Autumn is a hot season for housewives. Begin harvesting for the winter in the form of jam, salted and pickled vegetables, dried mushrooms and berries. But recently, along with standard types of blanks, freezing has become popular. And freeze any berries, fruits and vegetables.
Cabbage occupies a special place among the blanks. Most often, it is salted or kvasyat. But many hostesses began to freeze it.
Those who have not yet switched to this method of preparation for the future, are interested in how this white beauty feels during freezing, and most importantly, after it! After all, as you know, some vegetables after freezing are completely useless!
White cabbage is also one of those capricious vegetables, which after thawing lose their attractiveness. But still and it can be frozen.
Of course, if you want to prepare a salad from fresh cabbage in the middle of winter, you still have to go down to your cellar or go to the market. Since from the frozen white cabbage you do not get a crispy salad. For the simple reason that white cabbage after defrosting becomes soft, lethargic and completely tasteless if you want to use it raw.
But for making borscht, casseroles, cabbage cutlets and even for cabbage rolls, frozen cabbage fits perfectly. But first things first.
How to prepare cabbage for freezing
Heads of white cabbage should be strong, without damage to both mechanical and ubiquitous slugs. After all, if you overlook the slug and freeze it, then in the end you will spoil not only the cabbage itself, but also the dish that you are going to make.
If there are doubts about the presence of caterpillars, then soak the cabbage for twenty minutes in cold water, to which add 40 g of salt per liter of water. Then wash the forks thoroughly.
Remove the top leaves from the cabbage before freezing and rinse the forks in cold water. Cut off the protruding part of the stalk.
Put the plugs on a clean towel so that all water is drained.
How to freeze white cabbage forks
If the volume of the freezer allows, then the cabbage can be frozen with a whole fork.
This method of freezing cabbage is well suited for cabbage. After all, it is known that wrapping minced meat in fresh leaves is problematic - the leaf will surely burst! Therefore, usually the leaves are boiled or at least boiling water to make them softer and lose brittleness.
When frozen, cabbage loses this property and therefore becomes almost ready for stuffing.
Therefore, cut a stalk of a clean cabbage with a sharp and thin knife. Wrap dry cabbage in food film and put it in the freezer.
When you are ready to make cabbage rolls, remove the cabbage from the freezer in advance and leave it in the positive compartment of the refrigerator for several hours. The cabbage will thaw, the leaves will be soft and you can easily wrap the stuffing in them. Such stuffed cabbage cooked very quickly. Although, it should be noted that their taste is still different from the stuffed cabbage cooked from fresh cabbage. By the way, fresh cabbage is often specially frozen before the forks are taken apart into leaves. Replacing this way the usual boiling.
How to freeze chopped white cabbage
From the prepared cabbage, remove the stalk, and chop the vegetable in the way that is convenient for you. Spread the chopped cabbage into portioned sachets, squeeze the air out of them and pack well. Put it in the freezer for further freezing.
If cabbage is bitter (it happens sometimes), put chopped cabbage into a colander and put it in boiling water for a few seconds. Then leave in a colander to drain water or lay on a dry cotton towel.
You can also dip chopped cabbage into boiling water, bring to a boil, then pour over with cold water and dry. The cabbage prepared in this way is packaged in portion sachets and put into the freezer.
Slaw cabbage can be frozen both individually and in combination with other vegetables - grated carrots or beets.
Chopped cabbage is not thawed before use, but placed immediately in boiling water, broth or on a heated frying pan with oil. Such cabbage is prepared very quickly, as it becomes soft after freezing. What many do not really like.
How to freeze ... cabbage stalk
When preparing for the future a large amount of cabbage (fermentation, pickling, salting, freezing) there is a lot of waste, and in particular the stumps that the hostess throws out. But, it turns out, cabbage stalks from white cabbage can also be frozen!
To do this, wash the stalks and cut them into thin slices.
Dip them in boiling salted water and cook for about three minutes.
Put on a colander to glass water.
Pack tightly in a plastic bag and send to the freezer.
You can make an unusual dish out of such frozen cabbage stumps - cabbage stalks are fried.
To do this, thaw the cobs in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also defrost them by lowering the closed bag in warm water.
Then mix the egg with a small amount of milk and moisten slices of stalks in this mixture. After that, roll them in ground breadcrumbs and fry in a pan until crusted. Salt to taste. Serve with sour cream.
What is the shelf life of frozen cabbage
The shelf life of frozen cabbage is 8-10 months at -18 °. At higher temperatures, shelf life is significantly reduced.
