How to Freeze Cauliflower
The garden is starting to wind down but that means the harvest is really stepping up. The hubby has been bringing the tomatoes in to store in boxes in the basement. I’ll have a post on them soon. Right now it’s the cauliflower that’s coming in hard and heavy. This is really good because last year we hardly had any cruciferous vegetables. I love broccoli and cauliflower and missed them in my diet. It’s nice that this year I’ll have both.
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The goats are most in favor of harvest season as they get to share in the bounty. They get the plants that are leftover after the vegetables have been harvested. At least the broccoli and cauliflower plants. They get very excited when they see me going into the garden ’cause they know they will be getting a treat. It’s good for them this time of year when their diet is mostly hay.
The other day the hubby brought me four beautiful heads of cheddar cauliflower. It’s a hybrid that he decided to try this year because it had a short growing season and would stand a colder climate. It is a beautiful deep peach color. It maintains that color after it is blanched but seems to lose it when I cook it fully. I’ll have a recipe featuring it in a couple of days.
He brings me the vegetables as they are ready for processing and then I either can them or freeze them. Cauliflower is definitely a freeze vegetable. It’s easy to do, it just takes a little time. Cauliflower needs to be blanched to stop the enzymes that keep it growing. So here are the simple steps to getting your cauliflower harvest in the freezer for the winter:
1,Trim and cut the cauliflower into the size pieces you would like.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. When the water reaches a boil drop in some of the cauliflower – you need to have it covered by the boiling water. Leave it in for about 30 seconds.
3. Remove the cauliflower to a sink, large pot or bowl filled with cold water. I change this water after two batches.
4. Package the cauliflower for the freezer. There are two of us so I put enough in for two servings. Be sure to date the package.
There you go – it’s that easy to get your harvest in the freezer to enjoy all year long. When it comes out of the freezer I cook it very simply – I put it in a baking pan with a bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I then roast it for about 30 minutes at 350°. It is really delicious this way.
