Large Tupperware might be handy, but it's not the best when freezing for later.
Posts with tag freezing
Make Use of That Old Citrus Fruit - Tip of the Day
Do you have some citrus about to go bad? Don't toss it!
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Roasted tomatoes for freezing
I'm on vacation this week, traveling around Southern California visiting family (with a stop in Las Vegas over the weekend). When I was getting ready to leave, in addition to packing and cleaning the apartment a bit so that I didn't return to a total mess, I also had to make sure to use up any food that wasn't going to keep while we were away. I did a final, abbreviated grocery shop last Sunday and then set out to create meals that used only what I had (actually, not much of a challenge given the stocked state of my kitchen).
I made scrambled eggs and toast one night and another did hamburgers with a random veggie medley along side. I also roasted a huge sheet pan of tomatoes, as I had been given a bounty by a friend's mother. I used half of them in a baked pasta dish and then poured what remained into a quart-sized container for the freezer.
This time of year, with the tomatoes as gorgeous and abundant as they are, it's a wonderful thing to tuck some away for future use. The food blogs have been abuzz lately with news of people canning and preserving those tomatoes. If the idea of jars, large pots and hot water baths give you the shakes, just remember your freezer. My roasted tomatoes were simply tomato wedges spread out on a rimmed cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. Baked for 45 minutes at 375 degrees, they were wonderful with the pasta and sauteed veggies I tossed them with, and they'll be even better when I pull the rest of the freezer in a few months.
Tip of the Day: Freezing herbs
You worked so hard to keep that luscious herb garden at its finest this summer; don't stop now! Don't know what to do with all your leftover herbs and afraid the first frost is going to destroy them, try freezing them!
Tip of the Day: A couple of berry tips
The season for berries is almost over, but here are a couple of tips on preparing them to be used.
Tip of the Day: Keep your grated cheese longer
Need to keep some grated cheese for a little bit longer than you thought? Here's how.
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The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Canning, freezing and preserving
Leslie Cole admits to a multi-year ambition to can summer produce for winter. This year she's giving up the canning plan for more accessible freezing. - Once of the nice things about canning is that it gives you the opportunity to make things that aren't readily accessible at the store. Try Seckel or Forelle Pears Poached With Madeira and Bay Leaves, Italian Cherry Mostarda and Spicy Green Tomato Jam.
- Chefs and home cooks are swooning over agave nectar. it also makes an excellent sweetener for jam. Here's the recipe for the Agave Berry Jam.
- When it comes to canning, make sure that you use the proper safety methods. If you don't, the results could be deadly.
- As you prep your berries for freezing, think about sweetening some so that they're ready to go for pies and sauces.
- Preserve those leafy greens and fresh herbs by turning them into pastes and pestos.
Tip of the Day: Freezing berries
Here's a great way to preserve your fresh berries: freeze them!
Tip of the Day: Peel stone fruit the easy way
Looking for an easy way to peel that bushel of peaches for jam or the freezer?
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A good trick for saving summer herbs for future use
Last weekend, my friend Angie handed me two plastic bags that were bursting with fresh herbs from her garden. This Saturday, after lunch at my cousin Amy's, she led me outside with scissors and a bag and asked that I "please take all the basil you can carry!" I am currently awash in an embarrassment of fresh herbs.
Last night, as I was rearranging the fridge to make room for the remains of the chicken I had roasted for dinner, I came across these multiple bags of herbs, seemingly undiminished despite active use and thought to myself that I better find a way to preserve them soon or I was going to have to add them to the composter (I now have a indoor composter in my living room, more on that later).
As I was reading through my feed reader this afternoon, I came across this tip on The Kitchn and realized that it was the answer to my herbal abundance. Emma recommends chopping herbs and then freezing them into cubes in an ice tray. Each well gets half filled chopped herbs and then is topped off with stock, wine or water. When they're frozen, she pops them out of the tray and stores them in a plastic zippered bag for future use. Much like how people are always recommending freezing stock into ice cube trays, only with more of verdant kick. I'm looking forward to saving some of the thyme Angie gave me for the fall.
Tip of the Day: freezing individual portions
Biggie, the bento whiz over at Lunch in a Box, has a really cool tip on freezing individual portions of food for handy lunches.
Continue reading Tip of the Day: freezing individual portions
Gingery suggestions from Jaden's Steamy Kitchen
Do you love using fresh ginger in your cooking, but feel like at times it becomes more trouble than it's worth? When a recipe called for minced ginger, do you often find yourself turning to the ancient jar of pre-minced ginger in your fridge? If you've answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to head over to Jaden's Steamy Kitchen and read through her tips for storing, processing and using ginger.
The tip I found the most helpful was to grate up a bunch of ginger and then put the ginger out in a long strip on a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll it up in a tube, tie the ends and store in the freezer. You can either snap off a bit or re-grate it into your dish. I grew up with frozen ginger, but in my family we always just through the entire root in, which made it really difficult to peel and chop it for cooking. I do believe that this particular suggestion will inspire me to keep more ginger around (frozen in a tube) and use it in my cooking more. Thanks Jaden!
Neat way to keep track of freezer inventory
I live by myself, so having a stocked freezer isn't something to which I am accustomed, but I do know that for large families, keeping track of a well-stocked freezer is a necessity. Otherwise, during that regular freezer clean-out, they'll find fish fillets from 1986.
Lunch in a Box has a neat way of keeping track of things in the freezer -- make magnets out of cutouts of food from the weekly circulars from the market and put them up on the freezer/refigerator door to indicate whether it's something you've got inside. Pretty cool idea!
Cooking with liquid nitrogen
Do you have a container of liquid nitrogen laying around your house and are not sure what to do with it?
Probably not. Liquid nitrogen is a clear liquid that has some unique properties and many uses, though its primary
property is its extreme cold. Its boiling temperature is -196C, so it will evaporate immediately if you simply place a
drop on your hand. It will also evaporate when exposed to just about anything, which means that it is safe to use with
food because no nitrogen will be left by the time you go to eat it. You can still suffer some serious freezer burns
from liquid nitrogen if you are not careful, so make sure to handle it safely.
It is very inexpensive to purchase at medical and laboratory supply stores, but you do need a special container to store it. Fortunately, you can often rent one from the supply store. The most popular culinary use for liquid nitrogen is ice cream because it freezes the base so fast the ice crystals are very tiny, making the ice cream very smooth. Heidi, of 101 Cookbooks, recently tried an ice cream made in this way, but she isn't the first nor the last, as this is a reasonably popular (and tasty) experiment in science classrooms. If ice cream isn't enough, there are many more fun things to do with the stuff once you have it.
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