If earlier nobody had heard about broccoli, now in any market or in a supermarket you can buy cabbage, which is similar to cauliflower, but green. This is what broccoli looks like.
Broccoli is also popular because it is recommended not only for diet, but also for baby food. After all, there are many nutrients in it, such as: ascorbic acid, carotene, vitamins PP, B, choline, methionine. And there is more calcium and phosphorus in broccoli than in cauliflower.
So that in the winter there was broccoli on the menu, it is convenient to freeze it.
It freezes well, without losing any color, taste or vitamins.
Preparing broccoli for freezing
Heads of cabbage of green color with not blossomed inflorescences are suitable for freezing. The size of the heads can be both 8 and 25 cm in diameter. But they must be strong, with no obvious signs of damage by pests (most often caterpillars) or diseases.
Freshly cut heads are frozen, as broccoli will turn yellow from lying too long, and such heads are not suitable for freezing.
In broccoli, a protruding pebble is cut off, the leaves, and it is itself disassembled into inflorescences - single stumps.
If there are leaves on the inflorescences, then they are also removed. Also cut and long petioles inflorescences. Very often, the cabbage is exposed to the invasion of small caterpillars and various kinds of insects. To get rid of them, cabbage is placed in a basin and poured with cold water, to which is added 40 g of salt per liter.
After twenty minutes, the inflorescences are taken out and washed in cold running water.
Leave in a colander for draining water.
How to freeze broccoli with blanching
Prepare two pots. In one poured very cold water, preferably with ice. A second pot of water is set on fire. Add a teaspoon of citric acid to one liter of water. It is believed that citric acid will help keep the cabbage its beautiful green color.
In boiling water, broccoli florets are dipped in small portions in a colander and blanched for one or two minutes. Then immediately lower the colander into a saucepan with cold water. If very cold water flows from the tap, you can use it by substituting a colander under running water.
Instead of boiling broccoli can be blanched for a couple. For this, a colander with inflorescences is placed on a pot of boiling water, covered with a lid and steamed for about 5 minutes. Water should not reach the bottom of the colander. After that, the cabbage is cooled in cold water.
This method of preparing broccoli for freezing helps inflorescences retain color, crisp properties and beneficial substances. The main thing is not to digest the cabbage! Cabbage spread on a towel and wait until all the water drains. You can blot the flakes with a paper towel and top. Broccoli is completely cooled.
Prepare bags for freezing. These can be either special bags designed for freezing, or ordinary thick plastic bags with a zip-clasp or bags, which can then be tied with a regular knot.
Broccoli florets packaged in packages, laid out in one layer, and closed. Clean in freezer for freezing.
To inflorescence froze one to another, they can be frozen in two stages. First broccoli florets spread on a tray, covered with parchment or film, so that they do not come into contact with each other, and then removed in the freezer for pre-freezing.
As soon as the inflorescences are frozen and hardened, they are shifted into batch packs and removed again in the freezer - for final freezing.
How to freeze broccoli without blanching
Some hostesses freeze broccoli without blanching.
Prepared broccoli, after thorough washing under a stream of cold water, spread on a towel and dried well. Then it is packaged in portion packets and frozen. It is believed that broccoli without blanching becomes soft and loses color after defrosting. But housewives who freeze broccoli like that say that the color remains the same, however, the cabbage loses its elasticity and becomes soft. But if broccoli is frozen for adding to puree, then its softness will not be very noticeable. At least, it does not affect the taste. But for frying in batter such cabbage is hardly suitable because of its softness. Therefore, it is better to blanch the cabbage for this purpose.
Do I need to thaw broccoli
If the broccoli is packaged packaged in portion bags “at one time”, then it is thawed, without defrosting, boiled in boiling water and cook for 2--3 minutes. Long cooking is not recommended. While cooking soup, broccoli is dipped in broth at the very end of cooking. To prepare it in batter, without defrosting, immerse it in batter and then fry in a pan in oil until golden brown.
Broccoli can not be re-frozen, so it is frozen in such portions that they can be used to prepare one dish.
Frozen broccoli is stored in the freezer for 8-10 months.
