torlesse had something important to tell us on 3 Aug 2004 02:39:01
-0700:

>Hey
>
>Has anyone came across pages or postings containing recipes for dishes
>(mains, deserts, anything really) that can be kept in the fridge for a
>week or more? - I'd like to prepare some meals quite a few days in
>advance, but i don't want to freeze them. Either vegetarian meals, and
>perhaps meat casseroles I can make for the family. Keeping veges etc
>in a sauce is one way perhaps of helping them keep longer - but any
>further help would be appreciated on this.

You want to keep cooked food in the fridge for more than a week? I'm
afraid that's inviting disaster... the longest I will keep a cooked
meal in the fridge is seven days. Most stuff gets tossed after five,
and fish/rice-based dishes are really only safe for three because
they're very perishable.

But you're perfectly safe to prepare a casserole three days in advance
- my brother slow-cooks giant casseroles that make at least three
meals worth and they just sit in the fridge for the week being
reheated in the microwave as needed. Lasagne is a good one too. If you
want to keep it for longer, it freezes really well. Vegetarian meals
tend not to keep as well. Curry improves from overnight storage - the
flavours melt together and it's generally much smoother and more
aromatic the second time around. And you can keep chilli or ground
beef dishes for a week as long as they're thoroughly cooked to begin
with. The most important thing to remember is that the dish needs to
be thoroughly cooked through, then cooled as quickly as possible.
Don't leave it standing around on the counter all night, because it's
the cooling window that encourages the germs to breed. Ditto when
you're reheating. Heat the food thoroughly and preferably bring it up
to the boil if it's a casserole. And never ever EVER put reheated
leftovers back into the fridge again. Only reheat the part of the dish
that you're going to eat at that session.