Preserving The Harvest - Freezing Eggplant Parmesan

One day of harvest this season yielded us 12 Icheban Eggplants. These are Japanese Eggplants that grow longer and skinnier than the large Black Beauty Eggplants. I have some Black Beauty in the garden but they are slower to produce than these Icheban. I have found no difference in the flavor of these two types of eggplant, only a difference in the way I need to slice them in order to cook them properly.

With this many eggplants coming ripe at once, I prefer to prepare what some people call, "make ahead meals" or "freezer meals" for future use. Eggplant Parmesan is one of our favorites. We eat this dish on pizza night and also on the nights we have spaghetti served up with a side salad.

Preparation isn't anymore time consuming than making say, fried squash but by growing them and making them ahead, I am saving the cost of purchasing eggplant from my local grocer.

Following are the instructions for preparing Eggplant Parmesan for the freezer, my way:

These are the dozen or so eggplants I harvested from the garden. I probably should have washed them prior to taking the picture but I just wasn't thinking ahead.



Wash the eggplants then cut off the ends, peel and slice them. If I am processing Icheban Eggplants I cut the in half, then I slice them lengthwise for elongated slices. If I am processing the larger, rounder Black Beauty Eggplants, I slice them the other way for round slices.



I prepare my frying pan with olive oil and set it on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, then I begin cooking the slices. First I roll them in beaten eggs.



Then I roll them in bread crumbs blended with Parmesan cheese. This can be you favorite type of bread crumbs, seasoned or not.



Fry these in hot oil until crispy and brown on both sides. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.



Once all of the slices have been fried and cooled completely, I begin the layering process. For storing away in the freezer I use the 8" x 8" x 1 1/2" aluminum pans that come with plastic lids which snap on. Here is a picture of the two pieces:



Using my favorite spaghetti sauce as the first layer, I smooth a few tablespoons around in the bottom of the pan. This is mainly to prevent the eggplant from sticking to the pan during the baking process later on.



The next layer is the fried eggplant.



Then I spread another layer of the spaghetti sauce on top of the slices.



Then I top the spaghetti sauce with shredded Mozzarella Cheese.



Then a layer of eggplant slices and continue repeating this process, ending with the cheese on top. In my case, I was able to get 2 layers of eggplant in my container.



Snap the lid on top and place in the freezer.



When I am planning this dish for one of my meals, I remove it from the freezer, thaw completely then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until hot all the way through.

I hope some of you find this to be helpful this season.

Preserving The Harvest - Freezing Zucchini Squash

I recently posted instructions for freezing yellow summer squash. While the instructions are the same for both vegetables, I am posting them separately because the size to harvest is different.

You will need the following items:

Knife & Cutting Board
1 large empty Bowl
1 large Pot of water
1 Colander
1 large Bowl of very cold water
Large Cookie Sheet lined with Paper Towels
Freezer bags in the size of your choice (I use quarts for squash)
Marker for recording the date on the bag

I harvest Zucchini Squash at between 8 and 10 inches long but no bigger around than my fist.

The first thing I do is wash the zucchini in cold water, removing any dead blossoms which are still clinging to the blossom end and scrubbing lightly to remove any stubborn dirt particles.



I cut the ends off, cutting at least 3/8" of the blossom end off because this is where the enzymes are stored which begin the rotting process of the zucchini. Then I cut the entire zucchini into 1/4" to 1/2" slices, placing them into the empty bowl. I believe this is a personal preference as to how thick or thin you'd like your squash to be. Also, if you plan to fry it you may want it a bit thinner than if you plan to stew it or cook it in a casserole. This is your call.




I bring the water to a boil as I slice the last few zucchini. Once it is boiling I place part of the zucchini slices into the water and blanch (boil) them for 1 minute. This kills any remaining enzymes which may be working to rot the vegetable and kills any other germs which may be hanging around. This is the best way to prepare some vegetables for long term storage in the freezer.



After the 1 minute blanching period I use my colander to remove the zucchini from the boiling water, shake them a bit and drain the excess hot water off for only a few second.



Then I immediately plunge them into the bowl of very cold water (or ice water) to shock the vegetable and stop the cooking process immediately.



Once I am satisfied the vegetable slices have cooled to my desire, I remove them with the colander, draining them again and spread them out on the paper lined cookie sheet to drain further and to cool down completely.



I repeat this process in portions until all of the sliced zucchini squash has been blanched, cooled and drained. You may find it necessary to add ice to the shocking water in order to keep it cool, depending on how many batches you have to blanch.

The final step is to pack the squash for the freezer. I use quart size freezer bags, marking on the front what the bag contains and the year that I prepared it. I don't necessarily pack the bag full, I simply estimate how much my family needs for one meal and pack accordingly. Zucchini Yellow Summer Squash should keep in the freezer for up to one year.


I hope some of you found this to be helpful in one way or another.

Have a blessed day!

Preserving The Harvest - Freezing Yellow Summer Squash

Last year, I did a post similar to this with instructions for freezing yellow crook neck or straight neck squash, only without pictures. This year I am posting new instructions on how to freeze summer squash with a few pictures as well.

You will need the following items:

Knife & Cutting Board
1 large empty Bowl
1 large Pot of water
1 Colander
1 large Bowl of very cold water
Large Cookie Sheet lined with Paper Towels
Freezer bags in the size of your choice (I use quarts for squash)
Marker for recording the date on the bag


Below is today's harvest of Yellow Crookneck Squash from our garden in the back. I harvested 9 squash which averaged about 6" long.



I rarely allow yellow squash to grow any larger than 6" because I prefer them young and tender. Zucchini Squash is handled differently, which I will address in another post in a couple of days or so.



The first thing I do is wash the squash in cold water, removing any dead blossoms which are still clinging to the blossom end and scrubbing lightly to remove any stubborn dirt particles.



I cut the ends off, cutting at least 3/8" of the blossom end off because this is where the enzymes are stored which begin the rotting process of the squash. Then I cut the entire squash into 1/4" to 1/2" slices, placing them into the empty bowl. I believe this is a personal preference as to how thick or thin you'd like your squash to be. Also, if you plan to fry it you may want it a bit thinner than if you plan to stew it or cook it in a casserole. This is your call.



I bring the water to a boil as I slice the last few squash. Once it is boiling I place part of the squash slices into the water and blanch (boil) them for 1 minute. This kills any remaining enzymes which may be working to rot the vegetable and kills any other germs which may be hanging around. This is the best way to prepare some vegetables for long term storage in the freezer.



After the 1 minute blanching period I use my colander to remove the squash from the boiling water, shake them a bit and drain the excess hot water off for only a few second.



Then I immediately plunge them into the bowl of very cold water (or ice water) to shock the vegetable and stop the cooking process immediately.



Once I am satisfied the vegetable slices have cooled to my desire, I remove them with the colander, draining them again and spread them out on the paper lined cookie sheet to drain further and to cool down completely.



I repeat this process in portions until all of the sliced squash has been blanched, cooled and drained. You may find it necessary to add ice to the shocking water in order to keep it cool, depending on how many batches you have to blanch.

The final step is to pack the squash for the freezer. I use quart size freezer bags, marking on the front what the bag contains and the year that I prepared it. I don't necessarily pack the bag full, I simply estimate how much my family needs for one meal and pack accordingly. Preparing 15 squash I yielded 5 packages this morning. Yellow Summer Squash should keep in the freezer for up to one year.



By Summer's end I will have frozen up at least 40 quarts of Yellow Summer Squash, Pickled several pints and given away even more to friends and family.

I hope some of you found this to be helpful in one way or another.

Have a blessed day!

Update

I've been so busy lately I'm not finding much time for blogging. You've all been so understanding over the past year with everything that I'm sure this short lapse in my writing is nothing major.

We're going to have a new well drilled.

Do you know how good it feels to be able to say that? We have spent over 2 years living with a hand dug well. The well we currently have is one that allows us to get things done at home but only at a bear minimum. We have been forced to schedule laundry loads around other jobs that required water.

Recently we had some major problems with the well. . . the pump reached bottom. It pulled sediment into the holding tank that feeds water into our home. Mike worked on it all, bought new parts even a new holding tank only to have this same thing happen again within less than a week. The new tank now has sediment in it too. We gave up on the old well and came to the decision we must have a new well drilled before Summer's end.

We also decided that if we're drilling a new well we need to go ahead and rebuild the inside of the bathroom, replace things in there and just start anew.

Mike worked so hard to gain the extra money for us to go and purchase the new Tub, Surround, Commode, Wood for the floors, Pipes and Sheetrock. The sink we have in there is a new one we just got so it will go back in.

Today, he took the sink out, took the cabinets off the walls, chipped off all the 1970's glass tiles, ripped down the plaster, old sheet rock that was behind it and got it ready for a major overhaul.

While he did that I busied myself reorganizing my laundry room. I went through my quilts and throw pillows and made a few more bags of items for Goodwill. I organized some of my sewing things and pulled the smaller freezer outside for a good preharvest cleaning.

Speaking of harvest - here are the most recent pictures of the gardens:


The front garden (side view) contains corn, green beans, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.



The front garden (front view)



Green Beans



Back Garden contains 17 crookneck and zucchini squash, 17 slicing and pickling cucumbers, yukon gold potatoes, more tomatoes, okra, spinach, dill, carrots, onions, and more peppers.



Back Garden



Back Garden



Lovely visitor to the gardens


I'll try to get back here in the next day or so for another update. I hope you're all enjoying the warm weather we've been blessed with lately.
See ya soon!

Visitors - Country Style

Each day when I wake up I pass across the hallway from my bedroom toward the living room. I always stop at the front door and take a quick peek outside just to check for any changes which may have occurred overnight. Most mornings, things are as they were the night before when I turned off the porch light and went to bed.

Some mornings though I am surprised to see some of these changes. There have been mornings when I'd wake up to find evidence that our nutty neighbor had crept into the yard while we were sleeping. One time she put a ziploc baggie in my mailbox with a handwritten note in it. It described how she had professionals come to her home while we were sleeping and install cameras that she claimed scoped my entire front yard, recording everything my family would do during our leisure time outside. Another morning I woke up to find that she had nailed a sign to a tree in my front yard, "Beware of the Dog". Of course we took this "lady" to court and won a 1 year restraining order with an added requirement that she go to a specific facility for psychotherapy for the next year as well.

Other mornings things on the lighter side are found in my yard such as an old shoe owned by a neighbor down the road where my dog visits his Collie friend.

We find fast food bags the dogs have so kindly removed from the road as passersby carelessly litter the highway.

The first week of April I woke up to find this guy in my yard:



He appeared to be part red tick, part beagle. Although I'm not 100% sure. Over the next week or two I medicated this dog, fed this dog and loved this dog. The nutty neighbor however, saw that something new and joyful had entered our lives and called her friend up the road.

This was the friend who gave her money for her own medication, gave her food and offered to love her as I did this independent (some call them strays) dog. The nutty neighbor threatened to have this dog picked up by animal control and put to sleep. Her friend being a dog lover and owner of multiple little dogs got angry at her, called me and between the two of us, we found a very loving home for this guy. Needless to say, the nutty neighbor lost the one friend she had left who helped her through hard times.


The most recent find was these:



All total 6 have shown up in our yard this year. My Border Collie finds them in the fields and brings them home. Not all have survived the ordeal but the last one was a bit larger and no longer nursing age so we immediately got in the truck and drove 1/2 mile up the road to this beautiful cemetery to release him where hopefully my Border Collie won't find him again.

We really do enjoy all the little animals that visit us whether by their own choice or not. Country life has offered us many visits from independent dogs, cats, baby groundhogs as well as these little bunnies. We always offer them food, water, medication and love and we miss them so much when they choose to continue their journey down the road.