Topic: Cooking, Chilling then Reheating.

[uclown2002]

I've seen a few methods for handling this but wondered whether the type of dish ashould affect the chosen method for reheating.

Got some friends coming round so need to cook 4 curries.  I'm thinking of cooking and chilling a couple of jalfrezis containing onions, peppers, whole chillis and toms.  I might chill the day before or 6-8 hrs before reheating.

Inclined to reheat in oven on 140C (fan) in closed foil containers for maybe 20 mins until chicken is hot enough.  At same time I can be cooking the 2 other fresh CTMs and sorting other stuff out.

How would you guys go about this?

Dave

[Naga]

I always freeze my curry stuff unless I'm eating it the next day.

Last night, I went onto the freezer and dug out a double-portion of Chewytikka's Tuk-Tuk sauce and a double-portion of mickdabass' chicken tikka. I made boiled basmati rice as suggested by Cory Ander's pilau rice recipe.

The Tuk-Tuk sauce got 6 minutes at full power, with a stir at 3 minutes, and the chicken tikka got 3 minutes at full power. The rice only takes 5 minutes, so everything was ready for the plate in 10 minutes flat.

And it was delicious!

[Unclefrank]

When i cook a lot of dishes for friends i wait till they are completely cold then store in fridge (about 3-4 days) when ready to use just re-heat in a saucepan, be careful if you are going to re-heat in an oven because the dish can become watery, with the CTM make the dish in two stages pre-cooked chicken tikka and the sauce then when your guests are ready to eat just re-heat in saucepan, you don't want the chicken to be tough or too dry so under cook slightly when cooking the chicken tikka. For the Jalfrezi i eat this dish a lot be careful of the peppers as they can sometimes go a bit bitter if left for too long, what i do is pre-cook some red and green pepper in oil, all i want to do is season the oil then use the red and green peppers in a dish and save the oil, i cook the Jalfrezi in this oil, if i am not eating it the same day, then add raw green and red pepper when guests are ready to eat and heat thoroughly. Hope that helps a little.

[uclown2002]

Interesting!

So make jalfrezi as normal but leave out peppers and chill in fridge.  What about the whole chillis I normally put in? Put them in raw with the peppers when reheating or cook them with the meat, spices and sauce?

For the CTM I'll be using defrosted cooked chicken tikka.  I might do sauce ahead of time or do the complete dish at the last minute depending on progress I make.

Thanks!

[Unclefrank]

just leave peppers out then add when ready to re-heat on a low heat until peppers are starting to go soft then turn heat up to high and cook until piping hot.

[uclown2002]

When you say peppers is that the bell peppers and chilli peppers?

[Unclefrank]

Sorry, just bell peppers.

[uclown2002]

Thanks again!

[uclown2002]

I always freeze my curry stuff unless I'm eating it the next day.

Last night, I went onto the freezer and dug out a double-portion of mickdabass' chicken tikka.

The chicken tikka got 3 minutes at full power.

Naga:- You nuked the chicken from frozen?  I've always defrosted overnight in the fridge!  I take it there was no loss of flavour or texture doing it this way?

[Naga]

...You nuked the chicken from frozen?...I take it there was no loss of flavour or texture doing it this way?

None at all, mate! In fairness, I make my chicken tikka by slicing a breast down the middle and grilling it on a skewer, then slice each half into 3 or 4 pieces pieces before using/freezing it.  The microwave is only having to cope with a ziploc bag containing 12-14 slices of chicken tikka per breast, rather than 6 or so large chunks.

Nevertheless, the chicken is just as tender and flavoursome when it comes out the bag as it was when it went in.

And nuking the frozen sauces doesn't cause a problem either, even though some, as in CT's Tuk-Tuk, contain yoghurt.

It even passes my good lady's taste test (which is saying something!).

PS: I should also add that, under normal circumstances, I would defrost the chicken, sauce and whatever else in the fridge or at room temperature. It's only when I need to make something quick (like last night) that I use the microwave, but, as I said, it's all good.