Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Preserving Summer Part Two
1:05 PM | 
Posted by
Kaplan Center for Health and Wellness
Mary Oleksowicz, MSTOM , L.Ac.
One of my favorite summer crops are peppers both hot and sweet. It
seems as though they come in bumper crops especially as the summer season ends.
One way to save these wonderful veggies is to chop or slice them then freeze
the pieces on a cookie sheet until they’re solid. You can then transfer the
pieces to plastic freezer bags which allow you to take out just enough that you
need for a particular recipe. Thin fleshed peppers such as cayenne or jalapeno
can be dried outside. Pepper can be hung on a string or dried on a screen lined
with brown paper in an airy, shady spot, as long as your weather is still hot
and dry. Upcycling old screens found at tag sales is often sufficient and
eco-friendly. You can also use “splatter protectors” available at the local
discount stores. I have also experimented many times with homemade hot
sauces. For hotter sauces retain the seeds for milder sauces remove the seeds
and add fruits. Pineapple is usually a wonderful surprise.
Herbs can also be preserved by air drying similar to
the aforementioned method used with peppers. I tend to use this for herbs such as mints which
will be used as teas. For herbs used for cooking , blending the herbs with oil
or butter ( or both ). Place washed and de-stemmed herbs in a food processor with 1/3 cup olive oil for
every 2 cups leaves, or 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) per 2 to 4
tablespoons leaves. Feel free to add garlic or ginger if you like. Package
the herb blend in quart size freezer bags and allow them to freeze flat so that
just the right amount can be out and added to your favorite recipe. Mixing the herbs with butter or oil allows for
the aromatic oils and prevents the herbs
from being soggy as can occur with
frozen water methods. On average these blends last six months in the
freezer.
I hope you have
enjoyed these simple yet effective ways to preserve summer freshness for the
remainder of the year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment