Query about cooking and freezing food

[carlyb]

I have an excess of carrots and potatos at the moment. Is it ok to cook them, freeze them and then reheat as we need them?

Also - do you keep you veggies in the fridge?
thanks guys

In addition I have some peppers and onions, can these be frozen?

Think you just have to blanch them rather than cook them through and they retain vitamins and such better.

what is blanching? (I am showing myself up for the bad cook that I am!!) thanks

Think it is putting in boiling water and then just bringing back to the boil and taking straight out - can;t quite remember but wicked stepmother made me doo loads of shitty veg she got from her allotment when I was a kid - took ages and burnt myeslf lots so have probably blocked out the actualy process!!

Good luck hopefully a domestic godess will answer your question better than I!!

thanks Twinkie.

Just found a cookbook with a glossary in it...
It says "Blanch - to plunge food, usually vegetables, into boiling water briefly to enable you to remove skins, as in tomatoes..." and proceeds to describe how to blanch tomatoes. It says to only leave them in for 10-15 seconds. I'm far from a Domestic Goddess so I don't know if it would be the same for other vegies, but anyway it sounds like Twinkie's right to me

blanch is part cooking as you would for roaster cook for half the time that you useualy would then put them straight into the freezer is best

Another silly question! Once I have blanched my veggies and frozen them - how do I use them? Defrost? if so how? the how do I cook them? thanks

bump - help me with my dire cooking!

Just cook them as you normally would. eg all frozen veg has been blanched (except poss peas. Carrots often go mushy - so I mash them.
You can freeze Potatoe mash and heat up in M/W with extra butter.
I've got a 70's cooking for your freezer cookbook from M&S - it's great.
Cauli and broccoli freeze well - but for Peppers I slice blanche and freeze on trays (so they don't stick together) - you do strawberries & raspberries that way -
Good Luck