Selasa, 15 September 2015

Make Mirepoix and Freeze It for Easy Cooking Later

Quart bags of mirepoix in the freezer by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

I got this brilliant idea from my friend, Peter over at Cookblog. His instagram pic came at the perfect time -- we'd just harvested the rest of our Nantes carrots, our onions were curing in the screened porch and I had a gorgeous bunch of celery in the crisper from our friends' CSA.

Nantes carrots from the garden by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

In case you're not familiar with this fancy-sounding, French word - mirepoix refers to the humble but essential mix of chopped celery, onion and carrot that forms the base of many soups, stocks, stews and sauces.

Carrots, onions and celery - the ingredients for mirepoix by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

Needless to say, having your mirepoix all ready to go will speed up the process of making said soups, stocks, stews and sauces by a good bit. SUCH. A. GREAT. IDEA!

Onions, garlic and carrots form the base of this goat ragu with figs and rosemary by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating, copyright 2014

I started cleaning, peeling and chopping right away. Our homegrown onions are delightful - so firm, so crisp, so sweet! The only downside is that they pack one heck of a punch and I was crying buckets until I decided to try breathing through my mouth -- which actually worked! Unfortunately, I found it surprisingly hard to remember to breathe only through my mouth, so my tear-free periods were punctuated by rivers of saline whenever I'd forget.

Dicing celery by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2012

In spite of my tears, in not too long I had a big bowl of mirepoix. If you're not planning to use it right away, you may want to blanch the veggies very briefly, then drain them thoroughly before bagging and freezing them. I admit that I did not bother with that step as I predict that I will be going through my haul rather quickly.

A big bowl of mirepoix, ready to be bagged for the freezer by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

I took out my biggest serving spoon and ladled the mirepoix into six quart-sized freezer bags, sucked the air out with a straw (which is ridiculously satisfying - you gotta try it), labeled them and began the Herculean task of trying to find space for them in the freezer(s). I managed to fit most of them in the chest freezer and squeezed the rest into the regular freezer.

I know I'll be thanking the summer me when the winter me wants to make soup or stew in a few months.

Quart bags of mirepoix in the freezer by Eve Fox, the Garden of Eating, copyright 2015

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