Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.misc From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Frozen assets: Some veggies take to big chill Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE F;TODAY'S HOME \SS (WS) \HD Frozen assets: Some veggies take to big chill \BY George Bria \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS Harvest time also means freezer time for many gardeners. This can be frustrating until we accept the fact that only a few vegetables, such as peas, seem born to freeze well. Others, such as string beans, never really make it. Resigning ourselves to this, we can still look for freezing methods, like high speed, that work best. One error we all make sometimes is to pick the best of our vegetables for fresh eating and assign to the freezer the ones that are past their prime or otherwise inferior. But no miracles will emerge from the big ticket appliance. GIGO, as they say in the computer world - garbage in, garbage out. You've got to reserve some of the young and tender - the quality - for freezing. Many years ago, I read somewhere that limas were the best vegetable to freeze and string beans the worst. My own experience has tallied with that assessment, except that other shelled beans, such as kidney beans and soys, also do well, as do shelled peas. Generally, the more watery the vegetable, the poorer the freezing. Cauliflower and Brussels sprouts preserve both taste and firmness but broccoli, with its more delicate texture, tends to get mushy. I've had good results in putting corn straight out of the garden into the freezer, husk and all, even though conventional wisdom prescribes prior blanching in boiling water for most vegetables. Peppers, sliced and with the seeds removed, have also done well without blanching. Asparagus has been particularly frustrating for me because I have a well-established bed that produces about 700 spears per season. My freezing results have been dismal - mushy stuff good only for soups - so I sadly give a lot of spears away. But noting that food companies get better freezer results than amateurs with some vegetables, I sought advice for my asparagus from Kraft General Foods in Chicago this year and got some tips I'll try next season that are applicable to other vegetables as well. Of course, we're not going to match high-velocity air-blast processes and 40-below-Fahrenheit temperatures of the professional freezers, but Linda Eatherton, the Kraft director of communications, suggested speed in freezing was also the key step in the home. To achieve this, Ms. Eatherton said, you should leave bagging until after the vegetables are frozen on trays. The steps are: (1) blanch the vegetables for the prescribed time in boiling water; (2) drain and immerse immediately in ice water; (3) drain and dry with paper toweling; (4) place on cookie trays and put immediately in freezer and (5) after they're frozen, store them in plastic bags or containers and put them back in the freezer. If you bag them before they're frozen, "It seals in heat and moisture and does not allow them to freeze as quickly," Ms. Eatherton said. In blanching, you begin timing as soon as you put your vegetables in the water, even though that might stop the boiling momentarily. The process aims at stopping the enzyme action involved in ripening vegetables. It also helps in keeping green color. In the search for best taste, people differ on ways to cook frozen vegetables. Some say steaming is best. Others say microwaving. On the advice of a friend, I tried microwaving corn, but found I liked it better dropped in boiling water. In any case, much depends on whether the vegetable is one, such as peas, that takes to freezing in the first place. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM