I learned something new yesterday. Granted I wasn’t skydiving, surfing or performing surgery, but it was something new. We have had a lot of beans lately. I have shared some, we have eaten too many and I even made a “frijole mole” guacamole type dip from the beans. We are “beaned out” on beans, so I decided to blanche them, ie, prepare them for being frozen for later. I know most of my readers aren’t gardeners, but just consider this your useless info for the day.
1. Pick Beans
2. Show Off your Beans
3. Wash Beans
4. Cut Bean Stems and Cut into small pieces
5. Bring water to Boil
6. Add Beans to Boiling water for 2 minutes
7. Remove Beans and add to Ice Water
8. Cool for 4 minutes in Ice Water
9. Drain
10. Bag and Freeze
11. Enjoy later, after your bean burn out has ended
9 comments:
oooh, good information. we got beans two weeks ago in our csa, and then again last week, plus someone forgot to pick up their csa so i ended up with another half share. . . i'll do this because we can eat loads of broccoli and loads of asparagus, but it's harder to get the green beans down sometimes. love the photos too :)
What happens if you freeze them straight off the vine without blancheing them?
Marci,
I actually asked that same question and was told the same as I'll tell you..."I don't know". But since this is the age old practice my assumption is that there is a reason why it's done this way. I just don't know what it is.
I love the pictures on your blog.
Kristi, thanks for your note the other day. I appreciate the prayers. :) Jeni sent me the link to your blog the other day and I got really exctied because I don't know anything about gardening and was hoping to learn -- starting off small, of course. So I might hit you up for a lesson.
I think I might have an answer to your question about blanching before freezing. You have to blanche foods with waxy exteriors before you dry them so that the water can be released. And I think the same thing applies to freezing. The beans have a waxy exterior and if you didn't blanche them, I think that they would crack when the water expands when they are frozen. That's just a guess, I didn't look it up or anything. You can always test my theory!
Thanks Alayna,
How fun to be in contact with you before we even "know" eachother!
It sounds like a smart answer- I'll take it :)
Kristi
does the same thing work for squash? all veggies?
Hey Kristi,
This reminds me so much of my childhood. My grandma was a huge gardener and I spent many hours with her there - I especially remember green beans - picking them - she'd gather them in her apron - and cutting the ends off with her as we'd watch Wheel of Fortune (it was her favorite show!!) together. She was an amazing woman. Thanks for sparking good memories!
Love you,
Care
Timbra,
I think squash can go straight to the freezer (cut up) because it doesn't haave that thick skin like a green been.
Carolyn,
I'm happy to remind you of your childhood. I guess I'm skipping parenting and headed straight for grandparenting.
hey, i knew it was you that blanched the beans. . . i cited you in two posts. . the corn post and the CSA one before that. and i'm ready for the princess stuff, sort of. . . . now i'm scared! oh and yeah, i found out about squash that you don't have to blanche, just straight to the freezer :) thanks for the info
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