Don’t Meal Prep, Prep Like A Chef

Weekly cooking plan: nine meals for two

Andy Cooks’ approach is to do the shopping and some batch cooking on Sunday, then use leftovers in different ways so meals don’t feel identical. Quantities below are included where the subtitles give them; otherwise, use amounts to taste or as needed.

Shopping and Sunday setup

• Buy two whole chickens rather than pre-portioned chicken: break one down for breasts, legs and stock bones, and roast the other whole.
• Buy 500 g beef mince for the san choy bau. Andy prefers mince with a little more fat, around an 80/20 fat-to-lean ratio.
• Shop seasonally for vegetables, and choose suitable substitutes rather than following a recipe rigidly.
• Other ingredients used during the week include rice, pasta, eggs, spinach, potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, water chestnuts, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and green olives, along with stocks, sauces and seasonings.
• Before cooking, lay out the vegetables. Refrigerate the spinach so it doesn’t wilt.
• Use labelled containers for prepared ingredients and meals.

Break down the chicken and make stock

1. Break down one chicken. Keep the carcass for stock, the breasts for Tuesday’s fried rice and the legs for Thursday’s ragout.
2. Slice the breasts into small stir-fry pieces and refrigerate in a labelled container. Freeze the legs; Andy suggests moving them to the fridge on Wednesday morning to thaw for Thursday.
3. Put the carcass in a stock pot with about 2 L water, less than half an onion, about ⅓ carrot and a couple of peppercorns. Use aromatics sparingly; too much carrot can make stock sweet. For Asian-style or poaching stock, Andy says to skip the aromatics.
4. In a pressure cooker, cook for 1 hour after it reaches a whistle, then turn it off and let the pressure release slowly. Alternatively, bring a conventional pot to a simmer, simmer for 3 hours, then turn it off and let it cool.
5. Reserve stock for Sunday’s gravy and Thursday’s ragout. Andy says stock keeps in the fridge for 3–4 days; freeze it if keeping it longer.

Prepare san choy bau for Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch

Ingredients mentioned: beef mince; water chestnuts; mushrooms; onion; garlic; zucchini; peanut or another neutral oil; oyster sauce; light and/or dark soy sauce; black pepper; optional MSG; cornflour/cornstarch mixed with water; rice and iceberg lettuce for serving.

Andy swaps button mushrooms for shiitake and red onion for spring onion when those are better value or available. Water chestnuts are optional. Oyster sauce can be omitted; soy sauce alone works. If buying only one soy sauce, he recommends light soy, which is saltier than dark soy.

1. Finely dice the water chestnuts, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Dice the zucchini separately.
2. In a wok, cook the zucchini with a pinch of salt until it has some colour but is not fully cooked. Set aside; it will be reheated later.
3. Cook rice in a rice cooker, rinsing it 2–3 times first.
4. Cook the onion and garlic in the wok, then add the mushrooms. Stir in the water chestnuts, if using, and set the mixture aside.
5. Working in batches, fry the mince in peanut or neutral oil. Return the vegetable mixture to the wok and stir it through.
6. Season with oyster sauce, light and/or dark soy sauce, plenty of freshly ground black pepper (Andy uses about 2 tbsp) and optional MSG. Stir in cornflour dissolved in water to thicken the sauce slightly.
7. Put just over half into a labelled container to cool for Monday dinner. Stir the zucchini into the remaining portion for Tuesday lunch.
8. Keep rice separate from the meat if convenient. Andy prefers this, though the portions can be packed together. For Monday dinner, serve the reheated filling in washed iceberg lettuce cups.

Sunday dinner: roast chicken, vegetables and gravy

Vegetables: potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin and capsicum, seasoned with oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and garlic powder.

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Cut potatoes into quarters; cut sweet potato a little smaller and pumpkin into pieces about the size of the potatoes.
2. Toss the vegetables with oil and seasonings. Roast for 40 minutes at 180°C.
3. Raise the oven to 220°C and roast the second chicken. Andy estimates 45–50 minutes for a chicken of this size. Add diced capsicum to the roasting dish at this stage; it needs about 20 minutes at the higher temperature. The subtitles suggest checking the vegetables during this stage and taking them out if needed.
4. Check the chicken as Andy does: he looks for at least 62°C throughout, then rests it for 15 minutes.
5. For gravy, use the chicken fat and roasting juices. Heat them, whisk in 1 tbsp flour to start, adding more only if needed. Cook the flour for 2–3 minutes, then gradually whisk in about 400 ml chicken stock and the tray juices until smooth. Season with mushroom soy sauce, or ordinary soy sauce.
6. Carve the chicken. Serve the breast meat for Sunday dinner; Andy reserves the darker meat for Monday’s lunch because it holds up better overnight. Serve with the roast vegetables and plenty of gravy.

Monday lunch: roast chicken and vegetable salad

• Pull meat from the leftover chicken and layer it over baby spinach with roast vegetables.
• Season with a little salt, olive oil and sherry vinegar. Red wine vinegar or fresh lemon can substitute for sherry vinegar.
• Pack for lunch and eat cold, or warm briefly if preferred.

Monday dinner: san choy bau lettuce cups

• Reheat the reserved san choy bau filling in a pan, or use a microwave. Wash and quarter an iceberg lettuce; Andy says one lettuce makes about four portions.
• Serve the hot filling in the lettuce cups. Rice is optional; cook extra when making rice if you want it alongside.
• Andy estimates dinner can be ready in about 10–15 minutes because the filling was made ahead.

Tuesday lunch: beef with black pepper sauce and zucchini over rice

• Reheat the zucchini portion of the san choy bau with rice in a covered container in the microwave for 3 minutes on high.

Tuesday dinner: chicken egg fried rice

Ingredients mentioned: the pre-cut chicken breast; cold cooked rice; eggs; onion; ginger; garlic; chili; carrot; zucchini; light soy sauce; a small pinch of sugar; optional MSG; oil.

1. Dice the carrot and zucchini, slice the onion, finely crush the garlic, finely dice the ginger and halve the chili.
2. Sauté carrot and zucchini in a wok for 3–4 minutes, until starting to soften. Add onion and cook 1 minute, then add garlic, ginger and chili and cook another minute. Remove the vegetables.
3. Reheat the wok, add oil and cook the chicken. When it is cooked, add the eggs and toss through. Remove the chicken and egg mixture and combine it with the vegetables off the heat.
4. Heat the wok again and fry the cold rice for 3–4 minutes, breaking up clumps. Return the chicken and vegetables.
5. Season with light soy sauce, a small pinch of sugar and optional MSG.

With the chicken and rice already prepared, Andy says this takes about 30 minutes.

Wednesday lunch: egg curry with rice

Ingredients mentioned: 6 eggs (three per person), half an onion, yellow capsicum, 3 tomatoes, one potato, garlic, ginger, red chili, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, garam masala or curry powder, neutral oil, salt and optional coriander. Cook enough rice for four portions for Wednesday and Thursday lunches.

1. Hard-boil the eggs: once the water comes to a boil, cook for 8 minutes. Six eggs make three per person; cook four if you want fewer.
2. Chop the onion, capsicum, tomatoes and potato; prepare the garlic, ginger and chili.
3. Heat neutral oil and briefly toast cumin and mustard seeds. Andy optionally browns the boiled eggs in the spices, then removes them before the spices burn.
4. Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt for a couple of minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chili and garam masala (or curry powder); cook for 20 seconds.
5. Add tomatoes, capsicum and about ½ cup water. Bring to a light simmer, add potato, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
6. Return the eggs, add another pinch of salt and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve with rice and optional coriander.

If you don’t have cumin and mustard seeds, Andy says curry powder or garam masala is the essential seasoning.

Wednesday dinner: weeknight beef sauce with spaghetti

Ingredients mentioned: 500 g beef mince, chicken stock, carrot, zucchini, half an onion, 5–6 cloves garlic, about 2 tbsp tomato paste, olive oil, salt and spaghetti. A can of tomatoes can replace the tomato paste; use less stock.

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the mince with salt, then remove it, leaving the oil in the pot if desired.
2. Finely dice the onion and carrot; peel and dice the carrot. Sauté them with a small pinch of salt for 4–5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
3. Add diced zucchini, garlic and tomato paste. Return the beef and stir.
4. Add enough chicken stock to just cover. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25–30 minutes, stirring every 5–10 minutes so it doesn’t catch. It can simmer longer for a thicker sauce; add stock or water if it gets too dry.
5. Cook spaghetti (about 10 minutes, or according to the pasta) and reserve some starchy pasta water. Toss the pasta with the sauce and enough pasta water to coat it well. Add grated cheese if you have some.

Thursday lunch: sauce, rice and cabbage

• Before finishing Wednesday’s dinner, set aside some beef sauce. Serve it with rice and very finely sliced raw cabbage.
• Cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat covered in the microwave for 3 minutes. Andy likes that the cabbage warms slightly and catches the sauce.

Thursday dinner: chicken ragout with cabbage, olives and pasta

Ingredients mentioned: the two thawed chicken legs; half a red onion; garlic; carrot; fresh tomatoes; tinned tomatoes; cabbage; green olives; chicken stock or water; olive oil; salt and black pepper; pasta.

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Salt the chicken and brown it skin-side down. Remove and set aside.
2. Dice the onion, carrot and tomatoes; crush the garlic; cut the cabbage into roughly 2 cm squares.
3. Add onion, carrot and garlic to the pan with a big pinch of salt. Add fresh and tinned tomatoes, plus a little chicken stock if available (water works too). Return the chicken and nestle it into the sauce.
4. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 25 minutes. Andy checks at about 23 minutes.
5. Remove the chicken and leave the sauce uncovered. Add the cabbage and let it cook while pasta boils in salted water for about 10 minutes.
6. Carefully shred the hot chicken with tongs. Add green olives and plenty of black pepper; taste and adjust salt. Stir in drained pasta.

Andy describes shredding the chicken this way as an informal home-cooking shortcut, not a technique he’d use in a restaurant. The finished dish is generous and can feed about three.

General tips from Andy

• Shop seasonally and be flexible with ingredients; substitutes can save money and avoid buying a whole bunch when only a little is needed.
• A domestic wok burner is less powerful than a professional one, so cook in batches rather than crowding the wok.
• Spread freshly cooked rice on a tray to cool quickly. Andy recommends not keeping cooked rice in the fridge for longer than two days.
• Label prepared food and keep rice separate from other components when that suits your routine.
• Prep meals in ways that reuse ingredients without serving exactly the same dish two days in a row.

Presenter/channel: Andy Cooks. He shops at Australian Meat Emporium and refers to his own san choy bau recipe; no link is given in the subtitles.