Fast food can be really slow. Slow cooked, pre-prepared or part-prepared food. Planning is the key to your own fast food resource.
Queue up for fast food, eat the resulting characterless, compilation from your local fast food outlet, whether it be the pub, burger or pizza chain whilst trying to analyse what is really meant by "freshly cooked" and you are left with an empty space not only in your purse, but also in your heart and sometimes your stomach too.
Slow in the cooking, minimum effort and maximum impact on the taste buds and glorious enjoyment centres in the brain. Fast food for soul mates who love good food without the hassle. It may seem odd to consider a leg of lamb slow cooked on a deep bed of rosemary and garlic, steeped in white wine (yes, white wine) for five hours as fast food, but it takes moments to prepare, creates tantalising aromas for the last three hours cooking time and provides a robust meal for up to eight diners. It needs no attention. You can go out with no worry and leave it independent of the cook, gently creating a magnificent dish. Even the vegetables can be included simply washed and placed around the joint, no peeling required. Inexpensive foodstuffs - cuts of meat such as brisket and shin of beef or bean hot-pots can be treated in the same manner.
Beautifully prepared food cooked in double quantities, some for now and some for later, can also create your own fast food supply in the freezer. Twice baked fluffy cheesy potatoes tray frozen and then bagged to accompany savoury dishes, heated until piping hot and served on their own or with a beautiful crisp, dressed salad are lusciously tasty, crispy on the outside and soft centred. Cook from frozen for a really quick and easy meal.
Other preprepared items include homemade salad dressing kept in the fridge this adds flavour and speedily dresses up a sandwich or wrap into a five star dish. Pastry made in large quantities portioned and frozen raw beats any packaged fake. Finally Delia may like her commercially produced frozen mashed potato, but home cooked delicious mashed potato with butter and garlic kept in the freezer is ten times better.
Foods which can be part prepared are my final choice of fast foods. Souffles are ridiculously easy to prepare and provide a real wow factor to the start of a meal. Prepare them up but don't cook, simply portion up into the souffle dishes and then chill. They'll rise up to the challenge the following day beautifully and quickly! Make pudding batter and place in a greased pudding dish. Be brave; put it into the fridge and not the oven. Bake the following day for excellent results within minutes; add cream or ice-cream to serve. Don't make your own ice-cream? Another day maybe...