Make Life Simpler with the Help of the Batch Lady – Susanne Mulholland is ‘The Batch Lady’. She cleverly takes the hassle out of mealtimes with recipes and tips on prepping meals in advance, in batches. Her latest book Grab and Cook features 100 easy recipes, each one taking less than 15 minutes to prepare (and many only taking five). They can be cooked immediately, or popped in the freezer for an easy meal, when needed. They cover a range of appliances and cooking methods, from pressure cookers to air fryers, helping you get ahead and batch cook meals in advance. Susanne also gives all the tips you need on freezing and storing your food, making it a breeze to reheat cleverly prepared, delicious meals.
This prep ahead recipes mean you are making your own homemade ready meals, rather than overspending on highly processed ones from the supermarket. Grab and Cook recipes use all raw ingredients and there is no prior cooking involved before freezing: you’re simply preparing the meal, then freezing it, for a fridge or freezer full of delicious homemade ‘ready meals’. By using environmentally friendly, reusable freezer bags, filled with pre-chopped raw ingredients, Suzanne is changing how we scratch cook, helping those without time, confidence, or inclination, still to have healthy, quality home cooked meals whenever needed.
In Grab and Cook you’ll find breakfast and brunch recipes (Raspberry, white chocolate, and pecan brioche bake), light bites and lunches (Feta & spinach filo swirls), weeknight meals, Fakeaways (Satay Chicken Curry) as well as meals for family and friends, easy bakes (Chocolate chip stuffed cookies), and desserts (Hot Nutella Pots). The Batch Lady also includes practical advice on managing and organising your freezer and kitchen, plus tips to empower children in the kitchen with suitable recipes for them to cook. She guides you through meal planning for the week, so you get ahead and in control, not only of your meals, but of your food shopping and budget.
Here’s a couple of recipes from the book for you to try:
Creamy Sausage & Cannellini Bean One-Pot. Prep: 5 minutes. Serves: 4
“I love an easy sausage one-pot, and this one ticks all the boxes. This recipe uses cannellini beans, but they can easily be swapped for chickpeas or butter beans if you prefer.” TIP: You can make this vegetarian with veggie sausages, a vegetarian Parmesan substitute and a vegetable stock cube.
1 cup (115g) frozen diced onions
2 tsp frozen chopped garlic
2 cups (350g) frozen mixed chopped peppers
1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans drained and rinsed.
1 tsp smoked paprika.
1 tsp dried oregano
scant 1 cup (200g) cream cheese
3⁄4 cup (60g) grated Parmesan.
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled.
8 pork sausages
To cook:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups (500ml) boiling water.
IF MAKING AHEAD TO FREEZE:
Put the onions, garlic, peppers, cannellini beans, smoked paprika, oregano, cream cheese, Parmesan, and crumbled stock cube into a large freezer bag, mix and freeze flat.
Keep the sausages in their packet, or put in a smaller freezer bag, and freeze alongside the bag of sauce.
HOB: Remove from the freezer and leave to fully defrost. Put a tablespoon of olive oil into a large casserole dish and place on a medium heat. Add the pork sausages and brown them all over. Add the contents of the freezer bag, stir well, then pour over the boiling water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
SLOW COOKER: Remove from the freezer and leave to fully defrost. Turn the slow cooker to the sauté setting and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork sausages and brown them all over. Add the contents of the freezer bag, stir well, then pour over the boiling water. Pop the lid on and cook for 3 hours on high, or 6 hours on low.
PRESSURE COOKER: Remove from the freezer and leave to fully defrost. Turn the pressure cooker to sauté and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork sausages and brown them all over. Once browned, add the contents of the freezer bag and pour over the boiling water. Give it a good mix, then seal the lid and cook for 9 minutes. Once cooked, allow the steam to quickly release.
IF COOKING NOW:
HOB: Put a tablespoon of olive oil into a large casserole dish and place on a medium heat. Add the pork sausages and brown them all over, then add the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the boiling water and stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
SLOW COOKER: Turn the slow cooker to the sauté setting and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork sausages and brown all over. Once browned, add the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the boiling water and stir well. Pop the lid on and cook for 3 hours on high, or 6 hours on low.
PRESSURE COOKER: Turn the pressure cooker to sauté and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork sausages and brown them all over, then add the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the boiling water, give it a good mix, then seal the lid and cook for 9 minutes. Once cooked, allow the steam to quickly release.
Apricot & Almond Danish Swirls. Prep: 10 minutes. Makes 10
Love the baked goods from your local coffee shop? Why not save money and make them at home! Brilliant to grab whenever you fancy a quick treat.
1 sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry
2 heaped tbsp cream cheese
3 heaped tbsp apricot jam a handful of flaked almonds.
For the icing glaze:
4 tbsp icing sugar
1–2 tsp cold water
a handful of flaked almonds
TIP
To make the icing glaze, put the icing sugar and cold water into a bowl. Mix well, then drizzle over the top of the cooked cool swirls and top with a few flaked almonds.
IF MAKING AHEAD TO FREEZE
Unroll the puff pastry, keeping it on its paper.
Spread the cream cheese all over the pastry with a knife, leaving a 1cm border round the edges.
Carefully spread the apricot jam on top of the cream cheese, then sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
Working from a short end, using the paper to help, roll it into a tight roll. Using a knife, cut the roll widthways in half and cut each half into 5 slices.
Open a large, labelled freezer bag. Keeping the bag flat, put in the swirls, leaving space so they don’t stick together. If you need to stack them on top of each other, make sure to add a sheet of baking parchment in between to stop them sticking. Place flat in the freezer until fully frozen.
OVEN: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the frozen swirls on a lined baking tray and cook for 30–35 minutes, until golden, then remove and leave to cool.
AIR FRYER: Preheat the air fryer to 180°C. Place the frozen swirls on baking parchment in the air fryer and cook for 18 minutes, flipping them over halfway through, until golden, then remove and leave to cool.
IF COOKING NOW:
Follow the method in the ‘making ahead to freeze’ section up until the end of step 4.
OVEN: Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cook the swirls on a lined baking tray for 25–30 minutes, until golden, then remove and leave to cool.
AIR FRYER: Preheat the air fryer to 190°C. Place the swirls on baking parchment and cook in the air fryer for 16 minutes, flipping them over halfway through, until golden, then remove and leave to cool.
Extracted from The Batch Lady Grab and Cook by Suzanne Mulholland
(Ebury Press, £22). Photography by Andrew Hayes-Watkins.
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