There is nothing more delicious than freshly frozen green beans on a frosty winter day (except maybe the fresh ones). I especially like the french fillet bean variety we use, which are long, pencil thin and never have any strings.
This post is about how to freeze these delicious morsels. It is really quite easy.
First cut the beans into the size you desire. You can leave them whole or cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Kinda depends on how you are going to use them. You could do several different lengths if you wish.
Next blanch the beans to stop the maturing process. You blanch the beans by submerging in boiling water for 2 minutes and then plunging them into cold water or an ice bath to stop the heating process. You are not cooking the beans only stopping the enzymes that will cause the beans to loose condition in the freezer.
After blanching divide the beans into portion sizes that you will use in your cooking. We like to use a quart sized freezer zip lock. Two of these are about right for a green bean salad or casserole. One bag is good for a side dish for 2-4 people.
I like to freeze these flat and then stack them. They seem to use the freezer space the best this way.
Find the freshest beans you can. The farmers market is likely to be the best place to get just picked freshness.
We are at peak bean season on our farm now. Our farm workers picked 7 bushels this week. That is a lot for us.
This year I did something I have never done before. I fertilized our beans. Beans make their own fertilizer, but I guess even they like a free meal and respond with bounty. They also like a side dressing of compost and I think this improves their flavor components.
What did you fertilize with? We try to do no chemicals on our farm.
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