First Time!

I mentioned I was going to be freezing some corn and would show you how to do that.  Well- I've changed my mind.  I'm doin' green beans, instead.  I've never frozen green beans and really, my only experience with preserving them was at my aunt's house when I was a small girl.  I've blocked it out since it involved a bad dream and some snakes and green beans.  You put it together.

Anyway, I love green beans.  As I was at my local farmers market last week I noticed they were still available.  Being so late in the season, that's a little unusual, however, everything about where I live has been unusual with the growing season this year.  So I stopped by one of the Tagge stands last night and bought a basket full of beans to try out.  Here's what you do:

Step one:
Snip off the ends of your beans and cut them to the length desired.  Rinse in cold water to remove any dirt, etc that might be on them. 

Step two:
Place them into a pot of boiling water in order to blanch them.  For every quart of water, add 1 tablespoon salt. This will help preserve color and texture.  Blanching kills the bacteria and removes any gases that might be produced otherwise.  The water MUST be boiling.  Leave in boiling water for 3 minutes.

I happen to have an insert for my large cooking pot.  If you don't have an insert, then place the beans directly in the boiling water and you remove them with a slotted spoon.
Step three:
Remove beans from boiling water and IMMEDIATELY place into ice cold water.  I just filled my sink with cold water and added ice.  This process stops the cooking and cools the vegetables immediately. 

Step four:  Allow beans to stay in the water for as long as you blanched them for- so three minutes.  Remove them from water and place on towels to gently pat dry.

Step five:
Place beans into freezer safe ziplocs.  Get as much air out as possible.  Lay flat in freezer and you're done!  It really was that easy.  I only did three quart size bags.  I'm not sure what to expect from them so if they're a success, then I'll do more next year!

P.S.  I did corn yesterday.  2 1/2 dozen, blanched and frozen.  Ended up with 14 quart size bags. :)  YUMMY!