Freezer overload!

Spudsey

Hi
I have a large chest freezer plus a normal sized one and both are chucka! We have an allotment so I have lots of frozen produce. I have been useless and not used anything up over the winter and now the allotment has started producing again I don't know how I am going to clear it down.
I have the following goodies, blackcurrants, redcurrants, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, endless bags of rhubarb, broad beans (big b*ggers), green beans, courgette........we (me) am trying not to eat much meat so have veggie meals quite a bit but I'm not sure whether I can always use frozen veg in place of fresh veg in some recipes ie broad bean hummous for example.
Help much appreciated!!!!!

daska

Generally you can judge whether things might work by the texture. e.g. frozen spinach obviously wouldn't work in a salad but would work in a soup/lasagne. So I would think frozen broad beans would work for hummus, the only thing I find with them is that the skins on frozen ones can get a bit tough, but if you're sticking them in a food processor that wouldn't be a problem.

You could make cordial from some of your berries to free up some space. And how about a dehydrator, kids love fruit leather and once dried your veggies can be stored in airtight jars or even ground up to make stock powder etc.

FairyPrincessk

You might also try smoothies with some of your berries, and although it might take freezer space you can make ice lollies out of leftover smothie that might appeal to some more than just the fruit.

You could also look into baking with some of it, such as courgette bread (its actually delicious).

If you menu plan it might help to keep a list near by when you're writing up your menu/making your shopping list. I'm trying to use up the things in our freezer/storecupboard before we move and this does help!

krlyr

If you've got a good stash of your own, perhaps try to sell the excess, or some old fashioned trading with friends, family, colleagues, etc. - bag of broad beans swapped for a bag of pasta that you can store in your cupboards instead?

joedenise

Frozen fruit is also good for jam making. Just use about 10% extra fruit to take account of the water in them.

When I use frozen fruit I measure it in Kg and the sugar in lbs, so 1 Kg fruit to 2lb of sugar rather than the usual equal quantities. Hope that makes sense.

Denise

Rebelle

Oooh Spudsey I could make use of a freezer full of berries!! Smoothies, jam and cakes are all good ideas - if you're going to/hosting any gatherings over the Jubilee weekend & need to take something along, some HM fruit muffins might go down well?

Or reduce some of the berries down to make a sauce (coulis if you're posh! ) then mix that with broken meringue & whipped cream or yoghurt to make Eton Mess - lovely summer dessert, you could mix some of the whole fruit in too if you wanted to make it extra delicious!

Rhubarb crumble or rhubarb & custard make nice desserts too, but perhaps not in this weather!

Do you do homebrewing at all? Don't know much about it myself but there's loads of info on here or if you Google... I do know you can use most fruits to make gorgeous wine much cheaper than shop bought, so has to be worth a go, if that's your kind of thing!

Redcurrants - use to make your own redcurrant jelly or add them to nut roast, I put dried cranberries in mine but imagine frozen redcurrants would work just as well.

Courgettes - have you ever tried courgette fritters? A family friend used to make these, thinly sliced courgette coated in batter and then shallow fried, she used to serve them with ketchup as starter/nibbles type dish, they're surprisingly nice! (Am not a big fan of courgette!)

A good site if you get stuck on what to do with any ingredient is www.supercook.com, just type in what you have & it brings up loads of recipes, great if you want some inspiration!

Hope that helps, good luck using up your stash! :beer:

hermum

Your berries still frozen whizzed up with yogurt would make a lovely ice cream style dessert.

valk_scot

Frozen fruit is great for jams! If you can't use it all contact your local church or WI group, they'll undoubtably have a whizz jam making person who can turn your fruit into fund raising produce.

I've got an allotment too and it is sometimes difficult to deal with gluts, especially of some ingredients! Big broad beans are fine in casseroles, green beans are just cook as normal. Frozen courgettes are a total waste of good freezer space tbh, either eat them at the time of harvest or give them to the neighbours. You can put any home frozen veg in any recipe though as long as texture isn't important...broad bean hummus would be fine because it's just mushy anyway.

Spudsey

Rebelle wrote: »

Oooh Spudsey I could make use of a freezer full of berries!! Smoothies, jam and cakes are all good ideas - if you're going to/hosting any gatherings over the Jubilee weekend & need to take something along, some HM fruit muffins might go down well?

Or reduce some of the berries down to make a sauce (coulis if you're posh! ) then mix that with broken meringue & whipped cream or yoghurt to make Eton Mess - lovely summer dessert, you could mix some of the whole fruit in too if you wanted to make it extra delicious!

Rhubarb crumble or rhubarb & custard make nice desserts too, but perhaps not in this weather!

Do you do homebrewing at all? Don't know much about it myself but there's loads of info on here or if you Google... I do know you can use most fruits to make gorgeous wine much cheaper than shop bought, so has to be worth a go, if that's your kind of thing!

Redcurrants - use to make your own redcurrant jelly or add them to nut roast, I put dried cranberries in mine but imagine frozen redcurrants would work just as well.

Courgettes - have you ever tried courgette fritters? A family friend used to make these, thinly sliced courgette coated in batter and then shallow fried, she used to serve them with ketchup as starter/nibbles type dish, they're surprisingly nice! (Am not a big fan of courgette!)

A good site if you get stuck on what to do with any ingredient is , just type in what you have & it brings up loads of recipes, great if you want some inspiration!

Hope that helps, good luck using up your stash! :beer:

:o:o I really shouldn't be moaning I know! Because our chest freezer is in the garage I have tended to forget about it even though I have to go in there daily to get my rabbit stuff out! Thanks for the ideas and the link to the supercook website. I haven't done anything yet but I will have to soon before I start re freezing things!

PennyGSD

Mmmm. The contents of your freezer are making me drool (apart from the rhubarb).

I too have an allotment and a crammed freezer at the end of the season. It's looking a bit forlorn and empty now though.

I second the suggestion of courgette fritters - I make some with feta cheese, a bit of flour, egg and yummy Italian seasoning so they're more of a stodgy texture.

Frozen courgette is lovely for soup too. Take advantage of the unseasonal weather to enjoy some hot soup lunches. Add a bit of potato for texture, onion for flavour and some chilli flakes for zing and it's far nicer than it sounds.

As to the fruit, have you tried cold porridge, yogurt and fruit? I add a dollop of 0% Greek yogurt, a splash of soya milk and some frozen berries to dry porridge oats in the evening then stick it in the fridge overnight to soak. Absolutely delicious as an instant breakfast, and really filling too.

PipneyJane

Another use or two for frozen courgettes:

• Courgette cake - Nigella Lawson has a great recipe in her Domestic Goddess cookbook. Best if you grated the courgettes before freezing.
• I grated and froze several jumbo courgettes last year in large-ish lumps, then added a lump or 2 to mince based meals as padding. Gives you a thick tasty sauce.