2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
It is always convenient to have a bag of frozen greens or vegetables on hand out of season. In order not to rely on the technology of freezing producers, you can grab the last chance and freeze the remnants of the summer harvest yourself. About what and how to freeze, when it is mid-October, we will tell you in this material.
Despite the fact that autumn has already confidently declared its presence, most markets still offer a variety of fresh vegetables at affordable prices: eggplant, zucchini, fresh herbs, corn, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and so on. It is on them that we intend to stop our attention and make preparations for the winter.
Vegetables
You can freeze any vegetables that are not too watery. Cauliflower and broccoli are ideal candidates for freezing because they are dense enough to tolerate other harvesting methods.
Before packing, both types of cabbage should be disassembled into inflorescences and rinsed.
So that after defrosting the cabbage is not tough, it must be blanched in a small amount of boiling water. Cauliflower inflorescences should be in boiling water for about two minutes, and tender broccoli inflorescences should be enough for a minute.
After that, the cabbage should be doused with ice water to stop the cooking process, and then dry it as much as possible and transfer it to a bag.
Another candidate for freezing is bell peppers, which keep well both chopped and whole. In both cases, the pods are washed first, then the seed box is cleaned, and then cut or stacked together and packed in bags. It is better to put whole peppers into each other in small piles so that it is easier to defrost them.
Zucchini and eggplant are some of those fruits that also need preliminary preparation. Both vegetables should be washed, chopped and then blanched for about a minute. Late eggplants, which can be found on the shelves in autumn, are very bitter, and therefore, before blanching, they must be generously salted, left for half an hour, and then rinsed with cold water.
Corn cobs, as well as other legumes, can be harvested in a simple way, in which the kernels are simply separated from the cob or pod, and then packaged in bags. In order for the legumes not to stick together into a single lump, they must be frozen on a board or dish, and only then poured into a bag.
Greens
Almost any greens can survive the winter in the freezer, if you approach the freezing technology itself wisely.
A standard set of herbs like dill, parsley and green onions can be frozen in a simple way: rinse, dry, chop and pack. You can store greens in one bag or spread out in several small portions in individual bags so that, if necessary, you can quickly fill your soup or stew.
Sorrel and spinach leaves can also survive simple freezing when stored in a modern freezer and as sealed as possible. Otherwise, it is also better to blanch the leaves in boiling water for literally 30 seconds, rinse with ice water, squeeze and put in a container or bag. Coarse greens like kale leaves are blanched for a minute and then frozen in the same way.
Another way to keep your greens fresh is to turn the leaves into a sauce and pour it into ice cube trays. So we decided to do with a bunch of basil. Basil leaves should be made into a gruel along with a few cloves of garlic and a little oil. Put the pureed basil in the tins, freeze, and then pour the cubes into a bag. A couple of these cubes, and your pasta or sauce will instantly be saturated with the taste of fresh herbs.
It is advisable to store each of the frozen blanks for no more than eight months, but vegetables and herbs can live in a good freezer for up to a year.
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