Freezing Asparagus

freezing asparagus  001Each year about this time I start freezing green vegetables for winter.  This week I froze some asparagus.  Asparagus is a great boost to kidney function – like a cleanse.  I like to make cream of asparagus soup in the winter when we start to feel sluggish.  When friends come who do not eat dairy, I use oats as a creamy thickener instead – an old trick of Ken’s

 

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I blanch most vegetables before freezing.  This stops the enzyme action that first ripens and then rots food.  So I take produce at peak, rinse and trim and then plunge in boiling water.  This preserves as much flavor and nutrition as possible

 

 

 

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For asparagus I separate by diameter.  Thin spears I blanch two minutes, medium three minutes and thick spears four minutes.  Then I pull out of the boiling water

 

 

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and place in cold water.  That water warms quickly, so

 

 

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I transfer to a second bowl.  I use the second bowl as the first in the next batch; some people use ice

 

 

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Then I drain

 

 

 

and package with as little airfreezing asparagus  008 as possible to prevent freezer burn.

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