Last Thursday I had the opportunity to participate as a vendor in a holiday open house with 8 homebased business owners. I had our cookbook stacked up next to the stovetop where I was serving our Mango Cranberry Chicken with jasmine rice and peanuts. This recipe, as Lindsay and I had known, is the favorite of her mom in Canada and my mother-in-law in Montana.

I was a little uneasy about serving a dish with such vivid color, due to the curry. Many people, I find, are scared away from curry fearing it will be too hot and spicy. And yet, one of our goals with our cookbook is to challenge people who think that homemade frozen entrees have to be all casseroles, all the time.

To ease the hot and spicy fear, I journeyed to Penzeys’ Portland store and picked up one of their mild curries: Maharajah Curry Powder. This is a wonderfully sweet curry with saffron and cardamom. Definately not hot nor spicy. In addition, this curry is salt-free and the recipe overall is suitable for customers with all sorts of dietary restrictions, including Celiac Disease.

As the day progressed, I enjoyed watching shoppers sample our Cranberry Mango Chicken. Many were pleasantly surprised that the curry was so flavorful and mild. Many of the vendors sampled and ate it for lunch with great reviews also. But it wasn’t until I rounded the corner and witnessed a new mom feeding the rice, soaked in curry sauce, to her 9 month old baby! “He really likes it,” she said to me with a amazed look on her face. Several of the other moms who wanted to share their plate with a young one, found themselves crowded out and coming back for more. Then later on, a few freshman cheerleaders came by the open house after practice and sampled the curry too. And I was more than happy to oblige their requests for seconds.

So while we knew this recipe was a hit with grandmas, we didn’t know it be successful with babies and teenagers as well! The fact that we sold several dozen books was just icing on the proverbial cake.

My local Costco has changed the way it sells the sirloin tip pork roasts (the ones used in the Basil Crusted Pork Roast, Nectar Roasted Pork and Raging Garlic Pork Stir Fry recipes). Now they are sold pre-marinated. They look good, but don’t suit the Warehouse Gourmet philosophy! It looks as though this is a regional difference, as Kati’s Costco continues to sell them unmarinated.

An easy fix here is to buy the whole pork loin instead. One customer of ours used the six pounds needed for Raging Garlic Pork Stir Fry and cut the rest of the loin into slabs for An’s Pork Chops. A perfect solution. We have very smart customers! For the roast recipes, the loin can just be cut into three equal parts.

A friend of mine in Canada told me her Costco is selling whole chickens in packages of three. In this case, she can buy two packages (six chickens) and do three of the whole chicken recipes. No problem!

Let us know if you need other ideas to accommodate different meat selections.

When writing our recipes for the Warehouse Gourmet, we decided to standardize the ingredient for bouillon/broth. It suits our method best to direct users to add bouillon granules to the recipes and add the liquid in a separate step. For example, in the Beef Barley Soup recipe, it makes more sense to add the beef bouillon with the ingredients, but to add the water when it is time to cook. It is awkward to freeze that much water in the bag when it is so easy to add it at cooking time.

I try to avoid using monosodium glutamate (MSG) in my cooking, but many commercial bouillons include it. I have found a product I like to keep on hand for this reason - Pacific Foods brand organic chicken broth. I get it at the warehouse club packaged as six one-quart containers. In recipes such as Chicken Broccoli Bake or Curry Chicken, I simply omit the bouillon granules and replace the water with this broth, leaving the milk or half-and-half as is.

Likewise, you can replace the bouillon granules in our other recipes, if you wish. Remember that bouillons and broths vary in their depth of flavor, so you may want to adjust your seasonings accordingly. Have fun experimenting…drop us a line and let us know how you fare.

It used to be if you wanted make-ahead meals in your freezer, you did it yourself. Several popular books have been published on the subject over the past twenty years. Many people have tried cooking for a month at a time: building a stock of meals in a one or two day marathon. In fact, that is how I began my experience with make-ahead meals. There are distinct advantages to this method, namely economy. But feedback I’ve received over the years indicates that many of those who attempt this method are left discouraged and exhausted by the process.

Over the last few years, businesses have capitalized on the splendid idea of make-ahead meals. They have streamlined the process and created services that help people get the job done. More and more storefront locations that cater to the needs of busy families have popped up all over the map. These businesses set the customer up for do-it-yourself entree assembly. The customer does very little planning; she just makes a few choices, arrives at the appointed time and assembles the meals.

Other businesses, like the ones both Kati and I developed, serve clients in their homes. Groups convene and assemble meals to put into their freezers. Most of the work (planning, shopping, prepping) is done by the business owner beforehand.

These services are convenient and even fun…but they come at a price!

We believe we have brought together the best of both worlds with a method that is so simple and effective, you can take advantage of the flexibility and savings without sacrificing the convenience. This is our Tray Pack Method.

Here is a comparison Kati and I like to use when we are giving a talk or teaching a class. Look at the average cost per serving compared to the amount of time spent on assembly.

Storefront Location (or meal assembly service):
$200 for 12 entrees
72 servings ($2.77 per serving)
time required: 2-3 hours

Make a month of meals at home:
$150 for 30 entrees
180 servings ($0.83 per serving)
time required: 15+ hours

Use the Tray Pack Method:
$100 fro 12 entrees
72 servings ($1.38 per serving)
time required: 4 hours

So you can get those meals into your freezer in a variety of ways. I love the fact that we can make a choice! Choose what works best for you, but remember, for the perfect pairing of convenience and economy, the Tray Pack Method is the clear winner.

Compared to many people, I don’t do much baking for the holidays. But for what I do make, I insist on using the highest quality ingredients, like butter, cream, and grade ‘A’ cinnamon.

Did you know that cinnamon comes in grades? A, B, and C grades are all assigned to cinnamon based on the amount of essential oils contained. The more essential oil, the better the grade. Most cinnamon you find on the grocery store shelves is of the lower grades. Which is why for the holidays, I insist on buying a small jar of the highest quality cinnamon to use for my special cooking projects.

If you cannot find grade A cinnamon at your local grocery store, consider calling a local specialty kitchen store. Be sure to ask for cassia cinnamon, which is the most common kind of cinnamon used in American kitchens. Other names to use that might be helpful are: Korintje, Chinese Cassia, or Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon.

If you prefer to shop online, you can find fabulous, high quality cinnamons at Penzeys or Spice Barn. Be sure to use a little less than the recipe calls for, as these cinnamons are more potent than the lesser grade cinnamon you may be accustomed to using.

To learn more about cinnamons, visit A Cook’s Wares. It is a long piece but those who get to the bottom are rewarded with links to several recipes featuring cinnamon. I’m looking closely at the Cinnamon Chicken recipe and thinking about the tagine Santa’s going to bring me this year…