Freezing Tomatoes
It’s all the rage right now, freezing tomatoes without peeling or coring or blanching. I’ve frozen the cherry tomatoes for years this way – they usually have more sugar and less water than the larger ones, so they take to freezing well. Blanching tomatoes does two things: it loosens the skin and also kills any enzymes that allow the tomato to continue to ripen in the freezer. But since frozen tomatoes are used in cooked dishes anyway, if you don’t have time to blanch, go ahead and freeze them whole on cookie sheets. When they’re frozen, transfer to suitable containers. To thaw any frozen tomato, place in a colander and run a bit of warm water over it. The skin will peel right off. I like to chop my tomatoes up while they’re still a bit frozen for easier handling.
Freezing Roasted Peppers
After peeling the roasted peppers and cutting the peppers in strips, layer with olive oil in a suitable container. Go ahead and add some garlic cloves and herbs if you want. Freeze. To use, thaw (the olive oil may not freeze hard) and put into soups, stews, pizzas, sandwiches, etc.
Preserving Basil and Oregano in Cheese
Yes, it’s an old fashioned way and yes, it’s back. Take equal amounts of basil or oregano and Parmesan or Romano cheese. The cheese should be shredded and the basil or oregano either julienned or chopped coarsely. Make layers in freezer proof containers starting with the cheese first and adding a layer of cheese last, as well. The cheese and basil flavor each other and are great in soups, stews, pizza, breads, pastas, etc. Don’t thaw before using.
Preserving Dill in Salt
Another heirloom method: in a suitable freezer container, pour in a thin layer of salt – I like to use sea salt. Then take a long sprig of dill with leaves attached and wind it around the base of the jar on top of the salt. Continue layering with salt and dill, ending with salt. This will keep 6 months in the frig. The salt and dill flavor each other. The dill will get limp and turn a darker green. Use in salads, potatoes, soups, breads, whatever.
A Vitamin Pill in a Plant
Cup for cup, parsley has more vitamin C than some citrus, more beta carotene than a large carrot, more calcium than milk, and twenty times more iron than a plateful of liver, plus it’s a gentle kidney cleanser – parsley is a very gentle diuretic which helps clean toxins out of the kidneys. Try Italian (flat leaf) and curly parsley.
Parsley’s flavor is warm with a touch of camphor. Try it in frittatas, omelettes, soups, salads and stir fries. Persillade is the French term for fresh parsley minced with shallots or garlic, and you add that to sautéed fresh veggies right at the end. Gremolata is the Italian form of Persillade: minced fresh parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Great with seafood, in soups, and Gremolata, with its bursting flavor, is a super salt substitute. Hamburg Parsley is a variety that’s raised for its root. It looks like a parsnip. Use as you would parsnips, steamed or in soups.
Pomegrante: The Good Seed
This nutritional darling is packed with Cholesterol fighting Antioxidants. Yes, I know it's the juice in cocktails that is grabbing the headlines, but it's seeds are a cook's treasure. This healthful fruit, mentioned in the Bible, is part of my heritage. Every year for St. Nicholas, we put a pomegranate into each stocking.
» Toss seeds into a green salad with orange sections and sliced fennel
» Sprinkle seeds over a wedge of blue cheese that's been drizzled with honey for an easy appetizer
» Top a sauteed chicken breast with seeds and chopped walnuts that have been added to pan juices at the end of cooking.
» Scatter seeds over a squash casserole.
» Add seeds to your morning yogurt or oatmeal.
» Seeds can be frozen up to 3 months.
To remove seeds, cut fruit in half. Submerge each half in a bowl of cold water, and tea apart the flesh underwater. The seeds drop to the bottom while the membrane rises to the top. Remove the membrane with a slotted spoon and strain water out.
