When we devised Elevated, one of the things we really wanted to do was increase the nutritional density of people's meal times but to also reduce their overall effort in the kitchen, especially on weekdays when people are busy.
It's one of the reasons we introduced our Brilliant Bases where you put in the harder yards on a weekend, then use them through the week to create quick, delicious dishes. Here Jason explains how he took some of the principles of the work he's done in some of the country's top restaurants to create these fantastic base recipes.
The core principles of catering kitchens and food manufacturing align, with a desire to provide quality balanced meal solutions for restaurant service and consumer supply.
Both require extensive and often intensive pre-preparation, long cook times, allocated labour time, and multiple layers of execution in order to expedite customer orders.
A French term, commonly used in commercial catering kitchens is mis en place, which literally translates as 'to put in place', interpreted to be a 'prep list' that needs doing before hitting the customer service window, i.e., the background underpinning foundation work.
Our Brilliant Bases—nutritionally dense, simple to execute, and incredibly tasty in their own right—are our foundation blocks, from which we build, blend, and bind to create a wide variety of our Elevated recipes.
'Doing the hard yards' on a weekend or when you have some spare time, these bases will last up to 12 days in an air-tight chilled container and are designed to be freezable for up to three months at -12°C. To freeze, simply divide them into freezer-friendly containers, such as freezer-proof Tupperware or ice-cube trays. Aside from the Bone Marrow Broth, all are vegan and can be used in a wide range of dishes and cuisines.
Selected from a flexible palette of key nutritional and functional ingredients, they take 20-30 minutes of physical preparation time and are then often left to cook low and slow for 3-12 hours.
Once you have these in your fridge or freezer in portioned pouches or tubs (250/500/1000g), you're ready to cook fantastic, tasty, nutritional meals throughout the week in just 30-40 minutes for family gatherings or dinner parties.
And the very best bit? As we focus on education over prescription, you can tailor-make or tweak the Brilliant Base recipes according to your preferences and what ingredients you have available, considering any specific tastes, allergens, or intolerances.
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