Putting Food By - Janet Greene [107]
Wet pack, water. Cover cut peaches with water in which 1 teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid has been dissolved in each 1 quart of water. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
CRUSHED OR PURÉED
Loosen skins by dipping peaches in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Cool immediately in cold water; peel and pit.
Crush coarsely. For purée, press through a sieve or food mill or purée in a blender or food processor; it’s easier to sieve or mill the peaches if you heat them in a very little water for 4 minutes before hand.
Wet pack, juice. Mix 1 cup sugar and ⅛ teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid with each 1 quart of peaches. Pack; leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
Pears
Use Bartlett or a similar variety. D’Anjou, Bose, Comice, and other so-called winter pears, keep well in cold storage (see “Root-Cellaring,” Chapter 22) but can also be frozen if firm-ripe.
HALVES OR QUARTERS
Choose well-ripened pears, firm but not hard. Wash, cut in halves and quarters; core. Cover them with cold water to prevent their oxidizing during preparation (leaching is negligible because immersion time is so short).
Wet pack, syrup. Handling no more than 3 pints at a time in a deep-fry basket, lower cut-up pears into boiling 40 percent Syrup for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain; cool. (Save the hot syrup for another load of fruit.) To pack, cover cooled pears with cold 40 percent Syrup to which has been added ¾ teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid to each 1 quart of syrup. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
PURÉED
Wash well-ripened pears that are not hard or gritty. Peeling is optional. Proceed as for Peach Purée.
Persimmons
PURÉED
Purée made from late-ripening native ones needs no sweetening, but the nursery Hachiya variety may be packed with or without sugar.
Choose orange-colored, soft-ripe persimmons. Sort; wash. Cut out the sepals and cap, slice the fruit in half lengthwise, and dig out any seeds. Either scoop the flesh off the skin with a spoon or leave the skin attached. (The skin will show up in the purée as tiny dark flecks.) Press through a sieve or food mill or purée in a blender or food processor. Mix ⅛ teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid—or 1½ teaspoons crystalline citric acid—with each 1 quart of purée.
Wet pack, juice (unsweetened). Pack unsweetened purée. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
Wet pack, juice (sweetened). Mix 1 cup sugar with each 1 quart of purée. Pack; leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
Pineapple
Use firm, ripe pineapple with full flavor and aroma. Pare, removing eyes, and core. Slice, dice, crush, or cut in wedges or sticks.
Wet pack, syrup. Pack fruit tightly. Cover with 30 percent Syrup made with pineapple juice, if available, or water. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
Wet pack, juice (unsweetened). Pack fruit tightly without sugar: enough juice will squeeze out to fill the crevices. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
Plums (and Prunes)
Frozen plums and prunes are good in pies and jams, salads, and desserts. Use the unsweetened pack for future jams. To serve whole plums raw, see below.
WHOLE, HALVES, OR QUARTERS
Choose tree-ripened fruit with deep color. Wash. For Wet pack, cut as desired. Leave pits in fruits you freeze whole.
Dry pack, no sugar. Pack whole plums tightly. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze. (To serve whole plums uncooked, dip them while frozen in cold water for 5 to 10 seconds; remove skins, and cover with 40 percent Syrup to thaw. Serve in the syrup.)
Wet pack, syrup. Cover with cold 40 to 50 percent Syrup in which is dissolved ½ teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid to each 1 quart of syrup. Leave appropriate headroom. Seal; freeze.
PURÉED
Purée may be made from heated or unheated fruit, depending on its softness.