[Sca-cooks] Pre-Freezing Feast Stuff

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Sep 22, 2007, at 3:37 AM, Lilinah wrote:

> 1. Small meatballs for one of the soups - these would be reheated in
> the hot soup. Do they need to be cooked first, then frozen? Or can
> they be frozen raw?

I think you'd be better off cooking these, cooling and then freezing  
them. Murphy's Law would tend to kick in if they were left raw, and  
they'd end up as crumbs or badly misshapen if allowed.

> 2. Manti - wonton wrappers filled with a mix of spiced pureed meat
> and crushed chickpeas. These would be simmered in hot broth on site,
> and served with a tangy yogurt sauce. Can i freeze them uncooked? Or
> should i cook them ahead and freeze them, which would be more
> difficult?

I'd recommend freezing these on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, spread  
out (IOW, not touching) until completely frozen, then flex the sheet  
a bit to dislodge them (think of an ice cube tray) and transfer them  
to 1-gallon Zip-Locs or some such. You then boil them from their  
frozen state, which means you'll need plenty of hot liquid.

> Third Course:
>
> 3. "Cheker Borek" - unlike modern borek, these are sort of saffroned
> cookies topped with nuts and sugar, baked in a buttered pan, then
> dusted with powdered sugar. I think it would be better to bake them
> first - the sugar would melt and hold the nuts onto the dough - then
> freeze them. Would they need to be reheated? or just thawed?

You can probably just thaw them, as long as they're properly wrapped  
in the first place, and there isn't all sorts of thawing condensation  
to sog everything up. You might also simply make them a day or two  
ahead, and not freeze them.

> 4. "Senbuse which are Mukallele" - sambusek/samosa wrappers filled
> with ground almonds, sugar, and rosewater, and folded into triangles.
> They're fried, then soaked in syrup. There's a commercial type deep
> fryer on site, so i'd like to assemble them, freeze them, then fry
> them at the event. If i make them small, i think we should be able to
> make 6 dozen or so and serve them fine, since they don't need to be
> served immediately they come from the fryer.

I agree; you might get away with making them ahead and storing them  
in the syrup a day or so, but I have no idea how long they'd hold  
together with a decent texture. I definitely wouldn't want to  
actually wrap them on site.

> 5. Helva- i Sabuni - starch mixed with honey, a little water, and
> crushed almonds, then cooked until thick, sesame oil is stirred in,
> it's poured into a pan, scored, cooled, and finally cut into small
> pieces. These are white, but they can also be red, yellow, green, or
> made with tamarind. I guess this will keep in a tightly sealed
> container, and won't need to be frozen.

Yes. Some starches have been known to do weird things when you freeze  
them.

Adamantius