A Bit of Early Season Preserving

I haven't really been experimenting around in the kitchen much lately. Sometimes it's nice to fall back on old favorites or try someone else's creations.  I've mostly been making recipes from other bloggers and my newest cookbook, The Homesick Texan, which was a graduation gift from Mom and Dad.  Oh how I adore this cookbook!  So far I have made two different salsas, Austin style black beans, fish tacos, tortilla soup, guacamole, chipotle biscuits and gravy, and San Antonio tortillas.  There must be others.

This time of year I really start getting the canning bug, but it's too early for peppers, tomatoes, and pickles.  I like to direct my attention to freezing in the early part of the season.  Today I'm going to share a few preserving methods I use year-round that help cut a few corners in tedious kitchen tasks and help less food go to waste.

Ginger-Garlic Cubes

We use a lot of ginger and garlic around here because these two ingredients are commonly found in Indian and East Asian recipes.  These cubes really help to speed a recipe along and guarantee that you won't go to make a favorite curry dish only to find that you used up the last of the ginger.

This idea is from Canning for a New Generation by Lianna Kristoff.  It's too good not to share.  Now we are never without garlic and ginger ready to go for recipes.

•Use a 2:1 ratio of ginger and garlic.

Peel the ginger and cut into 1" chunks.  Peel the garlic cubes and leave whole.   Blend in a food processor with about 1 cup of water to form a smooth paste.  Freeze in ice cube trays.  Store in a large bag in the freezer.  To use, thaw the amount of cubes needed in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or stir directly into soups or the crock-pot.  I figure each cube equals approximately 1" of minced fresh ginger and 2 cloves of garlic.

Chipotle Cubes

Basically the same as the ginger-garlic cubes.  Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce are a staple in my cooking.  They come in a pretty big can, and most recipes call for only one or two chilies, since they have a pretty potent flavor.  To keep them fresh I freeze them in ice cube trays as well.  Open up a can of chilies, place 1 large or 2 small chilies in each compartment of the ice cube tray.  Fill the rest of the way with the remaining adobo sauce.  Freeze and transfer to a plastic bag.  I find that these are actually very easy to mince for recipes when they are still frozen.

Freezing Bacon

We really could eat a lot of bacon in one sitting, but that doesn't mean we should.  Even though it keeps for quite a long time in the refrigerator, freezing maintains a fresher flavor.  Many recipes call for only a few strips of bacon at a time, and then the package needs to get used up right away.  I find that it is very convenient for us to store the bacon slices individually so that we can use as few or as many as we need at a time.  I like to pull out a couple strips and chop them up before frying to make bacon bits for baked potatoes and big salads.

Take however much bacon you want to freeze and divide into individual strips.  Roll each strip up like a fruit roll.  Freeze on a baking sheet.  Transfer to a freezer bag.

Freezing Greens

We go through a lot of frozen spinach in the winter.  It makes its way into soups, casseroles, pastas, curries, and just about any place that needs some more veggies.  I harvested all of the spinach and Swiss chard in the garden the other day to freeze for the winter.

Those of you who know me know why this picture is so terrifying.

Take as much spinach, or any green, as you want to freeze.  Wash thoroughly and chop or slice into medium sized pieces.  Boil batches in a large pot for 1-2 minutes. Immediately plunge the cooked greens into a large pan of ice water to stop the cooking.  Squeeze out excess water and freeze in bags.

Batch Cooking: Homemade Ravioli

Homemade ravioli is somewhat time consuming, but so much fun to make.  It is nice to have ravioli in the freezer for quick meals topped with a simple sauce, with sauteed vegetables, in soups, or breaded and pan-fried.  I first learned how to make ravioli from scratch when I took a catering class in high school.  The girl who taught our group the skill works at the Ritz Carlton now, so I guess I can say I learned from a real chef.

Last weekend I set up the laptop for a How I Met Your Mother marathon and went on a ravioli making frenzy and made over two-hundred pumpkin and garlic potato filled ravioli.  The garlic and potato filling recipe is loosely based on my family's recipe for stuffed baked potatoes.  I think those ravioli will pair well with a caramelized onion sauce.  One Saturday soon I hope to do another big ravioli day and make chicken-artichoke and spinach and cheese ravioli.

For the Dough:

•3 cups all purpose flour
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 eggs
•1/4 cup olive oil
•1/2 cup warm water

Mix all of the ingredients together in a food processor, until a ball forms.  Remove from processor and knead until smooth, dusting with extra flour, if necessary.  Cover and set aside.  Make fillings.

Pumpkin Filling:

•2 cups pumpkin puree (or butternut squash)
•a couple dashes nutmeg
•a couple handfuls freshly grated Parmesan cheese, about half a cup, to taste
•salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together and adjust seasonings.  Set aside.

Garlic and Potato Filling:

•2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
•2 cloves garlic, smashed
•salt and pepper, to taste
•1/4 cup milk
•1 Tablespoon butter
•3 green onions, sliced
•1/2 cup shredded cheese- use Parmesan or cheddar
•1/4 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika

Place the potatoes and garlic in a small pot.  Cover with water and boil until tender.  Drain.  Melt the butter in a small skillet.  Add the green onions and cook until tender.  Mash the potatoes with the salt and pepper, milk, green onions, cheese, and paprika.  The potatoes should be the consistency of thick mashed potatoes.  Add a little more milk if necessary.

Divide the dough into eight pieces.  Roll the dough out to a rectangular shape with a pasta machine or a rolling pin, until it is about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the dough sheet over a ravioli press and use the plastic form to make indentations.



I like this ravioli press made my Norpro.

Fill the indentations with desired filling.

Roll out another section of dough in the same way as the first.  Place over the filling.  Roll over the ravioli press with a rolling pin to seal the filling in the dough and cut out the individual ravioli.  Trim the excess dough.  Remove the filled ravioli from the form very carefully.

Place on a baking sheet lined with a smooth kitchen towel.  Repeat until all of the dough and filling is used up.  Freeze the ravioli on the baking sheets for a couple hours.  Remove and place in freezer bags.

Batch Cooking Series: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

I am totally psyched about that picture.  Last weekend Wade and I were cleaning the house and getting rid of a bunch of stuff that was just taking up space in the spare room when I found the old desk lamp that we haven't used since we moved.  Instead of putting it in the donate pile I moved it into the kitchen to try out some food pictures.  Hopefully my pictures will be looking a lot better from here on out.

Cabbage rolls are such a simple food, hearty comfort food.  While discussing family recipes the other day Wade mentioned that his Grandmother always used to make homemade cabbage rolls.  My Mom used to make cabbage rolls too and I just loved to eat them during the winter.  When a cold front moved in over the weekend we decided to stay in and do some serious marathon cooking and cabbage rolls were at the top of the list.  We had one pan for dinner and froze the other to pull out in a few months when time is tight in the evening.  I got some of that new(ish) Glad Ovenware, so I'm looking forward to  seeing how that works out.  It is so convenient, especially since we don't have many casserole dishes.

•2 pounds ground beef
•1 large onion, chopped
•3 cups cooked rice
•Salt and Pepper
•1/4 cup lemon juice
•2 28 oz. cans tomato sauce (or 1 28 oz. can tomato sauce and 2 pints diced tomatoes, pureed)
•1 large head cabbage, left whole

Preheat oven to 350.

Bring about an inch of water to a boil in a large pot.  Add the whole head of cabbage.  Cover and steam for about 5 minutes.  Remove and peel off the soft outer layers of cabbage, cutting away from the base with a small knife.

Repeat until all of the large leaves of cabbage have been removed.  Chop remaining cabbage into small pieces.

Mix the ground beef, onion, chopped cabbage, cooked rice, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.  you may have to mix this together with your hands a bit to get it all combined.

Lay out one leaf of cabbage on a cutting board.  Add about a tennis ball sized ball of beef mixture to the base of the leaf.

Fold the bottom up over the meat mixture.  Fold the sides in and roll up to form a small bundle.  Place in a greased baking pan and repeat with the remaining meat and cabbage.

Mix the tomato sauce and lemon juice together and pour over the cabbage rolls.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the meat mixture is cooked all the way through.

Batch Cooking: Meatballs

After a several month hiatus I'm back working again.  Now that Wade and I are both out of the house everyday before nine and we don't get home until nearly seven each night we need to work on streamlining our evening meal planning and making freezer dinners.

For the next week or two I'll be working on some batch cooking favorites to restock the downstairs freezer.  Many of these dishes are things that my family has been making and freezing for years, but I'll also be including some of my own recipes as well.

My older sister, Lisa, has always made some of the best meatballs around.  I don't know where she originally got the recipe, but I love having a few bags of these in the freezer for when we need to get dinner on the table fast. Of course spaghetti and meatballs is an easy go to dish, but these work great with either marinara or barbecue sauce in sandwiches, pastas, soups, or even casseroles.

•3 pounds ground beef
•2 medium onions, chopped
•2 eggs
•2 Tablespoons parsley
•1 teaspoon oregano
•1 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
•1 cup milk
•1 scant Tablespoon salt
•1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Make sure that there are no dry parts.  Using wet hands, shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls.  I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure the meat mixture out so that everything is a uniform size.

 

Place in a lightly greased baking pan with shallow sides.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  Cool and freeze in freezer bags or containers.