Need help in thinking of a make ahead type of meal...

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ncage1974

ncage1974

Senior Cook
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
265
Location
Central IL
My fiancée is flying in tomorrow night at 8:30. The airport is a little over an hour away. She has already requested i make something good for her to eat. I would take her out to dinner but at 9:00pm on Sunday not very many resteraunts are going to be open. She will be on a 12 hour flight (overseas) so i'm sure she will be plenty hungry.

Her taste:
1. Will eat pasta but she doesn't love it.
2. Doesn't like fast food.
3. Loves rice but not in like a casserole.
4 Likes both Chicken & Steak (she hasn't ate much pork before).
5. I will have to make her one of my Margaritas because she obsoletely loves Margaritas.
6. Doesn't like very spicy but like flavorful.

So here i am trying to think of what to make. It definitely has to be something make ahead or something because there is no way i want to cook something big at 10:00 at night. Of course the crockpot is a perfect match for this but i haven't found a recipe that wows me.

So far what i've thought of is :
1. French Dip Sandwiches in the crockpot.
2. Make lasagna ahead and just throw it in the oven we we get home.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

thanks,
Ncage
 
I was thinking lasagna too. It will taste better having "rested" for awhile then reheated.
 
Chicken wings, meatballs, or riblets in a bbq style sauce served over white rice, which you can cook ahead and warm up in the microwave. I can give you a few easy recipes if you are interested.
 
she wont' be very hungry after a flight (the flight crew will feed her well if it's such a long flight). but she'll be very tired and bored and will want some "comfort". does it ring a bell now? comfort food. but to different people comfort food means different things. you'll just have to know her well.
 
An Antipasti! Everything can be made ahead and served cold or at room temp. Marinated mushies, shrimp, squid and mussel salad, Caprese salad, roasted asparagus or melon wrapped in prosciutto. When you get home take everything out to "warm" up, then in the mean time, toast up some thick, bias cut Italian bread, rub it with a garlic clove, then with a cut in half tomatoe. A nice Italian red or white and your good to go.;)

Craig
 
Lots of foods you could set up in the slow cooker so they're ready when you get back from the airport. You're gonna be gone about three hours so that's your best bet. If you're delayed, no problem.

If you have a timer on your oven, you could program it to go on at a certin time, dook your lasagna and shut off when done. Then you get there a half hour or so later and it's all rested and ready to go.
 
Zhizara said:
I was thinking lasagna too. It will taste better having "rested" for awhile then reheated.
Click to expand...


So you would cook it fully in the pan and then throw it back in to oven when you get home? I was thinking on assembling it and leaving it uncooked until i got home.
 
Rocklobster said:
Chicken wings, meatballs, or riblets in a bbq style sauce served over white rice, which you can cook ahead and warm up in the microwave. I can give you a few easy recipes if you are interested.
Click to expand...

Sure RockLobster. Go ahead and post them. The ribblets sound especially nice.
 
Hyperion said:
she wont' be very hungry after a flight (the flight crew will feed her well if it's such a long flight). but she'll be very tired and bored and will want some "comfort". does it ring a bell now? comfort food. but to different people comfort food means different things. you'll just have to know her well.
Click to expand...

Oh definitly know her very well. What her idea of comfort would be hard to do in a crockpot well ahead. It probably would be a combination of steak, plantains, rice, spanish style chariso, & Arapas.

The hungry part is coming directly from her :P
 
Hot chicken samdwichs are always good. D-boned chicken in a low crock pot with a little cream soup, curry & garlic. Have some nice bakery buns to put it on & a nice fresh baby spinach salad chilling with a raspberry vinaigerette.
 
You could start a tomato based sauce, precook Italian sausage and peppers, onions then keep the sauce on(or in the crock pot) and add the sasuage when you get home and make some sandwiches!

Sometimes I make a chicken in the crockpot. Its chicken, onions, can of tomatoes with diced chilis, a can of adobe peppers and a bit of V8(I use the spicy kind but I love spicy foods). You dont have to do a whole can of the peppers. I serve that in spinach tortillas with cheese. Sometimes with rice.
 
How about ropa vieja or the cuban chicken casserole dish with the cuban/latin trinity mix (can't remember what it's called for the life of me right now) and the topping is a cornmeal/fresh corn/cheese mix kind of like arapas? Both can be made ahead and re-warmed or even served at room temp. I'll get out the book, Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, and pull the recipes.

Warning though, both take a long time to make and the chicken casserole has several parts but once you get them put together it's hands-free cooking time. We love them both, I especially love the chicken casserole even though it's time consuming to make. Hmmm, think I know one meal that's going to be on the menu next week.
 
medtran49 said:
How about ropa vieja or the cuban chicken casserole dish with the cuban/latin trinity mix (can't remember what it's called for the life of me right now) and the topping is a cornmeal/fresh corn/cheese mix kind of like arapas? Both can be made ahead and re-warmed or even served at room temp. I'll get out the book, Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, and pull the recipes.

Warning though, both take a long time to make and the chicken casserole has several parts but once you get them put together it's hands-free cooking time. We love them both, I especially love the chicken casserole even though it's time consuming to make. Hmmm, think I know one meal that's going to be on the menu next week.
Click to expand...

Dang...yes both of those sound like something she would love. Please send the recipes along :). Even if i don't make them for her tonight definitely will make them soon.
 
Do you think she'd enjoy a vegetable stew you could either make in a crock pot or make on the stove and keep warm in the crock pot?

PEPERONATA DI PATATE
​
Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped fine
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 8 bell peppers (red, yellow, green, orange or any combination), seeded and sliced
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in purée
  • 1 pound russet potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:

In a large Dutch oven saute the onion in about 3 tablespoons olive oil on medium-high heat, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute. Add the peppers, lower the heat to medium-low and stir well. Partially cover with a lid and let them soften up, about 10 minutes.

When the peppers have softened, add the tomatoes and the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, stir well over medium-low heat, and simmer for about 1 hour.

Use the vegetable stock to help the sauce come together by adding small amounts to the peperonata as it cooks down. You might not need to use all the broth. Look for a nice balance between sauce and vegetables. Remember you are making a vegetable stew. Consistency of the final dish should be thicker than spaghetti sauce.
 
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