Food Topic: Garden abundance

Now that the end of the summer garden is here, you may have an abundance of vegetables that you want to put up quickly. Here are a few recipes that I found on the ‘net that may help you.

Remember that once a vegetable has been frozen, it is suitable for use only as a cooked vegetable.

FREEZING EGGPLANT- Wash, peel and slice 1/3-inch thick. Prepare quickly, enough eggplant for one blanching at a time. Water blanch 4 minutes in 1 gallon of boiling water containing 4 1/2 teaspoons citric acid or 1/2 cup lemon juice. Drain, cool and package the drained slices with freezer wrap between slices. Seal, label and freeze.

FREEZING SWEET OR HOT PEPPERS- Select firm, crisp, thick-walled peppers. Wash, cut out stems, cut in half and remove seeds. If desired, cut into 1/2-inch strips, rings or dice. Pack into containers, leaving no headspace. Seal, label and freeze.

FREEZING TOMATOES- they can be frozen whole (all you need to do is rinse under cold water to peel, let sit for a couple of minutes and then chop), pureed or chopped and frozen in freezer containers or you can cook the tomatoes down to a thick sauce (either seasoned or unseasoned) and freeze in containers to use for an assortment of dishes that call for tomato sauce or puree.

FREEZING CABBAGE- Trim coarse outer leaves from head. Cut into medium to coarse shreds or thin wedges, or separate the head into leaves. Blanch shredded
cabbage 1 1/2 minutes, and wedges 3 minutes. Cool promptly in cold water and drain. Pack cabbage into containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label and freeze.

*If you have any of your own end of season recipes and tips that you would be willing to share with others, please send me an email at office@889JOYFM.com with that information.