A method for preparing and packaging a ready-made dish. The method includes: placing a first food item in a container; placing a second food item in the container in such a way that the second food item is situated above the first food item; placing a sauce or a gravy in the container so that the sauce or the gravy is situated beneath the first food item or mixed with the first food item without being in contact with the second food item before and during the heating process; carrying out the hermetic vacuum sealing of the container; heating the food contents of the closed container, the container remaining without movement during the heating step.

The presently disclosed subject matter provides methods of preparing wet food products, such as jellified wet food products. Methods include preparing a pre-gel mixture comprising a combination of food ingredients, one or more alginate, and an aqueous liquid; adding one or more organic acids to the pre-gel mixture to generate a jellified composition; and expulsing aqueous liquid within the jellified composition. The present disclosure further provides microbially stable wet food products prepared using such methods.

A cooking apparatus for cooking two food items simultaneously, the second food item being positioned to drip fat or other juices onto a first food item. The apparatus includes a roasting pan having a lid, the pan and lid defining an enclosed cooking space, and the bottom of the roasting pan defining a lower cooking surface for supporting a first meat to be cooked; an upper cooking surface within the enclosed cooking space for supporting a second meat to be cooked, the upper cooking surface situated directly above the lower cooking surface and comprising a solid surface having perforations sufficiently small so that meat placed on the upper cooking surface does not fall though the perforations while sufficiently large that melted fat from the second meat flows through the perforations; and a support structure that rests on the bottom of the roasting pan and that supports the upper level cooking surface within the enclosed cooking space, the support structure including vertical legs that straddle the lower cooking surface.

A calcium enriched seafood product according to this invention, which includes, but not limited to, a shelf stable, chilled and frozen tuna or salmon products or other similar shelf stable, can provide a considerable bone health benefit to consumers by providing as much as 412 mg/100 g of available calcium in the finished product. This disclosure comprising the additional calcium supplement wherein the amount of calcium in final product is in the range of 0.5 to 5.0% (w/w) of the total weight of said product and wherein the sources of additional calcium supplement can be selected from raw or partially purified animal or fish bone or partially purified fish bone or inorganic calcium compound.

An example modular meal system includes two or more modular meal components. Example modular meal components include a tray, a meal component disposed within the tray, and a sauce component disposed within the tray. The meal component is selected from a protein component, a starch component, a vegetable component, an appetizer component, and a dessert component. Each modular meal component is configured and/or formulated to reach at least 165° F. or at least 167° F. when heated from frozen for a heating time period within the range of from about 20 minutes to about 60 minutes and at a heating temperature within the range of about 350° F. to about 450° F.

The present application relates to a frozen product for microwave cooking.

A method of making a food product can include forming an emulsion containing a meat and a firming agent that is one or more of plasma, whole egg powder, guar gum, pea fiber, pea protein, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or a modified cereal starch; directing the emulsion through a die to form a meat analog; cooking the meat analog with steam; and cutting the meat analog into thin flakes. The method can include cooling the meat analog before the cutting. The method can include mixing the thin flakes of the meat analog with jelly or gravy to form a blended food composition in which a ratio of the flakes to the jelly or gravy is about 30:70 to about 70:30.

Apparatus and method for making a food items such as a shepherd's pies is disclosed. The method includes preparing, cooking and cooling a pie filling, placing a predetermined amount of individual serving portions of the cooled pie filling into a container, preparing and cooking mashed potatoes, and extruding a predetermined individual serving portion of the mashed potatoes into each of a plurality of compartments formed in a mold tray, the compartments having a predetermined shape and depth. The pie filling and the mashed potatoes in the mold tray compartments are then frozen for storage and transportation. The shepherd's pies can then be assembled and baked at the point-of-sale.

A starch blend includes 40-85% (w/w) of an unmodified amylose-containing starch and 15-60% (w/w) of a non-chemically inhibited starch. The starch blend, upon cooking in water has a high viscosity after one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, or five or more freeze-thaw cycles. Such starch blend is useful in a variety of food and beverage compositions, particularly frozen sauces and gravies.

The invention provides pseudo-loaf food compositions comprising meat analog chunks and gravy, the gravy comprising a thickener selected from the group consisting of a gum present in the gravy in an amount from about 0.5 to about 3.0% of the gravy by weight, a starch present in the gravy in an amount from about 2.0 to about 9.0% of the gravy by weight, and combinations thereof. The food composition has a moisture content from about 60% to about 74% of the composition by weight and has a loaf-type structure. In an embodiment, the moisture content of the pseudo-loaf food composition is from about 67% to about 74% of the composition by weight. In addition, the invention provides methods of making pseudo-loaf food compositions and also provides blended food compositions comprising one or more pseudo-loaf compositions and one or more comestible ingredients compatible with the pseudo-loaf food compositions.