New Cookbook: The Batch Lady: Cooking On a Budget

Hello, My Lovelies!  Today's What I'm Reading Wednesday post is very special.  It's all about my new cooking obsession:  The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget by Suzanne Mulholland.

I think The Batch Lady is a genius!  Every recipe I've tried my whole family has loved, and the beauty is that I am saving so much time in the kitchen.  I'm also saving money,  planning menus more efficiently, and learning best practices for freezing food in advance.

About The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget by Suzanne Mulholland

Best-selling author The Batch Lady is back with a budget-busting book to create fresh and satisfying meals without breaking the purse strings.

Shop once.

Get organized, plan ahead and create fresh and satisfying meals without breaking the bank.

Cook once.

Over 100 delicious, simple and energy-efficient batch-cooking recipes that will satisfy the whole family and fill your freezer.

Save money all week.

Learn to hack your monthly bill, save your hard-earned money and eat well on a budget.

I have flagged family favorites so far.  I'm getting quite a bit of mileage out of this outstanding cookbook!

My Review:

The book blurb is correct:  You will eat well!  What I love most about this book is that it allows me to plan and cook early in the week, and then when the weekend rolls around, I pack the cooler from what I've frozen and take it to our lake cabin.  This allows me to enjoy lake activities while spending much less time in the kitchen.  I prepped earlier this week for Memorial Day Weekend, and although we are planning to eat dinner out a few nights, breakfast, snacks, and lunch is frozen and ready to go.

I can think of so many super applications.  Here are just a few:

• Busy weeknights
• Holiday preparations
• Church potlucks
• Hostess gifts
• Picnic lunches (especially on the boat)
• Meals for expectant mothers

If you gift any of these make and freeze ahead recipes, you can make pretty cards with cooking instructions for the recipient.

The only warning I would give to my American readers is that Suzanne is Scottish, so expect a few metric measurements in the recipes.  Use your conversion app because the book is fantastic!

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is Smoky Chicken Burgers.  I've made the burgers a few times, and it's an easy recipe and delicious recipe!  We will throw this batch on the grill during Memorial Day Weekend.  They are prepped and frozen, so all we have to do is defrost them overnight in the fridge, and then grill.  

Smoky Chicken Burgers (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 pound minced chicken

1 t garlic granules

1 t smoked paprika

1/2 c breadcrumbs 

1/2 t salt

1 egg, beaten

Not many ingredients

Procedure:

1.   Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix everything together until well combined.  

2.   Divide into four equal sections and form into patties.  If you want to cook them now, skip down to number 6.

3.   If you're making ahead to freeze, cut four squares of parchment paper a little larger than the patties.  Stack patties placing paper between patties and on top and bottom.  You will need six parchment squares in all.

4.   Transfer to a labeled freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.

5.   When ready to cook burgers, take the number of burgers you'd like to cook out of the freezer and place them in the fridge overnight.

6.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil.  

7.   Remove parchment paper and place patties on baking tray.

8.  Cook for 25 minutes until lightly golden.  Make sure that the interior temperature is 165 degrees F.

Cook's Notes: 

1.   It's easy to mince chicken in a food processor.  There are tutorials online if your butcher won't do it for you.  We used ground chicken this time, but we grill our burgers on the Big Green Egg until 165 degrees F.  (Usually on a hot grill, 4-5 minutes per side).

2.   I've also tried this recipe with ground turkey, and it was good!

3.   You could also cook them in an iron skillet with 2T olive oil once heated on M heat 4-5 minutes per side.  Again, make sure you use your meat thermometer!

4.   One of the main reasons that we like this recipe is because in case of inclement weather, we can always cook inside, and the smoky paprika makes it taste like it's been grilled.  Options are friendly!  ;P

5.   I used Italian breadcrumbs from The Fresh Market.

You can see the cooked smoky chicken burger in the photo from the cookbook at the top of the post.

I encourage you to visit The Batch Lady's website HERE.  There's information about Suzanne, her books, and many recipes.

 

Disclosure:  I'd like to thank Harper Collins for sending me an advanced copy of The Batch Lady: Cooking On a Budget in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Until next time..

Happy cooking!
Ricki Jill