FREEZING PRODUCE FOR WINTER

Last week we discussed ways, with current prices, to utilize summer produce both as winter treats for your family and holiday gifts for friends and associates. But what about the age-old practice of storing preserved produce for winter meals? Well that’s been altered by modern rapid transportation to global markets, improved commercial freezing and canning methods, by loss of farms and easy access to crops, by current, smaller kitchens, by busy working schedules, and, not least, by the increasing prevalence of GMOs leveling the playing field.

The international insistence on seed regulation has rendered the items flown into stores off season very similar to local produce in season. The prices of both are similar as well. Farmers have to pay more for gas to operate, and travel further to markets, raising their costs to rival that of imported items.

Last week I told of my Mother-in-Law’s knack for freezing the local, white corn. Living in farm country, paying only a few cents per ear, she kept the family freezers stocked at a welcome saving. Now, with the farms gone, corn .50 cents per ear and the cost of gas miles to the nearest farm market, it’s more economical to buy commercially frozen corn. Not to mention that GMOs have eliminated the white corn.

The point is that storing summer produce for winter meals requires objectivity and consideration nowadays. Tomatoes are an example. GMOS have eliminated many traditional local specialties, so what’s in the market at any season, locally or foreign grown, are no different. Top chefs have gone on record as saying that, save for fresh salads, canned tomatoes are just as good, less work and cheaper. Sun drying has become the only form of preserving this traditional canning favorite with any savings value.

Another illustration are green beans. Cut beans are one of the least expensive frozen veggies, but whole green beans, or Blue Lakes, are harder to find and more expensive. It’s worth it, if you see  special on green beans  to buy a couple of pounds, string, lightly blanche and freeze them, because home-frozen whole green beans are n a far different class then commercially processed ones-tastier, more tender, with a silky texture-well worth it to have for special dinners.

In conclusion, unless you have access to fresh produce, live in a remote spot inconvenient to shopping centers or stumble on an exceptional bargain, investing in quantities of food to store for the winter, even at today’s prices, can be an expense not a saving, with a few exceptions. Moreover, if you fail to do it correctly, or don’t use the food in time and it dries out, it’s a loss. So this is about having enough of certain products to make a featured dish for a holiday feast, or to serve as occasional reminders of warm, sunny days during cold, snowy ones. It’s about saving on those edible splurges to get through the holidays and winter. One exception seems to be zucchini, which is a backyard favorite and often over performs.

The first thing to understand is not all produce is suitable for freezing. The best way to tell is to check the glass cases in the supermarkets. If an item isn’t there, it doesn’t commercially flash-freeze well and won’t survive the slower domestic process. This especially applies to things with high water content and soft flesh, tomatoes, plums, eggplant and white potatoes, raw or cooked, for example. The frozen water content forms crystals which attach to the other frozen elements in their make-up, thaw faster and drain the item of its juice and flavor, leaving a deflated, pulpy mass. These items are better canned, or for tomatoes, optionally, dehydrated, allowing the juices to remain or dry in the flesh, retaining flavor.

I describe below the 5 items I know are easily preserved, including my Mother-in-Law’s corn, and have a decent freezer, or with tomatoes, shelf life. I give tips to simulate the commercial flash-freezing process which help to assure a good result. The difference between treatments of the 5 items discussed here is noted at each step. Of course, they should be cleaned and prepped first; the beans trimmed, any strings removed, the corn husked and silk brushed off, the peaches washed, stems and pits removed, tomatoes and zucchini are dealt with individually.

• For corn and peaches bring a pot of water to a boil, for beans use a skillet.
  1) Immerse the beans only until they turn bright green (blanched) about10-15 sec.
  2) Dip the peaches about 10-30 sec. until the skins will peel easily
  3) Cook the corn on cob about 4 min. until just beginning to tenderize.
• Immediately run cold water over the produce to stop the cooking
• Spread a counter top with paper towels
  1) Lay the beans and corn cobs out, separated, to dry
  2) Using a sharp knife, peel the skin off the peaches. Do not allow to dry. Start freezing prep.
• Cover cookie sheets with waxed paper
  1) Spread the beans out separately on the cookie sheet and freeze
  2) Brace the bottom of each corn cob in the center of a tube pan. Using a sharp knife, slice off the kernels, letting them fall into the pan. Spread them evenly over the lined sheet and freeze.
  3) Slice the peaches, about 4 per half, directly onto the lined sheet, not overlapping, and freeze.

Freeze the produce according to your freezer’s rate, usually between 40-60 min.

To Package: The reason for freezing the produce on cookie sheets is to capture color, freshness and taste. The reason to take pains to be sure there’s no overlapping is to avoid clumping and damage in storing, as well as to make it easy to remove a desired portion. It’s important the packaging maintain these assets.

• Use zip lock bags or square plastic boxes with secure lids, like those used for dinner entrees.
• Do not let the items thaw, package for storage quickly
• Place the items in the containers individually, not overlapping
• If layering is necessary to fill the container, separate them with accordion-like folds of waxed paper-not plastic wrap
  1) the corn is best in bags and should be spread to an even thickness
  2) The beans can be arranged in a uniform layers in bags or boxes.
  3) The peach slices should be placed individually in each layer, and dusted with a thin coating of powdered sugar before being covered with the paper for the next layer, in boxes.
• Make room in the freezer to store these containers flat, even stacked, but never on end, allowing the contents to clump together

Cooking: Because these items have been blanched and domestically frozen, which takes more time than the commercial flash method, they take a few minutes less time to cook. Here are some general guidelines. Individual recipes follow.

• Normally green beans need 15 min.to steam or boil. These should be checked at about 10 min. frozen, 8 min. thawed. Take about 5 min. off roasting time too.
• It takes about 2 ears of corn for a single serving as a side dish and that’s a lot to freeze. If you have room for this-fine, but if not use this corn to add to casseroles, salads, side combos or even salsa. Done this way it will stand up to cooking in a dish or just being tossed in a salad.*
• The peaches quickly lose their juice when thawed and are best used directly from the freezer. Remember they have a thin coating of sugar and adjust other ingredients accordingly

*I come from a state famous for its white table corn. My Mother-in-Law was a master at freezing it. She taught me the tube pan trick and her winter dinners occasionally featured sides of buttered corn. She froze it in 1 cup bags which she considered a single portion or the amount usually required for adding to 4 portion dishes. She stored the bags in large plastic containers in the freezer. If you’re a corn lover and have access to a lot of it, plus the freezer space, this is the way to go.

Now on to specific freezing tips:

Beans: Hand select the beans to be frozen, choosing the largest, firmest, straightest ones. This assures even freezing and makes the best presentation later. As stated above, they cook as directed for commercially frozen ones, only for a bit less time, depending on your appliances and can be used in the same ways. Always try to serve these whole; cut beans are too ordinary to be ‘special ‘.

Of course, the easiest and often most attractive way to serve green beans is simply to add toppings. Fresh herbs such as thyme, sage and rosemary are favorite toppings and mushrooms and Caramelized onions are popular add-ins too. Broiled portabellas, sliced, are wonderful, so are button caps first lightly broiled in butter with soy sauce added, then reheated, poured over the beans.

Corn: Don’t try to freeze corn-on-the-cob. It isn’t that great commercially and even worse domestically. Make sure the ears are silk-free before you cut the kernels off because shreds of silk will mat when frozen and can ruin a dish.

As stated, the best use of the corn is as an addition to another dish, and, of course, that depends on the recipe for the dish. If it’s a cold salad or salsa, dip the bag with the corn into boiling water for about 3 min. then shock under cold. Otherwise just add to the recipe as directed. Using ‘fresh’ corn in salads is a wonderfully refreshing change in winter.

Peaches: Keep the peaches in the boiling water only long enough to loosen the skin. The riper the peach the less time it takes. Hold the peach on a slotted spoon under cold water, until cool enough to handle; prick it with a paring knife and peel off the skin. Place the peaches on a waxed paper covered flat surface until all the fruit is peeled, then begin slicing each for freezing over the paper covered cookie sheet, making sure the slices don’t touch. Freeze, then lightly dust with powdered sugar as boxed.

When frozen, place the slices in a 4 inch square freezer box. Supermarkets sell these in 3-packs. Place the slices, without touching, in layers and separate the layers with a long strip of waxed paper woven accordion style between layers. Peaches are best used frozen and thawed in a dish’s preparation. Remember in using them that they are lightly sugared and adjust the recipe.

Frozen this way peaches consume more room than packaged in bags, so, unless you have a lot of space, they’re best reserved for accessory dishes like salsas and sauces. If you plan a dish using a quantity of them, like a pie, for a winter event, make it, then freeze it in a metal pan, and bake it frozen, just add about 15 min. to the oven time.

Don’t forget the thawed peach slices can be used by themselves scattered over ice cream, meats, in salads, mixed with winter fruits in compotes and other ways, even over cereal to brighten a dreary winter morning.

Zucchini:  may be the most versatile ‘vegetable’ of all. (Zucchini is actually a fruit, specifically a berry.) It’s very prolific and there’s often a surplus. One partial solution is to eat the flowers before they mature. These are delicious prepared stuffed or fried in recipes readily available especially on the web.

Due to high water content, zucchini doesn’t freeze well, except by commercial flash-freezing. Whole, it deflates when thawed and slices clump. I’ve had some success for short periods, freezing thick slices on a cookie sheet before bagging them or freezing it in a sauced dish like ratatouille. However, one of the best ways to preserve zucchini is to accept the fact that it’s going to change texture, become limp and combine it, with other ingredients, into a ‘base’, which will keep for several months, for future dishes. Food Tips and Cooking Tricks by David Joachim has an excellent recipe for such a base and ideas on how to use it.

TOMATOES: Sun-dried are tomatoes that have generally lost 82-90+% of their original weight through the process of drying.  They lose the water but retain the sugar, sweetness, and nutrients, leaving the deliciously dried tomato flesh with an intense, concentrated tomato flavor, perfect for dishes where that wonderful tomato taste should shine through.

There are 3 ways to dry tomatoes, in a dehydrator, naturally or in an oven. #1 requires a special machine, #2 requires weeks of consistently dry, hot, sunny weather covered by nets to deter pests. #3 is the practical method we’ll use. Cherry and grape tomatoes are meatiest and have the most concentrated sweet flavor.  Roma (plum) tomatoes also work well if the pulp is hollowed out and discarded during prep.

To make sun-dried tomatoes in the oven
1)Prep-wash and slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise, spread them out in an even layer cut-side-up on a parchment-covered baking sheet, then season sparingly with salt.
2)Slow roast- in the oven for about 2 ½ to 3 ½ hr. at 250 deg., or until desired level of dryness.  Don’t flip or rotate the tomatoes during this time, but keep an eye on them near the end to ensure that they don’t burn.
3)Serve or store. The tomatoes are ready to serve or add to a recipe when cool.  Place them in a small jar then drizzle with olive oil until the tomatoes are completely submerged.  Place a lid on the jar to seal, then refrigerate for up to 1 week or use zip-lock freezer bags instead of containers. Force out all the excess air before sealing. Can be frozen without the oil.

Seasoning Options
1.Sea salt or kosher salt preferred
2. Additional seasonings can include fresh or dried thyme, oregano, rosemary, or a little crushed garlic
3. Season while roasting:  During the last hour of roasting, feel free to sprinkle on some chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc.).  During the last half hour of roasting, sprinkle on some dried herbs and seasonings (such as Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red chili flakes, etc.).
4. Season after roasting: season in a jar with olive oil after roasting-bay leaf, a garlic clove or two or whatever fresh or dried herbs/seasonings appeal.

Cooking Option:
1. Cut the tomatoes in half. Place them side-by-side, cut-side-up in a ceramic or glass baking dish. They should fit together snugly but not overlap. 
2. Sprinkle the tomatoes with sea salt. 
3. Add olive oil. The oil should cover about 2/3 of the depth of the tomatoes.
4. Place the dish in the oven and slow cook the tomatoes at 175 deg. for 3 to 5 hours. The exact time will depend on the size of the tomatoes you use.
5. Cool completely, transfer to glass jars or other non-metal containers that are as airtight as possible when sealed.

Approximate Seasoning Guide
20 or more plum ripe tomatoes (Roma)
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
4-5 sprigs fresh Italian parsley-chopped
Pinch or two pepper flakes

HOW TO REHYDRATE SUN-DRIED TOMATOES: Sun-dried tomatoes stored in olive oil are perfectly edible (and delicious!) served right out of the jar.  But if you would like to rehydrate and plump them up a bit, just soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for 20 minutes, then drain.  Or better yet, soak them in tomato juice to amp up the tomato flavor.