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Hello,
This week's issue is about freezing specifc types of food. We are in the process of adding a comprehensive collection of freezing guides to ThriftyFun. Below are the guides we have added so far. We didn't have room to publish the complete guides in this newsletter but you can read them on the website.
If there is a specifc type of food that you would like to freeze, don't hesitate to submit a request.
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Thanks for reading,
Susan
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Tips
Freezing Cheese
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Cheese: When selecting cheeses for freezing, avoid those with dry or cracked edges, mold that doesn't belong or cheeses that appear greasy on the surface. Check the date of prepackaged cheese to make sure it hasn't expired. Cheese keeps best in the refrigerator and freezing it will sacrifice some of its quality. Hard or semi-hard cheese can be frozen, but it may become develop a crumbly or mealy texture during freezing. However, it will retain its flavor and work just fine for cooking.
Tips & Shortcuts: Hard cheese grates well when it's frozen.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Cauliflower
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Cauliflower: In general, cauliflower does not freeze well. Freezing it will preserve its flavor, but tends to severely break down its texture. Still, frozen cauliflower may be useful in some recipes-especially those using puree. Choose compact white heads that feel heavy for their size. Attached leaves and stalks should be crisp and not wilted. Avoid heads with brown patches.
Tips & Shortcuts: If necessary to remove insects, soak for 30 minutes in solution of salt and water (4 teaspoons salt per gallon water). Drain.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Apples
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Apples: If you're purchasing apples, fall offers the greatest selection. Choose ripe apples for freezing that feel firm and crisp in hand and have a bright color. Avoid apples that feel soft and mealy or have cuts or punctures in the skin.
Tips: Some types of apples freeze better than others. In general, those that work well for making pies or sauce freeze well. Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Winesap hold up well to freezing and resist bruising. McIntosh bruises easily and Red Delicious is the least desirable to freeze.
Shortcuts: If you're freezing apples for pies, place sliced apples in a pie tin lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil or a freezer grade plastic wrap. Wrap the apples and place the pie tin shaped package into the freezer. When you're ready to bake your pie, simply remove the wrap, place the slab of apples directly into the pie crust, add sugar and spices and bake. The syrup used for syrup packs can be prepared a few days ahead of time and kept refrigerated.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Applesauce
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Fruit: If you're purchasing apples, fall is the best time to buy them if you want the greatest selection. Choose ripe apples that feel firm and crisp in hand and have a bright color. Avoid apples that feel soft and mealy or have cuts or punctures in the skin.
Tips & Shortcuts: Substitute apple juice for water to cut down using granulated sugar. If you like to season your applesauce with cinnamon, a few red hot candies will add flavor and give the applesauce a rosy pink glow. Spices intensify during freezing so add them sparingly. You can also freeze applesauce without seasoning and add it after thawing.
Read More: Click Here
Preparing for Freezing: Select recipes that can be prepared in advance. When preparing meals, plan for extra servings that can be packaged and frozen as individual meals.
Tips & Shortcuts: Line a baking dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil, fill with food and freeze it until firm. Remove the foil package, now in the shape of your baking dish, to free up your dish for other purposes until you're ready to reheat your casserole. Reheating will be faster if you freeze individual portions. Foods that are fried or have a crisp outer coating may need to be reheated for 2 to 3 minutes in a hot oven to retain crispness.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Cookies
By Ellen Brown
Preparing for Freezing: Cookies should be completely cooled before freezing.
Tips & Shortcuts: Store a variety of cookies in the freezer in pre-portioned bags to save yourself time during holiday entertaining or to have on hand for unexpected company. Individually wrapping them before placing them in containers will keep them fresh longer. Imitation vanilla does not hold its flavor well when frozen, and spices like nutmeg and cloves tend to intensify during freezing.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Broccoli
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Broccoli: Select firm, young, tender stalks with compact heads. If leaves are still attached to stems they should be dark green and firm. Yellowing flowers means the broccoli is old. Broccoli should be harvested before the individual clusters start to open and processed as soon as possible after harvesting.
Tips: Before blanching, it's a good idea to immerse florets in brine (4 teaspoons salt to 1 gallon water) for 30 minutes to remove insects.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing & Storing Asparagus
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Asparagus: Select firm, tender young spears. If growing your own, cut them immediately before freezing, as once cut, asparagus spears wilt quickly.
Tips & Shortcuts: Cut off woody stems can be saved, pureed and frozen for later use as a base for soups or soufflés. If freezing large amounts of asparagus, place spears onto the rack of a large roasting pan filled 2/3 with water. Place the pan over two burners and bring it to a rolling boil, lowering the rack holding the spears into the water.
Read More: Click Here
A Guide to Freezing Corn
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Corn: Corn should be harvested for freezing in the "milk stage" (as soon as the kernels are full of sweet, milky-colored juice). If the fluid in the kernels is clear, the corn is not ready yet. Try to process the corn a quickly as possible after harvest, before its natural sugars start turning to starch. Purchased corn should be kept refrigerated while being sold, if it's not, reduce storage time accordingly. Husks should be green, silks should be moist and gold and the kernels should be packed in tight, even rows.
Preparing for Freezing: Husk and trim the ears, remove silks and wash. Sort according to size. Cobs should be pierced lengthwise in the center with a sharp knife. If freezing kernels, remove them from cobs.
Tips & Shortcuts: To cook frozen cream-style corn, add a small amount of milk or light cream, salt, pepper and a 1/2 tablespoon of butter.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Bread
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Breads: If purchasing bread or bread dough for freezing, be sure to check the "sell by" date on the packaging to make sure its fresh. Frozen products, including dough, should be frozen rock solid in air-tight packaging that contains no rips or tears. Allow fresh baked breads to cook completely before freezing.
Freezing Bread Dough: Unless you're using a dough commercially designed for freezing or a recipe developed for freezing, it's usually better to bake bread and freeze it rather than to freeze bread dough. Commercial frozen bread dough should be stored at 0ºF and used by the date on the label. Vacuum packed refrigerated bread dough should not be frozen because it is packaged under pressure and will burst during freezing. Remove wrapping and thaw frozen dough at room temperature. Shape dough for baking and let it rise until it triples in size before baking.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing & Storing Artichokes (Globe)
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Artichokes: Select those with uniformly green color, compact globes and tightly adhering leaves. As artichokes age, their leaves start to unfold like petals.
Tips & Shortcuts: A small hole drilled into the base of the artichoke will help heat penetrate more readily while blanching.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Pizza
By Ellen Brown
Thaw & Serve: For homemade pizzas, loosen foil and bake with or without thawing in 375ºF oven until heated through. For commercially prepackaged pizzas, remove wrapper and bake according to instructions. Defrost leftover sauce in microwave or thaw in double boiler on low heat.
Tips & Shortcuts: Prepare and freeze pre-baked crusts ahead of time to have on hand when you need them. Freeze leftover meat, vegetables and cheese to use as toppings.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Celery
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Celery: Celery loses its crisp texture when frozen, but it still suitable for use in cooked dishes. Select crisp, green, tender stalks, free from coarse strings. The ribs should be firm and rigid, snapping crisply when broken in half.
Tips & Shortcuts: Tray freezing is almost always preferable to Dry Packs because vegetables will not freeze together in clumps, making it easy to access the precise amount you need without thawing out a whole container.
Read More: Click Here
Freezing Carrots
By Ellen Brown
Selecting High-Quality Carrots: Fresh carrots may lose some of their crisp texture during freezing but will still be good for cooking. Select young, tender, medium length carrots free from cracks and dryness. Small carrots are usually the most tender. When harvesting, leave them in the garden until you're are ready to process them, but do not let them become too oversized or woody.
Tips & Shortcuts: Whole carrots are the least likely to freeze well, so you are better off freezing slices, pieces or strips. Whole carrots can be left in the ground during the winter if you cover them heavily with mulch, however early spring thaws followed by refreezing may compromise quality and accessing them in winter can be difficult.
Read More: Click Here
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