Thursday, June 28, 2012

Thursdays Kitchen Cupboard

Over the last couple of weeks I've picked a ton of bok choy and Michihili Chinese cabbage. I didn't give a lot of it away. With all the insects in them this year, there were a lot of bad parts and parts that needed a really good scrubbing. What I had to cut out was minimal, but pervasive. So I kept most of it.

The hearts and the other Chinese cabbage I'm hoping will just store in the fridge for July's greens. But the bok choy and the outer leaves of the Michihili don't keep as well. And I had tens of pounds of these. So last Friday I finally got to chopping it up and blanching it all. Well not all. But I did four batches that day which is probably enough for now. It made 30 little baggies full of blanched choy. Each one had about 3/4 of a cup, which is about how much I'd want in one of my stir fries. It will also be used in soups.

In addition I had too much broccoli to eat before it would go bad. Some went to the townhouse mates. But a good portion was blanched and cooled in ice water.

I came out with a total of about 8 packets of broccoli, each with a cup. I tried to use my vacuum sealer, but it really isn't working well anymore. The seals aren't good enough to hold a vacuum. There are little gaps. I think I need a new one.

I've never blanched and frozen either broccoli or any of the choys. I'm a really picky eater sometimes. I don't like limp veggies. But in stir fries and soups they ought to be fine. And I'm praying the broccoli works out. I would so love broccoli in the winter.

Join the rest of the Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard posts over at The Gardener of Eden.

9 comments:

  1. I've frozen Asian veggies and they turn out just fine. I usually cook the frozen ones in the juice when I braise some type of meat. It tastes wonderful!

    The frozen broccoli will be just fine as long as you only cook it for a few more minutes. Then it won't be mussy. I hate mussy veggies too.

    Too bad about your vacuum sealer. Keep an eye open they are always having really good sales on them on-line.

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  2. Looks great. I thought my broccoli would be limp too when it came out of the freezer. However it is nice and crisp like I just picked it. I just take it out of the freezer remove the bag and plop it into my steamer on the stove top. Once it starts to steam and all the ice is gone(usually 5 mins or less) I serve them.

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  3. I think you're going to be very glad you froze them. Broccoli puree soup is another great way to freeze broccoli. It has the added bonus of being prepared ahead of time.

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  4. We try to avoid blanching when we can as well. Your right it makes for soggy veggies.

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  5. Not sure about the choy, but I have always had good luck freezing broccoli after a fast blanching process. I did not get enough extra broccoli this year to freeze any (at least not from the spring planted crop).

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  6. That's awesome to have enough broccoli to freeze! I need to plant more broccoli in the fall or perhaps in the spring I should set-up an air conditioner tunnel for my broccoli ;)

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  7. I freeze broccoli, I'm lazy, just steam in microwave until they green up and soften slightly then into ziplock and straight into freezer, steam again when wanted or add to stir fries

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  8. If your broccoli is too mushy for anything else I really like it pureed in a pesto - garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan and with or without the basil. Then tossed through pasta.

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  9. Our sealer doesn't seal well either. It's an every-other-time kind of deal.... and it's fairly new and hardly used. Frustrating, isn't it?

    Nice haul on the plants. I've been making spinach pesto, radish pickles and bread & butter pickles. With all the work I have to do in the yard and all my kids, I can't keep up!!

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