Pickling
Another way I found to deal with zucchini is making zucchini pickles. You brine the sliced zucchini and onions, make a vinegar, mustard and turmeric mix and pour it over your zucchini in a jar, screw on a lid and refrigerate. I also add dill from the garden. Google: zuni café zucchini pickles for the recipe.
Fermentation
Kim Chee has many variations, but basically is cabbage, carrots, radishes, with a garlic, ginger, chili powder, and vinegar mix. It is a great way to use up these vegetables. You brine the cabbage, add the spice mixture to the vegetables and leave the jar on your counter with a towel over it to ferment for 7-10 days. Then screw on a lid and refrigerate. Google Kim Chee for recipes.
Jams
High acid fruit jams, like apricot jam do not need a hot water bath. One year I made 75 jars and I was sold out of them in two weeks, yummy! There are lots of recipes on line, but I use the pink Sure Jell recipe, which is the lower sugar one (plenty sweet). After I fill the sterilized jars with the hot jam, I turn them upside down on a clean towel for a half hour. When I turn them right side up, the jars are sealed.
Talking Coyote Organic Farm
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tips for Preserving Food: Freezing
Freezing
When you put food items (like berries) into a freezer bag and freeze them, they become one big clump of berries when defrosted. What you want is individually frozen berries so you can remove from the bag the amount you want to use.
1. Berries, Corn, any item you want each item frozen individually: Place berries on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight. Then put individually frozen berries into a freezer bag. I prefer quart size bags. Corn can be cut off the cob with a sharp knife while being stood in a bowl to catch the corn kernels and frozen without any blanching.
2. Pesto, Lemon juice, any soft mass: When there is a lot of basil, you can make your own pesto, which is simply basil, pine nuts, olive oil , garlic and parmesan cheese. Put the pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Then pop out the frozen pesto from the ice cube tray and put the pesto cubes into a freezer bag. I love Meyer’s lemons and squeeze them in season and do this same process with them. When you want a couple of tablespoons of pesto or lemon juice, you can easily remove them from your freezer bag.
3. Zucchini can be baked into loaves of delicious zucchini nut bread and it freezes wonderfully well. For a good zucchini nut bread recipe, go to CatherineMollandblogspot.com
4. I make and freeze applesauce in glass jars. The trick to freezing in glass jars and not having the glass jars crack in the freezer is to leave lots of head room in the jar, at least two and a half inches.
5. Tomatoes make great spaghetti sauce, which is easily frozen in freezer bags.
When you put food items (like berries) into a freezer bag and freeze them, they become one big clump of berries when defrosted. What you want is individually frozen berries so you can remove from the bag the amount you want to use.
1. Berries, Corn, any item you want each item frozen individually: Place berries on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight. Then put individually frozen berries into a freezer bag. I prefer quart size bags. Corn can be cut off the cob with a sharp knife while being stood in a bowl to catch the corn kernels and frozen without any blanching.
2. Pesto, Lemon juice, any soft mass: When there is a lot of basil, you can make your own pesto, which is simply basil, pine nuts, olive oil , garlic and parmesan cheese. Put the pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Then pop out the frozen pesto from the ice cube tray and put the pesto cubes into a freezer bag. I love Meyer’s lemons and squeeze them in season and do this same process with them. When you want a couple of tablespoons of pesto or lemon juice, you can easily remove them from your freezer bag.
3. Zucchini can be baked into loaves of delicious zucchini nut bread and it freezes wonderfully well. For a good zucchini nut bread recipe, go to CatherineMollandblogspot.com
4. I make and freeze applesauce in glass jars. The trick to freezing in glass jars and not having the glass jars crack in the freezer is to leave lots of head room in the jar, at least two and a half inches.
5. Tomatoes make great spaghetti sauce, which is easily frozen in freezer bags.
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