Sent to me by a friend I thought this worth sharing.
Written
on August 27, 2012 at 11:00 am, by Ruth Cousineau
The
freezer is our friend. It operates at its most efficient when filled. So treat
it nicely and fill it up with lots of summer-ripe veggies.
Vegetable
flavor is at its best during summertime, and trust me, you’ll be happy
mid-winter when you can pluck some frozen veggies out of your freezer instead
of paying sky-high prices at the store for so-so quality.
There
are a few instructions that you must follow to freeze vegetables properly.
First, you should cut vegetables into uniform pieces. Green beans are fine
whole, as are snow and snap peas, and okra. Cauliflower and broccoli are better
if cut into florets. Bell peppers can be diced or cut into strips. Lima beans
and other shell beans (butter beans, black-eyed peas, etc.) also freeze well.
All
these vegetables need blanching. This is simply plunging them into boiling
water for 2–3 minutes, then draining well. Lay the vegetables in a single layer
on a double layer of paper towels. Once they’re completely dry, put them in
plastic freezer bags and seal them, forcing all the air out. You can also use a
vacuum food-saver or rigid plastic containers, but if you use the latter, be
sure to leave an inch of headspace in case of expansion.
Tomatoes
can be frozen in many ways, too. The easiest way is to cut them in quarters,
bag and freeze. I prefer to blanch them whole for one minute to slip off their
skins, then seed and freeze in usable quantities of 2–4 cups. Even more useful
make a big batch of tomato sauce, divide it into individual portions and freeze
the portions in separate bags.
Winter
squashes taste better if they are cooked thoroughly before freezing. I like to
roast and then purée them for best flavor. (It’s easy to make a pie when you
have a stash of already cooked filling!) Personally, I don’t care for freezing
summer squash, eggplant, or potatoes. They get soggy and are best eaten freshly
cooked.
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