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"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard


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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Putting up with: Green Beans


I am a canning and preserving dilettante.  A few years ago I did a fun marathon canning session with my best bud where we canned peaches, pepper, pickles and more.  Since then I've canned tomato sauce and jalapeño jelly, among other things.  I always hope to "put up" so many wonderful things in the late summer and fall but I get busy and fail to make it a priority.  

This post is about not about canning, it's about canning's simple little sister: freezing.


I found some particularly lovely fresh green beans at the market and bought more than could reasonably feed two people.  So I looked online and found some great advice about freezing green beans.  You can't just throw them in the freezer raw! You have to blanch them first.


I like to keep them long so I just cut off the stem end and leave the string end intact.  I rinsed them and boiled a big pot of water.


I also prepared an ice bath.


Just a bowl with ice and water to put the beans in after boiling to stop the cooking process.


I tossed the trimmed beans into the boiling water and let it come back up to a boil.


I boiled the beans for almost 3 minutes then fished them out with a slotted spoon and dropped them into the ice bath.


I let the beans chill in the ice bath for 3 more minutes.


Then drained them.


Portioned them into freezer bags.



Then worked to get as much air out of the bags as possible. You can actually suck out the air with a drinking straw if you want to get creative.

I popped them in the freezer so when I want the taste of fresh green beans I just have to lightly steam them and serve!  Summer all year round!


2 comments:

  1. I have also not canned since our marathon - I love the idea of it, but it's just too time consuming. I'm with you - freezer all the way. I love this green bean idea. Will check tomorrow at the market to see if there are any left.

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    1. I had some from the freezer last night and didn't LOVE the way they turned out. Maybe I cooked them wrong but they seemed overcooked. I'm sure I can find a better way to prepare them. I'm not really used to eating frozen vegetables.

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