As you might imagine, I’m all about food storage and preservation.  And while canning is a great way to go, it’s not a good solution for fresh, fleshy vegetables.  Last year I discovered the poor man’s way to flash freeze veggies and it’s a perfect way to keep seasonal veggies.

Most veggies have a lot of water in them which, when frozen and then thawed, they become very soggy and mushy.  If you can them, they are then only good for soups & stews where you cook the fire out of them anyway.  But what if you want to use them in a stir fry or other recipe that calls for fresh vegetables?  The solution is called flash-freezing and it was patented by Mr. Clarence Birdseye back in the 1920’s.  Here’s how to do it at home.  I usually do this with zucchini, yellow squash, onions, green pepper, avocados, and citrus.  First slice the veggie into no more than 1/2”-thick slices or 1/6 wedge if freezing lemons or limes.

Then lay them out in a single layer on freezer paper that covers a tray that fits in your freezer.  Do not allow them to overlap at all.  I normally use the freezy-thingy that goes inside my Pampered Chef cold vegetable server.  (What is that called?)  Anyway, a cookie sheet will work too.  If you have too many slices, you can layer them with cookie cooling racks in between.  Just be sure that you allow enough room for air to circulate between the layers.

There’s no need to cover them, just put in the freezer where they can sit there and chill out.

Here’s a very important part.  Freeze them for absolutely no more than one hour.  I set my timer on the microwave for 55 minutes so I don’t go past.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this and when the timer goes off, I think “What’s cooking?  Oh yeah!”  I get so busy doing other things I totally forget that there’s magic going on in my freezer so a timer is an absolute must.

Immediately after removing from the freezer, seal in airtight bags.  If you only have zipper bags, that will work but won’t keep as long.  If you use zipper bags, be sure to “burp” as much air out of them as you can.  This will prevent freezer crystals from forming.

If sealed in the airtight bags, these will keep for months – better than the ones you buy in bags at the store actually.  And when you defrost them to use in a recipe, they will taste and feel as fresh as if you just cut them!

Now I know profiling is wrong.  But there has got to be some reason that compels people to do what it is they do.  For instance, we went on a short trip to Zapata, Texas last weekend to be part of a cook team for a fish fry that was to feed about 350 of a company’s best customers.  This is an annual jaunt we take to be part of a slave-labor team at the fryers and we all absolutely love it and have the best time.   The company pays for the entire trip including the hotel so it’s free entertainment as far as we’re concerned.  This group hubby and I hang with love to cook.  (I will be posting about BBQ cookoffs as the summer rolls on).

Kim, me, and Connie – my hometown girls.

Working the fish fry.  Don’t worry, the cigar isn’t lit.  That’s just Lloyd’s wishful thinking I guess.

Along with fried fish, coleslaw was served (of course).  So we all get back from our trip and my friend Kim tells me she still has 20 pounds of coleslaw cabbage mix leftover in the ice chest and she has no idea what she’s going to do with it.  For some reason known only to God Himself, I blurt out, “I’ll buy half of it from you.”  Seriously.   HALF?  So some unknown force has placed me in her boat and now I don’t know what I’m going to do with 10 pounds of cabbage any more than she did with 20!

Why did I do that?  I can only blame it on being a Yankee by birth.  Even though I was raised as a Texan, I shop for and prepare food in bulk like I need to make it through 6 more months of winter.  My favorite grocery store is Sam’s and I get some sense of wholeness and earthy-well being from canning.  It’s completely inexplicable.  I buy rice and flour in 50 pound bags and keep them in two food vaults, and I’ve always got at least 20 extra rolls of toilet paper.   My panty has a pantry.  It’s almost embarrassing.  But you know what?  “You never know”.  And that’s reason enough I guess.  Besides, we could have another ice age one day…you never know.

Prepper? …almost.

So Kim and I get the bright idea that we will both make sauerkraut from the cabbage.  I’ve never made sauerkraut and hubby and I don’t eat much of it but by golly, I’m in now for some sauerkraut!  I scrounge the internet for some recipes and how-to’s and finally settle on one from Food.com.  The directions and ingredients were kind of sketchy but hey, I’ve canned before so I think I can swing it.  Water, vinegar, salt, cabbage.  Got it.  I like a recipe with reviews so I can see what worked best and what didn’t and maybe tweak the recipe some to my liking.  So here’s my version.

Homemade Sauerkraut

2.5  lbs shredded caggage
4 cups water
1 pint vinegar (2 cups)
1 cup salt**

Put some canning lids in a pot of water to simmer (not boil) on the stove.  When the water begins to simmer, shut off the heat.

Put the water, vinegar, and salt in a pot on the stove and warm it until the salt is dissolved, stirring occasionally.  Pack (and I mean REALLY pack) the cabbage into quart canning jars – do this over a very large bowl because the cabbage goes everywhere.  Ladle the liquid on top of the cabbage to the neck of the jar.  Poke the handle of a wooden spoon down into the jars to release any air bubbles.  Let sit a few minutes and the cabbage will shrink some.  Put the wooden spoon to work again and push the cabbage all down in the liquid.  Put a lid on the jar and hand-tighten the ring.  Label the lid and put in a cool room that stays in the mid-70 temp range for 2 months.  When fermenting is complete, bring the cabbage-now-sauerkraut to a boil in a pot, and can as normal.

And note to self next time…Do not mix in the purple cabbage packet included in the bag.  Hence, pink sauerkraut.  But hey, it’s February right?

Pink for February! (wups)

** Salt.  Salt is not salt.  There are different types of salt and I tried two different kinds to see which would work best.

Dextrose = Sugar

I used Canning & Pickling Salt on some of the jars, which is about the same grind as table salt but does not contain iodine or sugar.  Yes, sugar.  Look at the box of Morton’s, my favorite table salt.  It’s cut with sugar – which makes it good for table salt but not so good for canning.   And then I used Kosher salt on the rest of the jars.  That is a little less “salty” if you will, and has a more mellow flavor than canning salt.  There’s also Sea Salt, but that gets pretty pricey.  I strongly suspect I’ll prefer the sauerkraut with the Kosher salt but we shall see in 8 weeks.