Showing posts with label freezing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freezing. Show all posts
Freezing Carrots and Beets
10/16/09: Freezing Carrots and Beets
The first time in a very long time we had good crops of carrots and beets. So much so that we had even enough to sell! :) Since carrots are so good in just about everything and my two youngest sisters are beet fiends, I decided we need some during the long winter months.
So this is how the carrot preparation went:
I peeled and chopped the carrots into bite size pieces (something like 1" cubes), I poured them into a 6 quart pot of boiling water with a colander inside, waited until they came to a boil, had them boil for three minutes, lifted the colander and slid the carrots into a bowl of cold water that had a strainer inserted. Once they were cool I placed them in freezer bags.
I also did whole carrots. I chose carrots that were on the smaller side, cut them in half so they could fit in the freezer bags, and did the same procedure as I wrote above only I allowed them to boil for 5 minutes instead of 3. My family likes to place these whole carrots in our spaghetti sauce to add flavor. After they cook for a couple hours in the sauce we remove them and eat the carrots as a side dish.
I also did a few beets. I cut the stem and root off the beet, peel it, chop it into 2 inch pieces, and boil them until they are fork tender. I then place them in freezer bags.
So in the end I froze. . .
4 1/2 quarts of chopped carrots
1 quart whole carrots
1 gallon chopped carrots
2 1/2 quarts chopped beets
To achieve this amount I used about one five gallon bucket of carrots and approximately 1 peck of beets.
The first time in a very long time we had good crops of carrots and beets. So much so that we had even enough to sell! :) Since carrots are so good in just about everything and my two youngest sisters are beet fiends, I decided we need some during the long winter months.
So this is how the carrot preparation went:
I peeled and chopped the carrots into bite size pieces (something like 1" cubes), I poured them into a 6 quart pot of boiling water with a colander inside, waited until they came to a boil, had them boil for three minutes, lifted the colander and slid the carrots into a bowl of cold water that had a strainer inserted. Once they were cool I placed them in freezer bags.
I also did whole carrots. I chose carrots that were on the smaller side, cut them in half so they could fit in the freezer bags, and did the same procedure as I wrote above only I allowed them to boil for 5 minutes instead of 3. My family likes to place these whole carrots in our spaghetti sauce to add flavor. After they cook for a couple hours in the sauce we remove them and eat the carrots as a side dish.
I also did a few beets. I cut the stem and root off the beet, peel it, chop it into 2 inch pieces, and boil them until they are fork tender. I then place them in freezer bags.
So in the end I froze. . .
4 1/2 quarts of chopped carrots
1 quart whole carrots
1 gallon chopped carrots
2 1/2 quarts chopped beets
To achieve this amount I used about one five gallon bucket of carrots and approximately 1 peck of beets.
Freezing Tomato Soup
10/06/09: Freezing Tomato Soup
The tomato soup that was made last Sunday was so well liked that my family wanted some frozen so we can enjoy it during the winter months; along with Alton Brown's biscuits of course! I made a very large batch using our stainless steel stock pot--you should have seen the amount of roux I had to make! I used the exact same recipe from the Sunday before but I had to times it by 9.
When everything was done I managed to make 13 quarts of tomato soup.
The tomato soup that was made last Sunday was so well liked that my family wanted some frozen so we can enjoy it during the winter months; along with Alton Brown's biscuits of course! I made a very large batch using our stainless steel stock pot--you should have seen the amount of roux I had to make! I used the exact same recipe from the Sunday before but I had to times it by 9.
When everything was done I managed to make 13 quarts of tomato soup.
Fall Means Freezing and Canning--And Lots of It!
9/21/09: Freezing Tomato Puree and Gravenstein Apple Slices
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
- Used Super Marzano (aka Roma) tomatoes for the puree, four 5-gallon buckets in all.
- Was able to fill the large stock pot, the corn pot, and the 8-quart pot.
- Took us about two hours to do puree from start to finish.
- In the end, we managed to have 28 quarts of puree.
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
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