Caitriona Redmond: Can you freeze rice and the best way to batch cook to save money

Batch cooking may sound incredibly time-consuming but actually you’re giving yourself the gift of time back on another day

Can you freeze cooked rice?

As last weekend was the last few days before the kids went back to school (and I welcomed glorious interruption-free time), I set up the kitchen for a huge batch cook. I love to batch cook at the weekends because it sets me up for the week ahead and takes all the speculation out of our meals and snacks. It also saves my wallet from trips to the supermarket to pick up ‘messages’. The messages are like a magical charm that start off with a curt list of bread and milk for example and multiply into cushions, pots for the garden, a scented candle, and the loud sound of my bank balance hitting the wall.

Batch cooking can seem very intimidating if you’ve never tried it before. It may sound incredibly time-consuming but actually, you’re giving yourself the gift of time back on another day. There are three main ways of batch cooking and I definitely prefer the third option as it takes so much less time and it’s easy to slot into at least one meal a week.

Firstly, there is dedicated batch cooking (as I did) where you set aside time to cook or prepare several meals in advance. Secondly, there is item cooking where you focus on a single ingredient, such as rice, and swiftly make at least one set for use on another day.

Finally, there is the easiest method where you simply make double quantities of your meal, serve half, and then store half. So if you’re making a roast chicken dinner, buy a large chicken instead of a medium chicken (the larger size chicken is better value), peel twice as many spuds, and prepare twice as many vegetables. Making beef bolognese for dinner? Make twice as much of the sauce or you can try my recipe below.

When it comes to storing all of this wonderfully prepared food I don’t recommend any particular brand of box; the most important thing is that the tubs you use have a tight seal and that you leave about 20% of the air in the top of the container so that you allow for expansion in the freezer. Freezer bags are also fine but don’t throw them away after one use. Wash the bags, dry them and use them again.

Remember

One meal of leftovers in the freezer is one less meal you have to cook another day. Plus, it’s easily reheated so you won’t get caught out looking at takeaway menus. There is nothing wrong with eating leftovers the following day either so you don’t need to freeze your food. Simply allow your meal to cool to room temperature before covering and placing it into the fridge. We don’t put warm food into the fridge because it can mess with the internal temperature of all the food in the fridge and becomes a health risk.

Supermarket deals

This week Dunnes Stores is top of the basket leader board once again. In even better news for Dunnes Stores customers, some of their prices have dipped a little more thanks to the reintroduction of own brand digestive biscuits and the cost of their free-range eggs reducing to €1.60.

The Bank Holiday weekend signals the start of barbecue season in the supermarkets and hopefully at home. 

Lidl has two skinny burgers for €1.99 and pork loin chops for €3.39, not forgetting vacuum-packed corn on the cob for 49c. I love barbecuing corn on the cob and this is a great price so it'll be worth stocking up on. 

Dunnes Stores have a 3-for-€10 on a wide range of meat, poultry, and seafood suitable for the barbecue this weekend. My top pick there would be the packs of free-range, boneless chicken thigh fillets. I'll be buying as many as my budget allows and filling my freezer at that price.

Aldi has a small Irish chicken for just €2.69 which is very price friendly. If you were planning on getting a large chicken in Aldi it may be more cost-effective to buy 2 small ones instead.

Free-range eggs are on their way back to shelves.

Finally, it looks like those 'barn eggs' stickers on free-range eggs may be a thing of the past very soon. With the risk of avian flu having subsided a bit it looks like free-range farmers will be allowed to release their poultry to roam free. Good news all around.

Here's how the Irish Examiner shopping basket shaped up this week:

My perfect rice

Having cooked rice on standby has saved me money so many times it’s now second nature to cook a double batch when I’m making the dinner

Servings

1

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Side

Cuisine

 Indian

Ingredients

• 75g of rice per person

• ½ teaspoon of salt

Method

1. Rinse the rice well in cold water. Place the washed rice into a medium saucepan with a lid. Add the salt and top up with cold water until the water covers the rice. Continue to pour in water until the water line is about 2.5cm above the level of the rice.

2. Put the lid on top and bring the heat to medium-high. When the water begins to simmer turn down the heat on the hob until it’s a very slow bubble. Keep an eye on the saucepan and when the water level dips below the rice turn the heat off altogether. Cover the saucepan and leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

3. To freeze the rice bring it to room temperature rapidly. I do this by pouring out the contents of the saucepan onto a large baking tray and spreading it out. Some people like to rinse the rice in cold water but this interferes with the starch content and texture so I’m not a fan, although it does cool the rice quickly.

4. As soon as the rice is at room temperature place it into a freezer-friendly container and straight into the freezer. When reheating from frozen make sure the rice is piping hot. You can either steam it with a little bit of water in a saucepan or add it to sauces or stir-fries straight from the freezer.

Rhubarb crumble

This is my recipe for rhubarb crumble that is coeliac friendly providing you use gluten-free oats. If you don’t have oat flour, blitz your oats in the food processor and it’ll work just as well.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 55 mins

Course

 Dessert

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 3 large stalks of rhubarb, chopped into small chunks

• 50g caster sugar

• 100g oat flour

• 50g butter, cut into small cubes

• 50g caster sugar

• 50g jumbo oats

• 25g sunflower seeds

• 25g pumpkin seeds

Method

1. Preheat your (fan assisted) oven to 170°C.

2. Put the chopped rhubarb and the first 50g of sugar into the baking dish. Stir so that the sugar coats the rhubarb pieces.

3. Into a large mixing bowl put the oat flour and butter. Making sure your hands are clean, use the tips of your fingers to rub the butter and flour together until you get a breadcrumb like texture. *note you might find that the ratio of butter and flour makes it a bit 'chunky', that's fine it will balance out in the end. Add the sugar and rub the mixture together again. Finally, add the jumbo oats and seeds, then stir well so that all the crumble ingredients are combined.

4. Loosely sprinkle the crumble on top of the rhubarb in the dish. Never, ever press a crumble mixture down, it depends on the air you introduce to make it light and crisp! If you're not a fan of thick crumble then only sprinkle half the mixture on top of the fruit and put the rest in the freezer for another day. Crumble mixture freezes extremely well and this mixture is suitable for any fruit crumble, not just rhubarb.

5. Bake the crumble in the oven for 25-45 minutes, removing when the top of the crumble turns golden brown.