Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

-------------------BLANCHING AND COOLING------------------------

BLANCHING Blanching is a brief heat treatment given to vegetables
before they're packaged and frozen. Its purpose is to stop the action
of enzymes, which can destroy the fresh flavor of vegetables and
cause off colors. If you want to successfully freeze vegetables, it's
generally necessary to blanch them before freezing. This simple
technique also helps seal in vitamins, brightens the color of
vegetables to be frozen, and shrinks them slightly to make packing
easier. When freezing herbs or vegetables such as green onions or hot
peppers, which are to be used for flavoring only, blanching isn't
necessary.

Follow blanching times given in the freezing recipes precisely.
Blanching for too short a time is worse than not blanching at all,
enzyme action will be stimulated instead of stopped. And, if blanched
for too long a time, your vegetables will cook, losing vitamins,
minerals, flavor and color.

Use one gallon of water per pound of vegetables, or two gallons for
leafy greens. Blanching water must be boiling when you lower the
vegetables into it. Fill the blancher with vegetables and lower it
into boiling water; start timing as soon as the vegetables have gone
into the boiling water. You may keep the blancher covered during the
blanching period or keep the heat on high and stir frequently. If you
live at 5,000 feet or more above sea level, blanch one minute longer
than the times specified in each recipe.

When blanching a large quantity of vegetables, start with only the
amount that can be blanched and cooled in a 15 minute period, and put
the rest in the refrigerator. Package, label, and freeze each
blanched group before starting on the next. you can use the same
blanching water for several batches of vegetables, adding additional
boiling water from a teakettle to replace water lost through
evaporation. If you wish, change the water when it becomes cloudy.
Keep a second pot or large teakettle boiling, so you won't be delayed
when the time comes to change the blanching water.

COOLING After vegetables have been precooked the exact amount of time,
remove them immediately from the boiling water and cool them. This is
crucial for keeping the heating process from continuing past the
proper period for each vegetable or food. Transfer the vegetables
quickly from the blancher to the ice water. The kitchen sink is a
good spot for holding ice water to cool vegetables, but if you want
it free for other uses, put the ice water in a plastic dish pan or
other large, clean container.

Be sure to add new ice to the ice water frequently, so it stays as
cold as possible. You'll need plenty of ice on hand to keep the
cooling water really cold. Plan on one pound of ice for every pound
of vegetables you're going to freeze. To have a ready supply when you
need it, you'll have to stock up in advance.

Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by Dorothy Flatman 1995
Submitted By DOROTHY FLATMAN On 09-28-95

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