preserve the best flavors of summer
Source of Recipe
???
List of Ingredients
It's easy to preserve the best flavors of summer
Orlando
Sentinel
For those who have time to make traditional jam, we salute you. For
those
who can't seem to get out of a time jam to fill dainty jars and affix
neat
labels, we've got a plan for you.
The art of preserving the fruit-and-vegetable flavors of summer is
easy.
It's getting all the gadgets and gear together that stops most people.
The alternative is spending a hot July day with your freezer, making
ice
pops, making two-step freezer jams, blending fruit purees and packing
blanched vegetables. The process for each technique is fast and gives
cooks
many menu options for the effort.
Ice pops: Crushed fruit blended with unsweetened fruit juice, honey or
yogurt creates fresh flavors for refreshing treats.
Freezer jam: Skip the cauldron of rattling glass jars on the stovetop.
Look
for durable plastic 8-ounce freezer jars with screw-on lids, such as
those
made by Ball, in supermarkets and discount stores. Combine crushed
fruit,
sugar and pectin and pack in the plastic jars with tight-fitting lids.
Whole and sliced fruit: Freeze unwashed berries and sliced fruit on
baking
sheets, then transfer to sealable bags or plastic containers, leaving a
half-inch of space for expansion. This will prevent the creation of a
frozen
fruit blob that would otherwise be useless when that yearning for an
apricot
sauce comes in late November.
Treat cut fruit with ascorbic acid (available at drugstores, and with
the
canning supplies at some supermarkets) or some other treatment to
prevent
discoloration, especially apples, peaches and nectarines.
Some cooks prefer to freeze fruits with sweeteners. A sugar-water
syrup, for
example, isn't necessary, but it can help preserve shape and texture. A
simpler method calls for sprinkling fruit with sugar before freezing to
help
retain flavor and texture. Also, drizzling fruits with honey adds
flavor and
preserves texture in the same manner. Sugar substitutes don't have the
same
preserving properties and only add flavor.
Purees: Set the blender on stun and process berries or blanched and
peeled
tomatoes until smooth. Freeze the fruit purees in ice cube trays then
transfer to freezer-quality bags. Add some lemon juice to the tomato
mixture
to preserve flavor before freezing in ice cube trays. Each cube will be
2 to
3 tablespoons, depending on how generous your pour is. Thaw the savory
cubes
months later for sauces for chicken, fish or pasta. The sweet stuff can
be
used for pork or fish sauces or as a fruity drizzle for ice cream or
store-bought angel food cake.
Blanch: Go ahead, give us your best guttural wail from A Street Car
Named
Desire. OK, now everyone back in the kitchen. Unfortunately, many cooks
think "boil" and "blanch" are the same thing. They're not. Think quick
dip
in boiling water rather than long soak in the hot tub. For thin
vegetables,
this could last as little as 30 seconds. Larger specimens could take up
to
half the regular cooking time.
To blanch, use one gallon of water for a pound of vegetables. Bring the
water to a rolling boil over high heat. Submerge the vegetables in the
boiling water and cover with a lid.
After a few minutes, remove the vegetables and plunge them into a bowl
of
ice water to stop the cooking. Once the produce is cool, remove and
drain
thoroughly. Then package for freezing. As long as food is properly
frozen at
peak freshness, it will be nearly as vitamin-rich as when fresh.
Final tip: When packing into the freezer, allow some space between
foods so
air can circulate and chill or freeze the food more quickly.
Freezing basics
Asparagus: Wash in cold water. Blanch small stalks 2 minutes; medium, 3
minutes; large, 4 minutes. Chill in cold water. Drain. Package spears
alternating tip and stem ends. Freeze.
Blueberries: Freeze unwashed fruit on trays lined with parchment or wax
paper; once frozen, store in freezer bags.
Cherries: Wash, stem, pit. Pack in sugar, using 1 cup sugar to 4 cups
fruit
for sour fruit, 1/2 cup sugar to 4 cups for sweet fruit.
Peaches: Peel, pit and slice. If desired, pack in cold syrup (2 cups
sugar
to 3 cups water) or dust with granulated sugar (2/3 cup sugar to 4 cups
fruit) or dust with ascorbic acid.
Plums: Wash, halve and pit. Pack in cold syrup (2 cups sugar to 3 cups
water) or dust with granulated sugar (3/4 cup sugar to 4 cups fruit) or
dust
with ascorbic acid.
Raspberries: Freeze unwashed fruit on trays lined with parchment or wax
paper; once frozen, store in freezer bags.
Rhubarb: Wash, trim and cut into 1-inch lengths. Freeze on trays lined
with
parchment or wax paper; once frozen, store in freezer bags.
Strawberries: Freeze unwashed berries on trays lined with parchment or
wax
paper; once frozen, store in freezer bags.
Summer squash: Wash, drain, slice. Freeze.
Tomatoes: Cut a small "X" in the bottom of the tomato. Plunge into
boiling
water 10 seconds. Peel and core. Freeze.
Recipe
|
|
member logon
