Not a recipe, just my musings on freezing ingredients.
The great lock down of 2020 made me super aware of not wasting food. It also kicked in my OCD/hoarding and I became obsessed with ensuring we always have the ingredients for our favourite dishes with the minimal amount of shops. I also started buying our meat from an online butcher, therefore buying is greater quantities. This is something I'll definitely stick to as it's much better quality (we also got a milkman, but that's a story for another day).
We did the dramatic British thing and bought a chest freezer and I set about learning what freezes and buying more exciting tupperware and labels.
Fruit
We've always frozen fruit, exclusively for us in our drinks. Strawberries for prosecco, grapefruit for gin. Unbelievably we don't drink enough to get through fruit while it's fresh so freezing is a good option. It also doubles as an ice cube.
Butter and margarine
In a freezer bag.
Thaw in the fridge for 6 - 7 hours.
You can grate frozen butter to add to cooking..
Cheese
Hard cheeses (Cheddar, Red Leicester etc)
Grate cheese and put in a sandwich bag or loosely pack into the holes of a muffin tin. There will be about 50g in each.
Can be used straight from the freezer.
If you freeze a block it becomes crumbly.
To defrost leave in sandwich bag in fridge for 24 hours.
Soft cheese (Brie etc)
Cut it into portions and wrap individually before freezing.
Chili/Jalapenos
Chop up and put in Tupperware box.
Use from frozen
Eggs
Whole eggs or egg whites
Beat and pour the mixture into an ice cube tray or a freezer-safe container or bag. Ice cube trays are a good choice as you can just pop out one egg portion every time you need it.
Egg yolks
Freezing egg yolks is a little trickier, as they can get very thick when frozen. To stop this happening add a pinch of sugar or salt to the egg yolk. If using the yolks for a savoury dish, add salt. If using them for baking sweet treats, add sugar.
To defrost thaw in the fridge.
Flour
Doesn’t freeze so you can use it directly from the freezer
Garlic
Freeze raw whole unpeeled bulbs, individual cloves (either peeled or unpeeled)
Chopped/crushed garlic can be frozen in sandwich bags
Use from frozen or defrost.
Herbs
Soft herbs, like parsley, basil and chives are fine for incorporating in dishes but won't be good for garnishes.
It's best to freeze herbs once they've been chopped - place in a sandwich bag or box
You can freeze herbs in ice cube trays if you’re using them for cooking. Freeze in water or stock to add to dishes or freeze mixed herbs in the right quantities for specific recipes.
This is cool – you can also freeze them in oil so you just put the herby oil in the pan to start cooking!
Use from frozen
Mushrooms
The fresher mushrooms are when you freeze them, the better
Don’t wash before freezing, this tends to make them mushier when cooked.
Trim the stems and place in a freezer-safe plastic bag. Squeeze out as much air as you can before sealing the bag and placing it in the freezer.
You can add frozen mushrooms to dishes that need to cook by adding them to the dish while it boils and cooks.
Alternatively thaw in the fridge.
Onions/Spring Onions/Sweet Peppers
Chop or slice the onions and freeze
You can also fry onions to freeze in batches
Cook from frozen
Parmos
You need to miss out the frying step so:
Flatten chicken
Dredge in egg then breadcrumbs until coated
Place in a foil tray and cover in bechamel and grated cheese
Cling film and freeze
Defrost and then cook in oven for 20-25 minutes
Stock
This can be frozen in batches either in ice cube trays or flat in freezer bags
Yorkshire Puddings
Batch make and freeze the spare in freezer bags.
Defrost if preferred or heat from frozen for 5-7 mins
Freezer tip: A full freezer is more economical to run as the cold air doesn't need to circulate as much, so less power is needed. If you have lots of space free, half-fill plastic bottles with water and use them to fill gaps.
Коментарі