Good Home Cookin' - Freezer Recipes and Tips for OAMC

Your tip for today: Try freezing your favorite recipe in a single size portion. You may be surprised how many of your family's favorites freeze well. Avoid freezing anything with pasta, potatoes, or rice already cooked in.

Today I am making roast beef. We will have the traditional Sunday dinner on Saturday because I feel like it. I'm even going to make Yorkshire pudding. We're going to have it with potatoes and carrots like my sweetie prefers. I bought a bigger roast than I normally do so that we can have leftover roast to make into beef pot pies.

I love pot pies! I think I love pot pies better than regular dessert pies. Or maybe I just love the crust and the gravy.

So tomorrow or Monday I will make the pot pies and experiment with freezing one. Just one will be experimented on. I wouldn't want to waste a whole batch of pot pies if it didn't work out.

First recipe today is a stew to add to your soups, stews, and chili recipes that freeze well. The second is the pie crust recipe I will be using to make pot pies.

Cabbage Patch Stew
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
4 cups cooked kidney beans in liquid (or about 2 14.5 to 15 oz. cans)
4 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups beef broth
1 quart stewed tomatoes
1 T chili powder
2 T sugar
2 t salt
1 T Worcestershire sauce

Brown ground beef with onions and celery. Add undrained beans. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. Allow to cool. Place in freezer container or zippered freezer bags. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Bring soup to a boil. Serve with bread and butter.

Also good with grated cheddar cheese.

Grandma Kahn's Perfect Pie Crust has been passed down for generations in my family. It is the best recipe I have found for pie crust and it can be frozen! When baked, pie crust should be flaky and shatter when touched by a fork. This one does if you make it right.

Grandma Kahn's Perfect Pie Crust
Yields 4 crusts.
Preparation time: 12 minutes
Baking time: 12 to 15 minutes

4 ½ cups flour
¾ to 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ¾ cups shortening
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
¼ cup cold water

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.
2. Add shortening and mix with fork until crumbly.
3. In a small bowl beat egg, vinegar, and water; add to flour mixture and stir until moistened.
4. Divide dough into 4 portions and shape each in a flat circle. Wrap each circle of pastry dough in wax paper and chill at least ½ hour.
5. Lightly flour both sides of pastry patty; roll out on lightly floured surface.
6. For baked pie shell, place in pie pan-do NOT stretch crust; prick bottom and sides of pan with fork. Bake in preheated 425° (high-altitude 450°) oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. TIP: Be careful not stretch pastry or it will shrink when baking.
7. For 1- or 2- crusted pies, follow pie recipe. Dough can be kept refrigerated up to 3 days, or frozen up to 2 months.

TIPS FOR A FLAKIER CRUST:

1. Be very gentle with your crust- roll from the center to the outside, never rolling more than one direction on the same section of crust; also, never stretch the crust.
2. On the bottom of a crust that's baked with filling in it, either lightly flour or lightly brush with softened butter or margarine, and then pour in filling.
3. If at all possible, your crust should be refrigerator cold before rolling, and before adding your filling, and the filling should be hot.