Freezing Green Beans
Chances are if you've planted beans in your garden, or know someone who has, you will have more French beans than you can eat or give away. I can see the neighbours hiding behind their curtains when they see me coming towards their front doors with another basket filled with beans, hoping I can force them to take them off my hands. At first they are delighted, then polite, then they just try to avoid me.
So, in the hope of preserving friendships and neighbourly relationships, I have decided to freeze some of the many Blue Lake beans harvested from my allotment.
Freezing fresh produce is SO easy and you will enjoy a little taste of summer once the winter sets in. All you need are some little freezer bags, a marker pen and these simple instructions:
1. Pick and wash your green beans. Sort them roughly by size, little skinny ones in one pile, medium sized beans in another, and big beans in a third pile.
2. Top and tail the beans and cut them into bite size pieces.
3. Fill a large sauce pan with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Add the first pile of beans and parboil them for the following times:
BIG BEANS - boil for 4 minutes
MEDIUM BEANS - boil for 3 minutes
SKINNY BEANS - boil for 2 minutes
4. Drain the beans and plunge them into VERY COLD water to cool them down. Drain the beans well.
5. Pack the cooled beans into freezer bags, press out as much air as possible and seal. I like to use a marker pen to label and date the beans.
6. Place the bagged beans into the freezer and enjoy within one year.
So, in the hope of preserving friendships and neighbourly relationships, I have decided to freeze some of the many Blue Lake beans harvested from my allotment.
Freezing fresh produce is SO easy and you will enjoy a little taste of summer once the winter sets in. All you need are some little freezer bags, a marker pen and these simple instructions:
1. Pick and wash your green beans. Sort them roughly by size, little skinny ones in one pile, medium sized beans in another, and big beans in a third pile.
2. Top and tail the beans and cut them into bite size pieces.
3. Fill a large sauce pan with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Add the first pile of beans and parboil them for the following times:
BIG BEANS - boil for 4 minutes
MEDIUM BEANS - boil for 3 minutes
SKINNY BEANS - boil for 2 minutes
4. Drain the beans and plunge them into VERY COLD water to cool them down. Drain the beans well.
5. Pack the cooled beans into freezer bags, press out as much air as possible and seal. I like to use a marker pen to label and date the beans.
6. Place the bagged beans into the freezer and enjoy within one year.
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