Saturday, April 17, 2010

The first canning of 2010







O Wise One and I picked 6 pounds of asparagus yesterday. The first major batch of the season. It was first washed and the ends trimmed off then layed on a clean dishcloth to dry.  Then put in a 13 X 9  microwave safe Pyrex dish and  clear cellophane wrap put over it.

 


Then I microwaved it on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I do this in place of blanching. I like doing it in the microwave instead of dropping it in boiling water. I think it is quicker and I don't have all that steam and heat going into the house. I have less moisture in the asparagus after it is blanched therefore less frost on the food. I can tell it is done at three and a half minutes because it becomes a darker green color. As you can see below there is practically no moisture in the bottom of the pan afterwards.   



I remove the cellophane from the dishes and let it cool for a little till it can be handled without burning myself.



I then lay the spears out on baking sheets. They are then put in the freezer to flash freeze. As Graci says Grandma is making asparagus popsicles!  




Once frozen, in this case overnight,  I put them in foodsaver bags and seal them. Those of you that have not invested in a Foodsaver I freeze almost everything in them and love them. I can take these out a year later and they taste just like I just put them in. I hardly ever lose anything to freezer burn anymore. I even repackage my meat from the grocery store in them. 




My bags are always first labeled with the year and what's in them. I try to always eat the oldest first. In this instance each bag holds a pound of fresh frozen asparagus spears.




Or six pounds in total. Ready for sauteing in olive oil and a little sea salt or roasting in the oven. Asparagus for casseroles and cheese and asparagus soup.



Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

9 comments:

  1. You can't get it any fresher than that! They really look good. You are so efficient in the way you put up your produce. I'm sure you'll make some yummy meals with these.

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  2. I have a Foodsaver and I don't how I ever lived without one! Well worth the money! We are still eating corn on the cob from 2008 and it tastes like fresh from the garden.

    Love Asparagus!! Yummy!!!!

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  3. Foodsavers are a good idea but the machines themselves are absolute garbage!!!! I use to use them for everything meat and veggies. But I probably have $1500.00 wrapped up in different machines over the last 5 years started with cheap machines and ended with a commercial one! ALL GARBAGE! I wish they would figure the damn things out!

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  4. Would love to try this today, but have a question for you first. Did you put water in the 9x13?

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  5. How do you cook after freezing? And can you chop them into pieces after they have cooled before freezing?

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  6. Are you concerned about nutritional value being reduced by microwaving? That is a concern I have about all vegetables.

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  7. love, Love, LOVE this idea of freezing the 10 lbs That i bought, yesterday. Like you, I Food Save almost everything in the freezer. I am going to use your method for sure! Thanks for sharing!!

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