5 things you should really never prepare in advance (like cordon bleu)
A person who saves something has something, and we love leftovers (hello reheated chili bowl for lunch!). But there are things that simply lose all their appeal when you reheat them or leave them sitting around for too long before eating them. These things are best eaten immediately after preparation:
Meal prepping is all well and good, but it takes some thought to decide which ingredients will still be fresh and tasty after a few days in the fridge (or have become richer and more deeply flavored, like the aforementioned chili con carne). In any case, these dishes are better not made too far in advance…
Never prepare too far in advance: anything breaded
A well-made cordon bleu may not be very hip, but it sure is damn delicious! But as is also true, for example, of Chicken Parm: eat it while it’s hot and crispy straight from the pan, not after the breading has become soggy from cooling and condensation.
Shrimp
Shrimp—and really all cooked or fried seafood—are best not reheated because they become rubbery and tough. One thing you can do with cooled shrimp is chop them finely and use them in, for example, beaten eggs for a delicious omelet, or in the batter for scallion pancakes.
Soft-boiled eggs
Nothing is as delicious as a perfectly soft-boiled egg, then spreading that hot yolk over your crisp, buttery toast. Nothing is as unpleasant as when it’s cold. Hard-boiled eggs, of course, do just fine in the fridge.
Gnocchi
Fluffy and light when freshly prepared, and delicious with, for example, brown butter and sage that you’ve fried until crisp in it. Soggy and sticky when kept for too long after cooking. Which do you choose?
Crispy chicken
This may well be my absolute favorite thing to eat. Once, when some dear friends asked what they could cook for my birthday, I asked them for chicken with fries and applesauce (not that I was turning ten or anything), and they subsequently served up—alongside fantastic wine—the most delicious homemade applesauce, hand-cut fries and crispiest chicken I had ever eaten. And that crispy skin; you really have to eat it immediately. The only exception is the chicken (breast) itself, which you can still deliciously use in a sandwich the next day, but hopefully you’ve already devoured that skin.
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