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| Aspic with roasted parsnips and carrots |
Food Diary (January 26, 2012)
Breakfast: Rolled oats with kiwifruit, sunflower seeds and flax seeds
Lunch: Aspic with roasted parsnips and carrots
Dinner: Carrot salad, rice and chickpeas
It is only natural that we indulge in desserts when we are stressed. But do you know the scientific explanation for that?
Spell stressed backwards.
Today's Favourite Photo
Toad-in-the-Hole
Today’s Favourite Blog
Interesting article titled “10 Foods You Didn't Know You Could Freeze”. A few of the items in the list surprised me:
Butter: Simply place butter in its original wrapping inside of an airtight bag or tightly wrapped in foil. When ready, remove the butter from the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before use.
Nuts: Nuts, especially unshelled, can quickly go rancid thanks to their high fat content. Heat, moisture, light, and even their proximity to metal can cause nuts to spoil. Store them in a plastic, airtight container. Shelled nuts last for up to eight months in the freezer
Cheese: Cheese can be frozen in its original packaging, but wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or heavy-duty aluminum foil, too. Soft cheese and cheesy spreads will only last one month frozen, so it may only be worth it to freeze the harder cheeses, which will last up to six months. Remember to thaw cheese in the refrigerator overnight before use.
Baked goods: After cooling, wrap cookies individually in plastic and place in an airtight container for up to one month. For bar cookies or brownies, store them unsliced, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and again in foil for three months. These should be thawed at room temperature. Store-bought breads and muffins should cool completely in the refrigerator and then be placed in the freezer unopened, where they’re good for up to two months. Doughs can be frozen and thawed in the refrigerator for later baking.
Milk: Simply pour out a little milk to leave room for expansion and pop it in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and thaw in refrigerator for a day or two. Before use, give it a good shake to prevent drinking any separated milk. It's best to freeze milk at its freshest and it shouldn't be kept longer than four to six weeks.
Flour: Freezing flour is necessary for sanitation. Store flour in a food-grade airtight container without its original paper packing since it is so porous. Freeze for 48 hours to kill off insects and place in the refrigerator for constant, proper storage.
Pesto: After making your sauce, spoon globs of pesto evenly into ice cube trays and freeze them completely. Once frozen, pop them into a plastic airtight container or bag and store for three months. To use your neatly portioned pesto cubes, let them thaw at room temperature naturally or remove them earlier and thaw in the refrigerator.
Herbs: Start by washing and pat-drying your leafy herbs. You may want to chop them into desired portions before freezing. On a small tray or cookie sheet, spread the herbs out individually on top of parchment paper and place them covered in the freezer. Once frozen solid, remove the herbs, place them in an airtight plastic bag and pop back into freezer until you are ready to use. You could even spoon herbs into an ice tray and fill it halfway with water.
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream: As far as cream cheese is concerned, freezing has its limitations. If you’re planning to spread cream cheese on your morning bagel, then skip the freezing, since when thawed it will change consistency. However, if you’re baking or cooking, cream cheese retains its flavor and purpose just fine. Sour cream has generally the same principle: easy to freeze, great for cooking or baking, but it will change consistency. Whipping sour cream before freezing helps to distribute moisture, and doing so after thawing in the refrigerator — and adding two spoonfuls of cornstarch — will help it return to its creamy form.
Jam: Simply fill your thick-glassed mason jar and freeze it. To thaw, let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Enjoy your jam within one year, as after a year it will start to lose flavor.
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Interesting to read , thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of toad in the hole as adorable, but that is adorable.
ReplyDeleteit is!
DeleteThis reminds me of how I was first introduced to Toad in the Hole. We had an Australian friend making it on the "barby" and what we heard (in his very strong aussie accent) was "Turd" in the hole! Took us awhile to get it.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that properly made jam doesn't really freeze?
I've never thought of freezing flour... good idea. In our weather, it'll definitely keep better. I've been freezing all the other nuts, butter, etc ... no wonder my freezer and fridge are forever full!
I can imagine an Aussie saying turd while drinking a beer:) They are never too far away from a BBQ either:)
DeleteI didn't know that about jam. I guess its one way to test if the jam is property made!
Cheese can be frozen but it can change the texture of the cheese. I freeze flour to get rid of any pantry moth larvae -they tend to breed in humidity!
ReplyDeleteI've realised it affects teh texture of hard cheese much more
DeleteI never knew you could freeze sour cream!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know either
DeleteI never knew cream cheese and sour cream can be frozen, or even jam! That was very helpful tip. Toad in a hole is a cute dish!
ReplyDeleteMe neither. I froze some creme fraiche last week, will see how that goes
DeleteThank you for the freezing tips! I would freeze more things if I had a big freezer :-(
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience only processed cheese freezes well. All my attempts with real, maturing cheese were disasters. The texture was spoiled or/and the aroma or taste. Some end up edible (like curd/cottage cheese), but the taste or texture are worse. I would advise experimenting first with small amounts.
Soft cheese freezes well. I've frozen brie and that was perfect. I tried hard cheese but the texture after freezing was pretty bad, good for cooking though
DeleteMr. Three-Cookies, was your brie real brie? I mean brie de Meaux? Raw milk? Or just a "brie type cheese"? (I know many such cheese varieties are sold outside of France). All the soft, maturing raw-milk cheese freezing was a disaster in my case... Mainly because of the aroma they have lost (texture not as much). I know Polish cheese called brie (produced in Poland I think) and it had no smell, was made of pasteurised milk, didn't mature etc.. Such a cheese doesn't lose much in freezing process I guess.
DeleteI hope it was real brie:) It was from France. I don't know the exact name and whether or not it was made from raw milk. It retained the aroma, quite well, I was surprised. I kept it in the freezer for many months.
DeleteNow you really surprise me! I used to make tests a couple of years ago when I didn't want to throw away the cheese remains. Now I throw them away. The results were really awful.
DeleteI thought it was the processed pseudo-brie I have seen on American websites. (The best way, apart from the raw milk, to recognise the real brie is to look if it has AOC (a certificate it's a real brie). I know in many European countries unpasteurised milk production is allowed, but importation not, this is why I thought you had a different brie.
oooh frozen milk??
ReplyDeleteI do this often, its great
DeleteThis is such a useful list of freeze-able recipes! I often use cream cheese in baked goods but don't use the whole package...now I won't have to throw it out!
ReplyDeleteIt is. Cream cheese should be almost perfect after defrosting
DeleteMmmm aspic! My Mum used to freeze milk and butter, and I always keep shredded mozarella and cheddar in the freezer, but I didn;t realise you could freeze nuts or flour!
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring my 'Toad'. Very honoured to appear here, Three Cookies.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, fascinating foodie info. I freeze grated cheese, nuts, and breadcrumbs. I also peel and freeze fresh ginger then grate it directly into the dish I'm preparing. It saves me finding forgotten (usually green/blue furry) pieces of ginger in the back of the fridge, and it breaks down the stringy fibres of the ginger.
Interesting list of items we can freeze. I knew most but the Milk and sour cream surprised me.
ReplyDelete