Freezing veggies

[KennedyDiesel]

Which veggies need to be cooked first? I always cook my spinach, brussles sprouts,sweet corn, etc, but wonder if it is really necessary prior to freezing. IIRC, I did not cook my peas in the past.

Many frozen veggies from the store do not appear to be cooked in most cases.

Green beans we pressure can so they are definitely cooked.

 

[Bird]

No experience with growing brussel sprouts; my wife won't eat'em (and I like'em /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif). We always cooked all the greens before freezing, whether spinach, turnip greens, poke, or collards, if we froze them . That worked pretty well, but personally, I prefer the texture of canned; i.e., pressure cooked greens. I felt the same way about green beans; OK frozen, cooked or uncooked, but better texture if cooked fresh (never been frozen) or canned (pressure cooked). At one time, we cooked sweet corn very briefly; i.e., blanched it before freezing. It seems that when I was a kid, my family did that with most vegetables. But my wife and I learned that was a waste of time with corn; just freeze it and cook it when you get ready to eat it. At one time I even read about freezing corn in the shucks until you were ready to use it, so we tried that. It worked just fine, but takes way too much freezer space. And right now I can't think of anything else that we cooked before freezing; just washed the blackeyed peas, okra, tomatos, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, etc. in cold water before freezing.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

For green beans I use "Jumbo" variety from:

Fisher's Garden Store
E Main
Belgrade, MT 59714
Phone: (406) 388-6052

They are purely awesome with 10-12" or flat longer pods and awesome texture, flavor etc. We put away around 70 pts a season from a packet of seed. Basically a cross between Kentucky Wonder and a Romano bush bean.

Oh yeah, she dislikes "puke balls" too...

 

[Chuck52]

Bird,

I used to feel the same way about green beans, i.e. the home canned ones tasted better to me than any frozen ones. However, I learned to really like lightly steamed fresh green beans with either butter or some kind of vinagrette a few years back. So, last year when we had excess green beans, I decided to try lightly blanching and freezing some whole beans. They came out very nice. I can just thaw a bag of those, steam them lightly, and they taste almost like fresh beans. Now, this is a completely different animal than green beans cooked with salt pork or ham or what have you, which is still one of my favorite dishes, but used as I describe, they are great. They're also a lot easier to put up than canned, and the technique lends itself to processing just a small batch. A friend tried it and complained that his beans came out very soggy, and we decided he had probably blanched them too long. My method is to dunk the beans in a big pot of boiling water, and when the water comes back to a boil I take them out. I use a pasta pan for this. I then dunk the beans in a sink of ice water, and then drain and freeze them. As I said, it's a different beast than my mamma's southern-style green beans, but if you like the steamed whole beans, this comes darn close to fresh.

Chuck

 

[KennedyDiesel]

What about the risk of botchelism? My dad is about as paranoid as you can get and always warns about botchelism with beans.

Any cooked meats he has cooked for hours at minimum... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Bird]

Chuck, I don't think we've tried it with frozen green beans, but I certainly do like the lightly steamed fresh ones with butter.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Hey, while we are at it, any tips on asparagus? I have a good bed, but the stuff can be pretty strong tasting almost bitter.

Someone once said lime (in the soil) was the secret...

 

[Bird]

I've had no personal experience with growing asparagus, but sure did pick a lot of it when I was a kid. I don't remember us doing anything to the patches we had except watering and cutting it. Then in the late '70s and early '80s, I used to go visit my parents in Oklahoma and go with Dad to cut asparagus that was growing in the fence line around the county fair grounds. I also helped him dig up a batch of roots there and take back to their house and Dad planted them in his garden, but I just never got involved in caring for them. I don't think I've ever eaten any that was bitter, so I don't know what could cause that. I know I like the stuff, just raw for a snack, chopped in a salad, steamed, with or without a cheese sauce. I guess the only reason I don't eat more of it is because it's so expensive in the stores.

Also in the late '70s and early '80s our next door neighbor had a sister who lived somewhere in the State of Washington and she had a boyfriend who was an asparagus farmer. When she'd come to visit, she always brought a bunch of canned asparagus with no labels on the cans, and she'd have some "regular" canned asparagus and some pickled. That's the only time I've seen pickled asparagus, but it sure was tasty.

 

[Freds]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I guess the only reason I don't eat more of it is because it's so expensive in the stores. )</font>
I hear that. I buy it by the bunches when it's on special for $1.99 and use Chuck52's method of blanching and freezing it. It's my favorite veggie and I normally eat a "bunch" at a time.
My newest favorite cooking method is putting the spears on a cookie sheet (with aluminum foil on it of course), putting a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a little Italian seasoning on it, mixing it up and cooking at about 400F for about 15 minutes.
Wow /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Egon]

Love asparagus steamed with a dash of olive oil on them. Found them very hardy and easy to grow.

Love the smell??? when nature comes calling!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

Freds, I never heard of cooking it in the oven; sounds good though.

And Egon, yes, once established, it's easy to grow, just keeps coming back from the roots. One of my brothers decided he wanted to get a pretty good sized bed of asparagus started about 5 years ago, so he read up on the instructions, bought a bunch of mail order roots, borrowed my tractor to dig trenches a foot deep, put the recommended mulch in the trenches, the roots, etc. After a couple of years, he did get some asparagus, but not much. But then he sold the place, so I don't know whether the new owners have a good crop or not. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Chuck52]

Clostridium botulinum can grow in the anaerobic environment of improperly processed canned foods. Home canned green beans were once one of the major causes of botulism because the beans, as opposed to tomatoes for example, have a relatively neutral pH, meaning they aren't acidic like the tomatoes, and that favors the growth of the bacterium. Frozen foods could potentially be a hazard if they weren't kept frozen, but I don't think Clostridium botulinum would be the most likely organism to cause problems because it prefers an anaerobic environment like what is found in the canned beans.

Chuck

 

[Freds]

I caught the oven method on a cooking show that comes on around dinnertime and haven't steamed them since.
Here's another way I used to do. I say USED to do because I never have leftovers anymore /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Get some butter and flour going in a frying pan, add a little milk or cream, add the asparagus long enough to heat it through and pour over toast. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Chuck52]

Bird and others,

I've had really good luck growing asparagus. I followed the directions from a horticulture site at Ohio State.

<a href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html" target="_blank">http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html[/url]</a>

Before I found that site, I'd read some very complicated instructions involving deep trenches, compost and other additives, careful adjustment of the roots in the bed and such. I was getting tired just reading that stuff. Then I found the Ohio State site. It basically says not to dig the trench too deep, throw in a handful of superphosphate, drop in the roots and cover them up. Anyway, the simplicity appealed to my lazy soul, and it also worked. I've got one four-year-old 20 foot bed that makes more asparagus than we want to eat, and I planted two more 25 foot rows last year because we may build a green house where the old bed is. We picked enough from the new bed last month and earlier this month that we were giving it away. That was another point made at the Ohio State site...you can pick some the first year after planting. Many other instructions I've read said not to pick any until the second year.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

The creamed asparagus sounds good. I may try that for dinner tonight. I usually saute the asparagus in butter or olive oil with a lot of garlic, but we've gotten kind of tired of it this spring, so a different recipe might help. It's good in pasta dishes too, like in chicken fettucini Alfredo.

I'll also have to try freezing some. I should still be able to pick a few pounds before I need to let it go to ferns.

Chuck

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( makes more asparagus than we want to eat )</font>

I'm jealous; I've never had more than I wanted. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Chuck52]

I let the new beds go to ferns this week because you're not supposed to pick for more than a couple of weeks from a new planting. The ferns are getting huge, so I expect we'll have truckloads of asparagus from that planting next year. I was going to let the old bed go, too, but the wife told me to pick at least one more batch since she's got a week off from work starting tomorrow and figures she'll have time to get inventive in the kitchen. So, I picked a pound or so yesterday and will probably get another pound over the next couple of days. I really do like asparagus, but it's just like the green beans last year when we were flooded with them. I bet I could even get tired of prime rib if I could get enough of that....or maybe not!

Asparagus really is an easy and inexpensive permanant crop to get in, if you don't fall for the overly complicated old-style instructions for preparing the bed. Maybe it's due to new varieties, but I suspect that I have some of the old Washington variety in my old bed and it does fine. I bought what was supposed to be Jersey Knight, but that's an all male variety and I have one plant that continues to make berries, so I bet I got a mixed bag. Anyway, it all tastes the same to me, and the shoots get huge and are often tender for more than a foot. I wish I had as good luck with everything I plant.

Chuck