Individual Flash Freezing Technique for Preserving Berries

Berries are quite delicate and don't keep for very long in the fridge. After just a few days they start to get soft and darken and if they are not stored in a single layer (ie you leave them in the berry basket they come in) they can even begin to mildew in that short amount of time. Luckily berries preserve quite well when frozen using a technique called Individual Flash Freezing. Once frozen berries are great in pies, cobblers, cakes and other desserts. They also work well in smoothies and other frozen drinks.  Berries can be thawed and turned into sauces, chutneys and spreads. They are great thrown into oatmeal just before its done cooking or in pancakes and waffles where they add a touch of sweet and juicy flavor to an otherwise boring and routine breakfast. They do not work well thawed and eaten as if fresh.  Keep in mind that once frozen, thawed berries are very mushy. What is preserved however is the incredible color and sweet flavor.

Raspberries are frozen unwashed in a single layer.

Begin by washing* and placing berries that have been patted dry in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or freezer paper. If you are freezing strawberries, slice off the green top also. Freezer paper is sometimes available in grocery or big box stores only on a seasonal basis, but it is a lot cheaper than parchment so I recommend picking it up if its available near you. *Note: I actually don't wash the berries I buy because I know the farmer I get them from and know that they use growing methods I approve of and that they wash them before taking them to market. So for me its a time saver- one less step!  I do wash berries I pick at u-pick farms.

Tops are cut off strawberries and then placed on a baking sheet to be individually frozen.

Place the sheet in a freezer for at least 2-3 hours.  Thicker berries (like strawberries) take longer to freeze. Once frozen, place berries in a freezer baggie or other freezer container. Be sure to label and date the container.  Most preservation guides will tell you berries keep for 1 year. Its true that in a year you will be able to replenish your stock, but I can say that they are just as good when kept longer. One year we significantly over picked blueberries at a u-pick farm (just like grocery shopping can be dangerous when you are hungry, so can picking berries when you ran out of last year's stores early and haven't had any for months!) and it took two years to use up the stock.  The quality of the berries did not diminish in the second year in my opinion. I date the container for another reason. To me this serves as an important reminder of when I need to pick or purchase the following year in order to replenish my supply. Although seasonality fluctuates each year, I've found that the date on the container gives me a good idea plus or minus two weeks of when I should keep my eye out at the market or start checking with u-pick locations. Its a good idea to keep a preservation log just for this purpose. Two or three years into this seasonal style of eating you will be able to tell how early or late the season is based on precedent with the very first crop. In my region, I use asparagus to judge this! Even though there are earlier home crops, asparagus is the first reliable market crop. It can't be forced earlier in a green house, hot house or cold frame so I consider it an to be honest vegetable.

Its crucial to label and date anything you preserve.  Keep a preservation log or write directly on the container.

The great thing about this technique is that once the berries are frozen individually, they stay separated even when thrown into a container together.  That way you can remove and use only what you need without having to thaw out your entire stock. Get ready to enjoy berry smoothies and cobblers all year long!

A Very Berry Smoothie

Berry season is in full swing where I am located (as I thoroughly mentioned in my last post) and for the moment I just can't gobble them up quick enough!  That's what happens when you adopt a seasonal style of eating.  After eight months without fresh berries, they seem like heaven when they arrive.  Since I'm on that note though, I have to mention one thing.  I've tried thus far not to post too much on why I think seasonal eating is the way to go, but I must sit on a soapbox for a moment. When you eat strawberries year round from the grocery store you lose appreciation for them.  I have nothing against big supermarket store bought strawberries (well actually I do because they just don't taste as good, but another point still).  I once lived in a small coastal agricultural community in southern California where the city moto was "California's Strawberry Coastline."  That place was a revolving door as far as strawberry season is concerned.  If I remember correctly they get three plantings in one year. When you have plump red strawberries at your disposal all year long there is no waiting, no anticipation and thus no appreciation.

Mmmm, refreshing and sweet.

One way to show my appreciation for fresh strawberries is to pop berry after berry in my mouth, which makes my taste buds go crazy by the way. I love making fresh berry smoothies.  I make berry smoothies year round (using fruit I freeze when its in season) but its important to enjoy them when the fruit is fresh because let's face it, berries don't stay fresh for long.  So when you get down to the bottom of the berry basket and there are a handful of fruits that are starting to get mushy I throw them into the blender and whip up a smoothie.  Sometimes I throw in vanilla yogurt, spinach or flax seed.  When I'm feeling really decadent or making a smoothie to fulfill a dessert craving I'll top it off with whipped creme like the one above.

The Beginning of Berries

I've bought strawberries the last couple of weeks at the farmers' market (and even some raspberries).  These are the first of many yummy berries coming our way! Berries are great.  They can be eaten now or later.  They are oh so delicious when freshly picked or purchased.  However, they can also be eaten in winter because berries preserve remarkably well when frozen.  Now don't get me wrong, a frozen strawberry in November is not the same as a fresh strawberry in June.  While it is still the same fruit and tastes pretty much the same, the properties are different, one is juicy and tender, the other is mushy!  The point is, you use a fresh strawberry different than a frozen one.  For instance, in the summer I enjoy strawberries (and any berry for that matter) with vanilla yogurt and granola for a quick on the go breakfast.  In the winter, I mix the berries with warm oatmeal topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Of the course of the next few weeks I look forward to sharing ways to use berries now and discussing how to preserve them for later. For now, enjoy a bit of summer in a bowl for breakfast.

To me this is a sign of summer!

Mushroom Foraging

This weekend I went to Joseph, OR for a wedding.  I had never been that far east in the state and was delighted by the beauty of the area.  I expected eastern Oregon to be entirely desert, but that's not the case.  Both the Blue Mountains and the Wallowas offer extraordinary variation. Trip consisted of some delicious seasonal camp food and an incredible surprise!

Joseph, OR near Wallowa Lake.

Firstly, I've been gone a lot in the past two months so I wanted to do this trip on the cheap which meant camping and packing my own food. I've always had a knack for creating camp menus and packing meals that can be stretched and diversified using the smallest amount of creativity.  This trip wasn't any different.  I packed sour creme bread for chicken salad sandwiches since I always cook a large chunk of some kind of meat the day or two before a trip (in this case a whole roasted chicken).  Its cherry season, albeit a few weeks early where I am at, so a gallon size baggie of cherry tartlets (recipe to come later) served as a constant supply of dessert or an easy munchie.  Also on the menu were chicken burritos (anything you can eat without utensils or plates is great when camping) and of course egg scrambles with lots of spring's final greens including spinach, kale, lettuce, arugula and also asparagus.

This little guy agrees with me, everything tastes better by a campfire!

At the end of the trip a friend and I checked out a river that we both had heard was pretty amazing.  We figured a good teaser would entice us to come back for another visit and it would also give us a chance to stretch our legs before several hours in the car.  So off we went on a short walk in the woods.  We didn't get more than 10 feet from the car when my friend discovered a fairy ring!

Part of a complete fairy ring of coral mushrooms.

I don't know much about mushroom foraging, but as he explained it (and wikipedia later confirmed) a fairy ring is an indication of the outermost reach of the mycelium (is it singular or plural for a single fungus?) network that exists below ground.  The edible mushroom portion that we covet is in fact only a small portion of a fungus- the fruiting part- while the mycelium is the vegetative part.  We found tons of coral mushrooms and many partial fairy rings, but this one was in its entirety which was incredible to behold. 

Yellow blotches outline a fairy ring.  Our small harvest in the bottom right.

This ring was a little past its prime as you can see from the lighter colored mushroom on the right of the picture below, but we collected several young fruits from another area.  (Special considerations: I should note that identifying edible mushrooms takes a lot of skill and training.  I'm not very good at it, but luckily my friend it.  Its important NOT to eat a mushroom unless you are absolutely certain of its identification!) Although I'm not quite sure what I'll cook up with these mushrooms for dinner tonight, I'm thinking Beef Strogonoff sounds good.  From all the research I've done (and a bit of taste testing the raw mushrooms) this type of mushroom doesn't impart flavor on a dish but rather takes on the flavor of the food its incorporated into.  Since these are so earthy smelling and tasting I think beef will pair nicely with them!

Coral mushroom of varying ages.  The ones on the left and top look yummy!

About the blog, the happy hens, the author and you!

Check out the new About section!  When I first created this blog in the springtime I wanted to create a webpage that was more than just a chronological story of eating seasonally.  My goal was (and still is) for this blog to be used as a tool.  I'm looking forward to making that happen throughout the course of the summer and this new About page is just the start.  In the meantime, don't forget to Eat and Enjoy!

The waiting game is over...

...which means the harvest begins!!!

Note: I am writing this post retroactively.  The event being discussed here occurred the week after Memorial day (around May 27th 2013). 

For those of you that garden or frequent the farmers' markets you know that June signifies a substantial increase in available produce.  March and April have always kept me busy with sowing seeds, pulling weeds and tending beds not to mention doing lawn and other landscape maintenance.  Then May comes along and although the slightly slower pace is much appreciated, the month seems to drag on forever.  It might be because my birthday is at the end of the month...but more likely its because May is a waiting game in the garden.  Lucky for me this year I had the opportunity to go on a four day vacation to the San Juan Islands.  While the weather was decent there (check out the pretty beach and harbor scenes below), back home it rained substantially the first two and half days I was gone and was nice and sunny for the final bit.  That meant no one had to water the garden in my absence and upon my return everything seemed to be bursting at the seams. 

A stop in Port Townsend before heading to the islands.

This is Deception Pass.  Great place to stretch your legs before waiting in line for a ferry.

When I arrived home late that Monday night I did a quick check to make sure none of the animals had done any damage and I locked up the chicken coop which had been left open in my absence (luckily the racoons hadn't noticed!).  It wasn't until the following day after work that I actually got to tour the jungle in my backyard.  Now, in all reality it hadn't grown that much.  However, when you are closely examining a garden two or three times a day everyday its hard to notice much of anything in the way of dramatic change.  Sure I see a new stem of parsley unfurling and the mustard greens beginning to bolt, but it all happens in slow motion.  After four days though, its like a whole new sight!  I got so overwhelmed with my harvest that afternoon that I forgot all I went out there for was a few greens for dinner, but more on that story later!  For now, enjoy the pleasure of harvesting daily (or weekly if you're a farmers' market type) and be grateful that the waiting game is over.

From the back, left to right: celery, leafy lettuce, chive flowers, johnny jump ups, Russian red kale, curly blue kale, all sorts of peas and maybe more, but that's all I can see and recall!

What to do with all those greens?

Yummy greens wilting over a bed a of diced onions and potatoes.

About this time of year in my garden (or at the local farmers' market) there seems to be an influx of greens.  No matter how fast I harvest them they keep on coming.  Not to mention, if you don't harvest them quick these tender little plants will interpret the slightest neglect, coupled with a minor increase in temperature, as abandonment.  I'm certain they fear you, the gardener or cook or buyer, have moved on to bigger and better things like tomatoes and basil.  I like to remind my greens that they are still much loved and appreciated, particularly as the weather the increasing temperatures, by picking their young leaves often.  But alas, a girl can only eat so many salads (do you remember me posting how much I missed salad just two months ago in this post?)  So, what does one do with all those greens???  Well, my solution is to put them in everything I can.  Macaroni, stir fry, rice; anything really.  When sauteed they add such great flavor and color to an otherwise bland dish.  My favorite way to use up a surplus of greens, however, is by mixing them with eggs and potatoes and bacon in a break fast burrito!

Bacon, wilted greens, breakfast potatoes and scrambled eggs ready to be wrapped up!

Breakfast is my favorite  meal of the day, but generally speaking I eat it on the go Monday through Friday.  Eggs are a great way to get in a good amount of protein and other food energies for the day and the best part is I can wrap it up in a tortilla with whatever yummy things I have on hand and away I go! 

Cooking tip: Bacon can be a bit labor intensive to cook.  It requires that you stand over the stove watching a sizzling pan of grease and fatty pork ready to pop at any moment.  While pan fried bacon tastes super yummy, you can get the same effect by cooking it in the oven.  In fact, I find it easier to achieve various degrees of doneness using the oven (soft and flimsy or crsipy and hard and everything in between).  Here's how its done:

1. Take the bacon out of the fridge and turn the oven to 450*.
2. Cover a baking sheet with parchement paper (make sure the paper is bigger than the sheet on all four sides- it makes for easy peeasy clean up later!)
3. Place your bacon slices on the parchment paper.  If the sheet is too narrow for them to lay flat, pinch the pieces slightly in the middle to create a small hill or two.
4. Place in the oven, which should still be preheating.  Don't wait for it to warm up all the way.
5. Keep an casual eye on your bacon the first few times and record the time it takes for the bacon to reach the desired doneness. In my oven 18-20 minutes is good for thin sliced and about 25 minutes for thick sliced, but every oven is different so watch yours.  That's it.  Very little hands on effort, amazingly delicious reward!

Six pieces of yummy bacon straight out of the oven, with little effort on my behalf.