Saturday, July 26, 2008

how to freeze peas

Got a nice surprise at the farmers' market today - peas!

Thought I'd missed the season as I couldn't find a farm to buy peas from in quantity and then I got busy yada, yada, yada. Anyway, my favourite farmer had a huge tub of peas at the market today so I snagged a big bag full. Then came home and got to work processing them.

Here's how it works.

1. Find a comfy spot to shell the peas



2. Shell the peas.

3. Admire the shelled peas (and maybe sink your hand into the bowl just because)

3. Get a bowl of ice water ready and also a pot of boiling water and start blanching - 45secs to 1min in the boiling water and then immediately into the ice water (I keep the peas in a sieve in the ice water because I heard something about not letting the ice touch the peas, but maybe I'm making that up. I keep the peas in a sieve in the boiling water because its easier to get them in and out).



4. Lay all the peas out on trays covered in dish towels and dry them gently.



5. Lift the peas off the trays, line the trays with wax paper, and put the peas back on the trays (without the dish towels).

6. Put the trays in the freezer. The next day put the peas into yogurt containers or ziplock bags or other freezer safe container.

7. In january pull some peas out of the freezer and enjoy the summery goodness

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Those peas look really yummy. Thanks for explaining how to freeze them. I just started some pea seeds for my winter garden. I'm going to have to give freezing a try once they are ready to eat.

Rachel said...

Hi Sarah,
I just had a peek over at your blog - nice garden! I'm sure you'll have lots of peas to freeze with your garden looking so lush. :) The only difficult thing about freezing peas is not eating them all straight from the bowl before you blanch them. Fresh peas...soooo good.

Ferdzy said...

Ah... I love shelling peas. They smell so earthy and good.