Ashley Christensen - Its Always Freezer Season: How to Freeze Like a Chef with 100 Make-Ahead Recipes [A Cookbook]

Acknowledgments.

The creation of a cookbook, even in the best of times, is always a team effort. And were lucky to have such an amazing team because this cookbook was written, photographed, and edited during a particularly tumultuous time in our lives. We truly could not have done it without the help of so many incredible folks, especially the following.

David Black. Thank you for fighting to make this the book we wanted, and for always looking out for us! You are a champion for your clients, and thoughtful and caring friend.

Lauren V. Allen. You are such a talent and one of the most professional, easy-going, and dedicated people weve ever worked with. Your work on the photos of this book went above and beyond, and we are so grateful for your flexibility, patience, and dedication.

Charlotte Coman. The engine behind our recipe writing and testing machine! Your preparation, diligence, and focus made recipe testing for this book a breeze. Thank you for being such a boss, always.

Kate Bolen. A thank you, and an apology! You put so much into making this book successful, from your whip-smart edits to your support for our creative vision. On top of that, you had the unfortunate job of keeping us on track to get to the finish line, which, in the year of 2020, was no small feat. We are super grateful that we have you in our corner.

Kelly Snowden. You helped us take a broad idea and distill it down into this book with such warmth and insight. Thank you for bringing clarity and structure to our vision; this is a far better cookbook than we could have hoped to make without your contributions in its earliest stages.

Betsy Stromberg. Its always pretty magical to go from a Word doc to the first pages of a layout, when a books identity really comes into focus. Thank you for creating a design that helped to bring these recipes and ideas to life!

Jenny Wapner. Thank you for introducing us into the Ten Speed fold and for setting our bar for editor-author relationships so high! The incredible experience we had with you in writing the Pooles book was instrumental in shaping this book as well.

Kristin Perrakis, Jean Armstrong, and the Williams-Sonoma team. Thank you for the support, and for bridging the space between the professional restaurant kitchen and the stoves of passionate home cooks everywhere.

About the authors.

ASHLEY CHRISTENSEN is the chef and owner of five restaurants in Raleigh, North Carolina: Pooles, Beasleys Chicken + Honey, Fox Liquor Bar, Death & Taxes, and Pooleside Pies. Ashley has received the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast and for Outstanding Chef, and was named Chef of the Year by Eater. Her work has been featured in Bon Apptit, Gourmet, the New York Times, Southern Living, and Garden & Gun, and she has appeared on Food Networks Iron Chef America and MSNBCs Your Business. Her first cookbook is Pooles: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner.

KAITLYN GOALEN is a writer, editor, and cook, and she is the executive director of AC Restaurants, the hospitality group founded and owned by Ashley Christensen in Raleigh, North Carolina. She co-founded the Short Stack Editions series of single-subject, digest-size cookbooks and co-authored the full-length Short Stack Cookbook. She has also co-authored Cook Like a Local, Pooles, and The Craft Cocktail Party. She has contributed to a variety of national publications, including Garden & Gun, Southern Living, and Food & Wine.

Resources.

Appliances and Tools

Anova Precision Cooker

Our favorite immersion circulator for reheating via sous vide, available at a reasonable price point.

Williams-Sonoma.com

Breville Microwave

Breville makes a few different microwaves that increase in price and capability. We like the middle of the road option, which provides an impressive amount of control and even cooking in its settings.

Williams-Sonoma.com

Cabelas 15-inch Vacuum Sealers

If you want a vacuum sealer with a larger width and more power, consider one of these entriesa step up in price, but with more space to seal wider bags.

Cabelas.com

Geryon Vacuum Sealer

A basic, entry-level countertop vacuum sealer. Limited to 12-inch-wide bags.

Amazon.com

Instant Pot

This cult appliance provides a shortcut to thawing and reheating liquid substances like stocks, soups, and stews.

Instantpot.com

Thermapen Probe Thermometers

These super-accurate, quick-read probe thermometers can help you gauge internal temps as you cool down and reheat food.

Thermoworks.com

TruTemp Fridge/Freezer Thermometer

Keep one of these analog thermometers in your freezer to determine the temperature and make sure its cold enough.

Amazon.com

Freezer packaging

18-inch Foodservice Film Roll

We dont have a specific brand allegiance, but we do highly suggest buying a roll of plastic wrap that is 18 inches wide (rather than the standard grocery store film that comes in 12-inch-wide rolls). It makes it much easier to properly wrap full dishes for the freezer.

Amazon.com or webstaurant.com

Disposable Aluminum Containers

Use disposable pie tins, baking dishes, and other containers for the freezer so that your regular dishes arent pulled out of rotation.

Webstaurant.com

Extreme Freeze Plastic Quart and Pint Containers

Known as delis in restaurants, these workhorse containers are excellent for a number of applications and durable enough to use for freezer food storage. This line is specifically made for freezing.

Amazon.com

Rubbermaid Glass Food Storage Containers

These glass containers come in a variety of sizes and have silicone-lined lids for an airtight seal.

Amazon.com

UltraSource

Our resource for vacuum bags. Also sells commercial vacuum sealing machines for those who vacuum pack in large quantities.

Ultrasourceusa.com

Ziploc Freezer Bags

We use this brand of freezer bags in quart and gallon sizes.

Amazon.com

Labeling

Masking Tape and Tape Dispenser

We follow the lead of most kitchens and use brightly colored masking tape (like painters tape) to label our containers. We have a tape dispenser that we keep on the counter, in easy reach of our cooking space.

Amazon.com or any hardware store

Waterproof Labels

If you prefer adhesive labels, try waterproof white film labels.

Avery.com

What to freeze and what not to freeze.

Freezing is one of the most common (and easy) methods of food preservation. Long before food brands catered to the freezer with prefrozen foods, the main purpose of the freezer was to extend the lifespan of fresh food. And once you really start thinking of your freezer as primarily a tool for preservation, the doors of possibility open up pretty quickly. Also, unlike some other forms of food preservation, freezing food is incredibly convenient.

But how exactly does a freezer preserve food? What is it about cold temperatures that keeps food from spoiling? At 0F, the microbacteria that cause food to decay cannot survive or thrive. If food is stored in a frozen state consistently, itll be safe from expiration indefinitely.

Although the freezer halts the decay process where it is, it does not reverse it. So if you put food thats on the brink of spoilage into the freezer, itll still spoil pretty quickly once it has thawed. Youre not turning back the clock; youre just making time stand still. Thats why its important to use fresh ingredients for all of these recipes and to freeze food immediately upon cooking.