Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Freezing Peas

       Freezing peas is basically the same process as for freezing broccoli. After shelling the peas, place about two handfuls in a strainer and submerge them in boiling water for two minutes. (This is called "blanching." Blanching kills off the enzymes that would cause the quality of your food to deteriorate.)
       Then, carefully lift the strainer and drain excess hot water back into pan.
      At this point I dump the peas into the basket of the salad spinner, and plunge them into the ice water. (This ends the heating process, so that your vegetables are BLANCHED, but not COOKED.)
      Next I remove the ice cube, place the basket into the salad spinner, and spin to remove as much moisture as possible.*

*freezing tip: including too much water with the vegetables when you freeze them may be detrimental to the texture of your final product. The same is true of not chilling the vegetables sufficiently before packing them into freezer boxes.

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