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Sheldon

wrote:
> Tonight I'm making porkchops that consist of dredging/breading, a
> quick pan fry to brown, then they finish in the oven in a cream of
> mushroom soup sauce.
>
> I'm also making a greenbean casserole that I haven't made before (this
> month's Cook's Illustrated magazine).
>
> This consists of blanching fresh green beans, then making a sauce with
> fresh mushrooms, broth, cream, flour, etc., mixing it all in a dish
> and topping with a mixture of bread crumbs and fried onions.
>
> How much of this, if any, can I make ahead of time so I'm not doing
> everything at once? Can I make the entire casserole and refrigerate
> it?
>
> Also, the chops bake at 350 and the casserole at 425, and I don't have
> a double oven. What should I do?

There's no reason you can't make each dish completely, then reheat
together... in fact you can make those dishes a month in advance and
freeze, then place foil covered in oven while still frozen to reheat...
last few minutes remove foil to brown.

Many fancy schmancy restaurants are now doing this with individual
entree portions, in fact there are restaurant supply emporiums that
sell many classic dishes already fully cooked, frozen, in individual
portion size. Just last week I went to a local high end restaurant
with friends, one person ordered a boned chicken breast entree similar
to your pork chops, I ordered crab stuffed sole; two generous sized
roll-ups in a butter sauce with a gratin topping. We all agreed it was
precooked frozen... but honestly it was very good, the average person
would never realize. I've come to expect being served frozen seafood
anyplace more than 100 miles from the ocean anyway... the menus
typically imply fresh (catch of the day), and if you ask, the
waitperson will give that blank stare like what are you talking about
and then say "yes, I think so, yes", but it rarely is.

Sheldon