by Expat Chef
This September, the Eat Local Challenge is offering a whole range of ways to participate in the ELC September Challenge. With so many ways to participate, we can all join in the experience.
One of the ways to participate this year is to leahrn how to preserve your locally grown food for winter. It’s easy enough to do for many foods. You don’t even have to buy special equipment or learn to can. You just need a bit of time and freezer space.
I decided to try this approach this year after watching a friend of mine struggle with the vegetable side dishes for a 100-mile diet Thanksgiving. There's not much around for fresh veggies in late November other than sweet potatoes. What I do not use on the Thanksgiving table can easily be added to the turkey leftovers for a Turkey and Vegetable Soup, perfect for those chilly late fall days.
Corn and green beans both lend themselves well to the freezing method for preservation. Vegetables that freeze well can keep around nine months in the freezer (definitely long enough to get by until spring!), provided that they are properly stored. Many fruits and vegetables require blanching before freezing in order to kill the enzymes that will cause the color, flavor, texture and nutrients of food to breakdown over time — even in the freezer.
You will need fresh corn and/or green beans for freezing. Heavy ziplock freezer bags, tongs, a large pot of boiling water, a larger bowl of ice water, a sharp knife, a colander, and about an hour.
For Corn
Although you can freeze corn on the cob, it takes up a lot of room and it’s much easier to remove it from the cob.
Start with fresh corn, and try to do the freezing soon after purchase. Put the water on to boil before you start the shucking. Once I remove the husks and as much of the silks as I can, I usually just rub my hand along the corn cob to get the remaining silks off.
Get the ice water ready. If the water is boiling, you can drop in the corn cobs. If you are doing several cobs, you can do this in batches, even using the same water for blanching for a couple rounds. Put the lid on the pot of water to bring it back to a boil. The corn should need to be blanched for about four to six minutes.
If you use the water more than once, you may have to add more to the pot, and heat to a boil again, in order to keep the food completely submerged during the blanching.
When the corn is done blanching remove the cobs immediately and put into the bowl of ice water. This “shocking” stops the cooking process and sets the color. If you don’t do this, the remaining heat in the vegetable will continue to cook it, and you could end up with mush.
A good rule of thumb is to cool the corn for the same amount of time as the blanch step. Drain the cobs thoroughly.
Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cobs into a bowl. I do this over a cookie sheet instead of a bowl. I find it easier. The corn will come off in strips. These will break up into kernels as you put the corn into bags.
With clean hands, put the corn into the freezer bags. Once the bag is full to 1/2-inch from the top at least, you will want to gently press the bag to get as much air as possible out before sealing. The more air you have trapped in there, the greater the chance of freezer burn and drying.
They make a gadget that sucks all the air out and seals the plastic around the food (Foodsaver). It’s great, but it costs over $100.00, so I would only invest in one if you plan on doing a lot of this freezing thing.
Be sure to label your freezer bags for the item name and date for easy reference later.
Green Beans
The process is much the same as for corn. The differences are noted below.
Start with fresh beans and give them a good wash in water. Remove the stem end. I place the beans in a stainless colander or mesh strainer for easier removal from the boiling water.
Have the water boiling and the ice bath ready. Place the strainer of beans down into the pot (make sure the strainer will fit in the pot before you start. You want the beans covered by the water.
Again, cover to return to a boil quickly. Blanch for about three minutes.
Remove strainer with tongs (and a hot mitt on your hand) and dump the beans into the ice bath. Cool for a few minutes and drain.
You will then just need to bag the beans, removing as much air as possible just as with the corn. Be sure to label the bags.
You can find a lot more information on freezing, canning and storing vegetables at the USDA web site.
Best of luck with your September Challenge!
