I Blanched & Froze Tomatoes Today! Aren't You Jealous?

I know you're just green with envy. I bet you wanted to blanch and freeze tomatoes today, too.

Through this CSA membership I've learned (quickly) how to freeze and store veggies. The amount of food we've gotten in our share has been enormous and the thought of throwing the food away is out of the question. So, I've learned to freeze veggies and have them stocked for the winter (like the old colonial folks used to do).

It is really easy to do but does take some time. I find myself spending one day every week or two cooking and preparing veggies for freezing. Although, I have to admit, it's quite satisfying when it's all done - and you should see our freezer!

I use this site for learning how to store (specifically freeze) veggies (it's also on the sidebar under "'Oh Snap' Sites)". The font used for the website is IMO ugly but the information is great and always has photos with each step (BONUS!).

Some veggies need to be blanched before freezing in order to kill the enzymes that destroy the flavor in the veggies. For tomatoes, you can blanch but you don't have to. However, I prefer skinning my tomatoes before freezing and blanching them makes skinning MUCH easier.

So the process goes something like this:

• Get a big pot of water boiling and a big bowl of ice water next to it.
  
• Boil the tomatoes for 1 minute. Then place them in the ice water for another minute.


• Then core and peel. The skins come right off.
  
• You can go ahead and put them in freezer bags and freeze. TIP: If you don't have one of those fancy vaccuum sealer thingys (I don't), a way to suck as much air out of the freezer bags is to take a straw and stick it in the bag. Seal the bag up to the straw then suck in and seal quickly. Just be careful not to do too many times at once(no fainting please).

Another thing you can do before feezing is to squeeze the juice and seeds out then freeze them. I prefer this because most likely my tomatoes will be used for sauce. I also like to make my own tomato juice (bloody marys anyone?!?!?) from the tomatoes. I usually squeeze the tomatoes over a bowl with a sieve in it. Then, I take the juice and boil it in a small saucepan with a stalk of celery, some salt, oregano, a tad of garlic powder and dried minced onion. Bring it to a boil then let cool. Add some lemon juice. Drink solo or add some vodka. Delicious!