Freezing Changes Things (in more ways that one.)
I think I’ve written about this before, or maybe mentioned in some of my earlier podcasts or videos. When you freeze food you’re changing the cellular structure of the food item.
Generally, most things taste just as good after they’ve been frozen. Depending on the item, it can degrade a little. It will affect the texture because as each cell freezes it expands and it could pop the cell. It also creates ice crystals, so when you thaw the item out, it may be a little watery. This sounds worse than it is.
You’ve got to think about what you’re freezing. Freezing noodles in a sauce like a lasagna, baked ziti, or a lot of casseroles, can be frozen easily. The loss of texture of the noodle is not noticeable when it’s frozen in a sauce, neither is any additional liquid.
I don’t like some things after it’s been frozen. You’ll have to experiment with it, of course, but I don’t like freezing potatoes. I don’t like the texture; it becomes mealy and mushy.
When I make a stew, (mind you, I’m making double), when I have the meat, and the carrots, and the onions, and the beautiful sauce ready for the potatoes, I take half and freeze it before adding the potatoes. When I am cooking the second batch I heat and then add the potatoes to cook.
Now, I make another recipe with mashed potatoes. I make my mashed potatoes the day before. I don’t add milk. I add a little bit of cream cheese, a little bit of sour cream. Not enough to turn it into something else, but just enough to enhance the flavor a little. And then I add butter, salt, and pepper.
With any extra, I will usually make a little dish and freeze it. Now, what’s going to happen when I thaw it out? When I thaw it out, there will actually be almost always a little bit of water on the top to remove. Then I bake them. Since they’re supposed to be creamy, it’s not bad. It tastes good and nobody can tell the difference in my house. I don’t tell them.
Once again, we go back to knowing your food. Start experimenting with freezing extras.
Look at things that you’re making for dinner, can you double it up?
Let me tell you what I started doing. (I always wanted to make a business out of this, so do not copy me. I mean, as far as the business idea.)
Onions, my husband won’t eat any raw onions, but if you sauté an onion up, and you make it all beautiful brown and caramelized, he will eat that!
Problem is onions take time. To actually make French Onion soup for example, you slice up like five onions, and you have to cook them down. It cooks and cooks until all five onions become literally a handful of beautiful golden onions. And it takes an hour and 15 minutes. And you have to tend it, so you’re standing there the whole time. I’m tired just thinking about it.
So, If I’m going to go through the trouble of sautéing an onion up, I usually put extra in. And then because it’s sautéed in an oil, oil never freezes solid. (I’m going to show you this on a video someday). You put the cooked onion in a Ziploc bag, and freeze it! And next time you’re going to start a gravy, I take it out and slice me off some onions. I literally can cut a knife through it, because it’s always semi-frozen because it’s in oil. I have what I need without waiting for it to cook down.
I know, ingenious!
I do that with bell peppers too. I buy a big bag of orange, yellow, or red bell pepper. I cook an onion with it, and then I have it later for fajitas. I can throw these already cooked peppers in with chicken tortilla soup. Anything that I want to make it pretty and add a little color.
I cannot reiterate enough how it will change your life if you embrace the freezer and its endless possibilities.