve with mashed potato.
Casserole dish method
Note: You will need to ensure you have a secure lid for the top of the dish. This method uses both the oven and the hob.
Place a large, heavy bottomed casserole dish on top of the hob. Put the cider, onions, apples, garlic and Worcestershire sauce into the dish. Stir well so that all the ingredients inside are coated by the cider. This will prevent the apple chunks from browning. Turn the hob on medium.
Put the plain flour and seasonings (paprika, salt and pepper) onto a plate and combine together. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium. Once it has reached heat. Dust the pork pieces with the flour mixture by patting each side onto the plate. Fry the pork pieces on the frying pan in batches of 4 until they are golden on each side. Once golden pop them straight into the casserole dish.
When all the pork is in the dish; give it a final stir to make sure everything is coated with the liquid and bring to a simmer on the hob. Turn your oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Once the oven has reached temperature, put the lid back onto the dish carefully transfer the dish into the oven.
Cook in the oven for 3hrs, 30 mins.
