The Best Make-Ahead Recipe

No time to cook after work? Want to stock your freezer with oven-ready meals? Can't stand all the last minute work associated with entertaining? The Best Make-Ahead Recipe will put you in control of all your cooking with recipes specifically engineered to the make-ahead approach. Sure, you can make your favorite dishes to heat later, but once food is refrigerated or frozen, flavor and texture suffer--pasta turns mushy, meat dries out, and almost everything tastes less than fresh. Built from the ground up, these make-ahead recipes are guaranteed to withstand storage and reheating without compromise. Make-ahead dishes like frozen lasagna and macaroni and cheese will come out of the oven just as saucy and cheesy as fresh-baked; stuffed chicken breasts will cook up juicy and tender even after two days in the fridge; and your make-ahead mashed potatoes will be so creamy and fresh-tasting your guests will think you've just mashed them over a hot stove. The test kitchen also provides precise instructions on scaling recipes up or down as well as detailed reheating instructions that won't leave you guessing. A lifesaver for busy families, The Best Make-Ahead Recipe will give you the recipes, tips, and techniques to plan and cook ahead--whether you are hosting a dinner party or want to put fresh-tasting food on the table every night of the week. COOK NOW AND SAVE TIME LATER OVEN-READY ENTREES THAT WON'T DISAPPOINT Have you been tempted by the convenience of ready-to-cook breaded stuffed chicken breasts at the supermarket? They might look good, but once cooked, the breading becomes soggy and the fillings taste bland. The Test Kitchen shows you how to pretoast bread crumbs for a guaranteed crunchy crust, and for the filling they rely on a highly seasoned mixture of cheeses and fresh herbs, whose flavors won't become muted. BAKED GOODS THAT GO FROM FREEZER TO OVEN Most make-ahead coffeecakes are baked and then frozen, which can result in a dry texture. Here is a sturdy coffeecake batter (with an extra egg and additional butter) that can be either refrigerated or frozen right in the cake pan. When ready to serve, simply pop it into the oven, and in no time you'll get a fresh-baked coffeecake with a moist, tender crumb. MEALS THAT DO DOUBLE DUTY Turn Sunday night's Braised Brisket into Monday night's quick and heartyToasted French Dip Sandwiches or an easy Meat Ragu. These double-duty recipes offer a variety of family-friendly weekend cooking options that will give you a headstart on organizing your weeknight meals. You'll never look at leftovers the same way again. SLOW-COOKER FAVORITES YOU'LL REALLY WANT TO EAT The problem with slow-cooker stews is that by the time the meat becomes fork-tender, the vegetables have turned mushy and dull. For the Test Kitchen's beef stew, they found that wrapping the carrots and potatoes in a foil packet and placing the packet on top of the stew allows the vegetables to cook up just right and retain their b