Cooking & Baking
Related: About this forumSo I bought peas at the Farmer's Market and I want to freeze some...
I am pretty sure I can just throw them in a bag and into the freezer.
Does anyone have any blanching tips? (Is that what I should do?)
Thanks in advance...
MichiganVote
(21,086 posts)Good for cooking but I don't use them for fresh salads.
Warpy
(111,580 posts)Just shell and blanch quickly in boiling water, just until the color deepens. Drain and chill immediately in ice water, spin out in a salad spinner and then put into a freezer bag.
The same goes for Chinese pea pods. The texture suffers and they get a little mushy, but they're better than no pea pods.
Sugar snap peas do suffer from freezing, IMO, because the peas inside don't get blanched unless you cook the outside.
TygrBright
(20,790 posts)I have a colander insert with large stay-cool handles that fits inside my pot. I put it in the pot, throw about a cup and a half of peas in (not too many, don't want the water to stop boiling, and want those peas to move around & blanch evenly) and then haul it out when they start to get a little more color. Dump the peas in a big bowl of ice water and re-PEAt until they're all blanched. I don't use a salad spinner (though I might try it, thanks, Warpy!) I lay them out in a layer on a tea towel, then put another tea towel on top and gently roll them up, and unroll them to dry off.
Then freeze them in 2-cup bags. They are just as sweet, fresh-tasting and yummy at Christmas as they are now.
helpfully,
Bright