Suzanne Mulholland - The Batch Lady

TO PETER, JAKE & ZARA

– THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2020

Text Copyright © Suzanne Mulholland 2020

Suzanne Mulholland asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN 978-0-00-837322-1

eBook ISBN: 978-0-00-837323-8

Photography: Danielle Woods

Food styling: Rosie Ramsden

Prop styling: Linda Berlin and Wei Tang

Design & Art Direction: Georgina Hewitt

Editorial Director: Kate Fox

Project Editor: Daniel Hurst

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008373221

Suzanne Mulholland

Cover

Dedication

Copyright

Note to Readers

Title Page

Welcome

Introduction

WHAT IS BATCHING?

THE BENEFITS OF BATCHING

THE BATCH METHOD

10 MEALS IN 1 HOUR

THE BATCH LADY LARDER

ESSENTIAL KIT

GET ORGANIZED!

HOW TO USE YOUR FREEZER

USING CUPS

THE RECIPES

POULTRY

CHICKEN, ASPARAGUS & EMMENTAL PARCELS

CHICKEN, CHEESE & HAM PASTRY LATTICES

CHICKEN, TOMATO & CHORIZO PASTA BAG

’NDUJA PASTA BAG

MEXICAN TRAYBAKE

CAJUN PORK STEAKS WITH PEPPERS

THREE WAYS WITH CAJUN PORK STEAKS

THAI GREEN CHICKEN CURRY

THAI RED SWEET POTATO CURRY

CHICKEN & BROCCOLI TIKKA MASALA

CHICKEN, OKRA & PEPPER JALFREZI

10 CHICKEN MEALS IN 1 HOUR

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

WHEN YOU COME TO COOK

MEAT

AMERICAN BREAKFAST HASH

BREAKFAST QUICHE

FARMER’S WIFE’S SAVOURY PLAIT

APPLE & BLACKBERRY PLAIT

BAKED SAUSAGE ZITI

BAKED SPINACH ZITI

PEPPERONI CALZONES

BANANA, MARSHMALLOW & CHOCOLATE CALZONE

MOUSSAKA

LAMB & FETA BURGERS

THREE WAYS WITH LAMB & FETA BURGERS

PULLED PORK

THREE WAYS WITH PULLED PORK

PULLED LAMB

THREE WAYS WITH PULLED LAMB

LAZY LASAGNE

MOZZARELLA STUFFED MEATBALLS

THREE WAYS WITH MOZZARELLA STUFFED MEATBALLS

COTTAGE PIE WITH ROOT VEGETABLES

SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH SWEET POTATO MASH

10 MINCE-BASED MEALS IN 1 HOUR

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

WHEN YOU COME TO COOK

FISH

LUXURY SEAFOOD CHOWDER

EASY-BUT-LUXURY FISH PIE

SALMON FRIED RICE

CHILLI & GINGER SALMON FILLETS

THREE WAYS WITH CHILLI & GINGER SALMON FILLETS

THAI SWEET POTATO FISH CAKES

PANKO FISH GOUJONS

KATSU FISH CURRY

CHICKEN KATSU BURGERS

10 FISH MEALS IN 1 HOUR

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

WHEN YOU COME TO COOK

VEG

VEGGIE BOLOGNESE

CHILLI BEAN BURGERS

BROCCOLI & CAULIFLOWER CHEESE BAKE

LUXURY MACARONI CHEESE BAKE

THREE WAYS WITH MACARONI CHEESE

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

SPINACH & RICOTTA STUFFED CHICKEN

RUMBLEDETHUMPS

CORNED BEEF HASH

THREE WAYS WITH RUMBLEDETHUMPS

OVEN-BAKED MUSHROOM RISOTTO

PANKO RISOTTO CAKES

OVEN-BAKED PEA RISOTTO

PEA & MINT SOUP

10 MEAT-FREE MEALS IN 1 HOUR

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

WHEN YOU COME TO COOK

SIDES & SAUCES

CREAMED CORN

CHILLI GREEN BEANS

EASY ROAST POTATOES

MADE-IN-ADVANCE BAKED POTATOES

POTATO DAUPHINOISE

SPANISH OMELETTE

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE

TOMATO-FREE PASTA SAUCE

THREE WAYS WITH BASIC TOMATO SAUCE

WHITE SAUCE

CHEESE SAUCE

ALFREDO SAUCE

ALFREDO CHICKEN PASTA BAKE

ENCHILADA PASTA SAUCE

BAKED ENCHILADAS

THREE WAYS WITH ENCHILADA PASTA SAUCE

GREEN PESTO

RED PESTO

THREE WAYS WITH PESTO

DESSERTS

VICTORIA SANDWICH

SCONES

CHOCOLATE RAISIN SLICES

PEPPERMINT SLICES

ICE CREAM COOKIES

VANILLA ICE CREAM

FROZEN BISCOFF CHEESECAKE

BISCOFF ICE CREAM

Goodbye

List of Searchable Terms

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

My name is Suzanne Mulholland but you might know me as The Batch Lady.

Can I tell you a secret? I’m not a cook – far from it in fact. My transformation into The Batch Lady was not something I planned, but something that happened out of necessity.

As a busy wife and mother with a large extended family on my doorstep, I often felt like I was stuck in a kind of Groundhog Day – a slave to the kitchen who was forever trying to churn out tasty and nutritious meals night after night when, in truth, I would much rather be spending time with my kids or reading a good book. Add to this the fact that I live on a remote farm in the Scottish Borders with the nearest shop over 30 minutes’ drive away and you’ll start to get an idea of what a slog this could be. The worst thing was that I had always enjoyed cooking, but being chained to the kitchen day after day was starting to make me resent it. Something had to change. I had to get organized!

Luckily, organization is something I have been trained for. Literally. I had studied business and time management at university and have always used workarounds to get household chores done in the shortest possible time. With a new determination to apply these skills to mealtimes, I developed a system where I made batch-cooked meals in advance and stored them in the freezer. Soon, I was only cooking one day a week.

As time went on, I streamlined my system even further by pairing meals that had similar core ingredients together. This meant that I could, with careful planning and shopping, make multiple meals for the freezer at the same time. In no time at all, I found that I was able to reclaim time to spend doing the things I loved, with the added bonuses that we were also eating better, saving money and had very little food waste.

Liberated from the kitchen, friends soon began to notice how carefree and organized I was at mealtimes, so I started sharing some of my hacks with them. In no time at all, word had got out and people were asking for more tips and tricks, curious to see if they could use the same techniques in their own homes. I invited twenty curious friends around to my house and gave them a live demonstration of how to cook 10 meals in 1 hour. My guests were blown away by the demo and encouraged me to share a video of the event on YouTube and Facebook. The Batch Lady was born!

Looking back, it’s ironic that something that I started to save myself time has now become my full-time job! Standing in front of that group of friends in my kitchen I would never have believed that my message would resonate with so many people but, just two years later, I have been lucky enough to share my message with thousands of people through my website and social media channels, and now this book!