Putting Food By - Janet Greene [111]
Carrots
These cold-store and can well, so freeze only the fancy young ones (preferably whole).
Remove tops, wash, and peel. Leave baby ones whole; cut others into ¼inch cubes, thin slices or lengthwise strips.
Blanch. In boiling water—tiny whole ones for 5 minutes; dice, slices, or lengthwise strips for 2 minutes. Cool immediately; drain.
Pack. Leave ½ inch of headroom. Seal; freeze.
Cauliflower
Infinitely better frozen than canned.
Break or cut flowerets apart in pieces about 1 inch across. If necessary, salt-soak as for Broccoli for ½ hour to get rid of bugs, etc. Wash thoroughly; drain.
Blanch. In boiling salted water (1 teaspoon salt to each 1 quart of water)—3 minutes. Cool immediately; drain.
Pack. Leave no headroom. Seal; freeze.
Celery
Usable only in cooked dishes, so assign it freezer space accordingly. Tender leaves may be cut small and frozen in small packets for flavoring soups and stews; finely minced, it is a basic for sauces or braising mixtures. A number of condiments use celery: see Corn Relish in Chapter 19, and freeze it accordingly in recipe-size amounts.
Strip any coarse strings from any young stalks; wash well, trim, and cut in 1-inch pieces.
Blanch. In boiling water—3 minutes. Cool immediately; drain.
Pack. Leave ½ inch of headroom. Seal; freeze.
Corn
Feasibility for freezing sweet corn: whole-kernel, Yes (it’s better than canning); cream-style, Maybe (it’s certainly handier canned, and there’s not much difference in the product); on-the-cob, No—unless you’ve got loads of freezer space and don’t mind thawing it before cooking it for the table (it shouldn’t be popped frozen into the pot because the kernels will be cooked to death by the time the core of the cob is hot through).
WHOLE-KERNEL
Choose ears with thin, sweet milk; husk, de-silk, and wash. (Cut from cob after blanching.)
Blanch. In boiling water—4 minutes. Cool ears immediately; drain.
Pack. Cut from cob about ⅔ the depth of the kernels, and don’t scrape in any milk. Leave ½ inch of headroom. Seal; freeze.
CREAM-STYLE
Choose ears with thick and starchy milk. Husk, de-silk, and wash. (Cut from cob after blanching.)
Blanch. In boiling water—4 minutes. Cool immediately; drain.
Pack. Cut from the cob at about the center of the kernels, then scrape the cobs with the back of the knife to force out the hearts of the kernels and the juice (milk); mix with cut corn. Pack, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Seal; freeze.
ON-THE-COB
Choose ears with thin, sweet milk (as for whole-kernel). Husk, de-silk, wash; sort for size.
Blanch. In boiling water—small ears (1¼ inches or less in diameter) for 7 minutes, medium ears (to 1½ inches) for 9 minutes, large ears (over 1½ inches) for 11 minutes. Drain on terrycloth, and refrigerate immediately on dry towel, in a single layer.
Pack. In containers, or wrap in moisture/vapor-resistant material. Seal; freeze.
MAVERICK FREEZING IN THE HUSK
People who know the Whys and the Hows of freezing say: “Never freeze corn without blanching it first to stop enzymatic action.” But one hears of corn frozen successfully in its husk (though de-silked), without blanching.
Without husking, pull out the silk; and, to save freezer space, remove a little of the outer husk. Do not blanch. Pack in freezer bags; freeze.
Eggplant
Choose glossy, rather small fruits whose seeds are tender. Because most people are watching their sodium intake, we opt for steam-blanching without any salting to drawout juice (blanching also reduces oxidation).
Very young eggplant need not be peeled. If to be fried, cut in ¾-inch slices; for casseroles or in mixed vegetables, dice or cut in strips. Steam-blanch 2 minutes for small dice/thin slices, up to 5 minutes for thick slices. Chill in cold water to which 4 teaspoons of lemon juice have been added to each 1 gallon of water. Drain, pat dry.
Pack. Leave ½ inch of headroom. Seal; freeze.
Greens, Garden
Remove imperfect leaves, trim away tough midribs and tough stems; cut large leaves (like chard) in pieces. Wash carefully, lifting the