Kresent!

How To Freeze Kale

Kale is a nutrient-rich, green leafy winter vegetable. It contains a wide range of nutrients, including fibres, calcium, vitamins C and K, iron, and many antioxidants. These help to prevent various health problems. 

Frozen Kale can be used as ingredients to multiple dishes, and there are many ways to freeze Kale. Previously Kale was preserved with salt and left to ferment when freezing Kale was not an option. The flavours and nutritional content can vary between types. Younger leaves and summer leaves tend to be less bitter and fibrous. 

Kale Benefits:

Kale is beneficial for health. It contains substances like glucosinolates which help in the prevention of cancer. Compounds like bile acid sequestrants lower blood cholesterol levels and the various vitamins are healthy for the heart.

Kale also helps in diabetes treatment and promotes digestion, vision, and immunity. It is known antioxidants benefit and anti-inflammatory properties. It is beneficial for skin and hair. Check out more kale benefits.

Steps For Freezing Kale

There are different types of Kale of which Curly Kale the most common variety. It has a typical flavour of pepper. Lacinato kale also called the Tuscan Kale or Tuscan cabbage, or Dinosaur kale has dark green and narrow leaves. Redbor kale has ruffled leaves ranges from deep red to purple. Russian Kale has flat and fringed leaves and is rare. It is also known as Siberian Kale.

First Way: Without Blanching

Usually, Kale is frozen after blanching. You can freeze Kale even without blanching, but it will add a bitter flavour. Unblanched kale leaves can be used in stews and soups. Make sure you don’t keep it for a long time and use this frozen Kale within one to two months. You must freeze Kale following the various steps given below. This process does not require plucking of the leaves or separating them from the stems. Here you can preserve big chunks of kale.

1. For the Kale to last to 8-12 months as frozen, you should first blanch the leaves and stems.
2. You must blanch the leaves for 2.5 minutes and cover the pot of boiling water with a lid to stem-heat floating leaves.
3. Follow the same process for blanching the stems but continue doing this for 3 minutes.
4. You might not follow this step of boiling at your wish. But you must wash the kale leaves and stems properly before jumping on to the next step.
5. Put these leaves and stems in ice water for a while.
6. Take these leaves out from the ice water using a strainer.
7. Use a towel or a dry cloth to dry these. The process of drying is vital.
8. Roll the towel up that contains these leaves and squeeze out the excess water.
9. You can put a small quantity of this dried-up Kale in cookie sheets.
10. Freeze them.
11. After this, put this frozen Kale in bulk and put it in a freezer bag.
12. Make sure you remove the air before sealing the freezer bag.
13. Flatten bags before sealing to create kale portions for quick thawing.
14. Freeze the Kale and use it in your recipes later.

Second Way: Separating Leaves 

There is an alternative way to freezing Kale. You have to separate the leaves from the stem here. For this process of freezing kale, you’ll require many tools and must follow various steps.

Materials Required:

1. A bunch of fresh Kale of curly variety
2. Ice 
3. Water

Tools Required:

1. A cutting board
2. A large knife, which is typically used by chefs
3. Saucepan with a lid
4. Colander, to strain out the water
5. A large mixing bowl
6. Towels
7. Tongs
8. Greased muffin tin or cookie sheets (must fit inside the freezer)
9. Freezer bags 

Method:

1. Remove the kale leaves from the stem. Use your fingers to pinch the stem firmly at the base of the leaves. Quickly detach the leaves from the stem hereafter. Thus, the leaves will be separated.
2. Chop the kale into small pieces using a chef’s knife. You can also remove the thick stem part.
3. Use a colander to rinse the kale leaves thoroughly. Make sure it is dirt-free after removing the excess water.
4. Place your rinsed Kale in a saucepan on the stove. Put an adequate quantity of water to fill the bottom of the pan. Then submerge the Kale about half inches. Turn on the burner after placing the lid of the saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Steam your kale until it’s tender for about two to three minutes. Make sure they are not entirely soft, or else it will wilt.
5. In the meantime, take ice water in a large bowl with equal proportions of ice and water. You will need a sufficient amount of ice because it will melt when you add the hot Kale in it. You’ll need that right after the Kale is cooked in the saucepan.
6. Take out this Kale from saucepan when it is still bright green and tender. Drain out the excess water in the colander as you did previously.
7. Quickly place your Kale in the ice water. This will halt the process of cooking and will retain the properties and nutrients of the Kale. About the next two minutes in the ice water leave the kale leaves, until they are cold enough when you touch. 
8. Take a pair of tongs to place these cooked kale leaves in a dry towel. This will help them dry out completely. You can remove the excess water using a salad spinner. Make sure these leaves are thoroughly dried before the process of freezing.
9. Grease or spray a muffin tin and then divide the kale leaves into twelve or suitable portions, once these are dried. Gently press each of these portions into compartments of the muffin tin. You can also use cookie sheets in place of a muffin tin for your convenience.
10. After this, put the entire amount of Kale in the freezer and freeze for about two to three hours. By this time, the Kale will become firm.
11. To keep these kale leaves, you will need airtight containers or freezer bags. Once your Kale is entirely frozen, put this in the freezer bags or boxes to preserve well. Get as much as air out of the container or the freezer bag before you store.
12. You can use this Kale for six months once appropriately preserved.

Conclusion

Kale has various properties that are beneficial for health, skin, and hair. You can add kale to your everyday diet plan, make smoothies and shakes out of kale. You can put kale in salads and soups and also use kale as pizza toppings or in your roasted chicken recipes.

Frozen kale can be used for a long time if you can adequately maintain the process of freezing kale. Always make sure the container in which you are preserving this kale must be airtight and nicely sealed. You can blanch the kale leaves if you have enough time or according to your convenience.

How To Freeze Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a vegetable often grown and consumed in the winter. The vegetable has a red-colored stalk and is sour in taste. Residents of European countries consume rhubarb with added sweeteners. Rhubarb has medicinal properties, thus, used as a medicine.    

Rhubarb requires a cold environment to grow. Usually grown in mountainous regions. North America and Northern Europe have recognized rhubarb as a garden plant. Consumption of rhubarb is possible after proper cooking with sweeteners because it has a citric taste.    

Rhubarb is merrily cooked as traditional desserts, pies, soup, jams, sauces, tarts, crumbles, cocktails, and rhubarb wine. North Americans sometimes call Rhubarb a Pie Plant because of its history. It is called so because of its traditional nature of being made into pie. This blog discusses how delicious rhubarb can be stored for a more extended period.

Methods To Freeze Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a liked vegetable in the American and European regions. Because of its unavailability in every season, rhubarb is often preserved by freezing. This helps in using the vegetable for various purposes during all times. There are certainly effective ways to freeze the rhubarb correctly. 

1. Raw Rhubarb

Firm and crisp rhubarb stalks must be used to freeze it raw. The process through which raw rhubarb can be frozen are:

• Gently remove the rhubarb leaves and cut the stalks into even medium-sized pieces. 
• Place the rhubarb stalks in a tray and open freeze them. Please make sure all the stalks are similar in size so that it freezes evenly.
• Tip the frozen stalks into an airtight container or plastic bag. This method of freezing can be used to store the rhubarb for three months.

2. Blanched Rhubarb

The rhubarb can also be preserved by blanching it. This is an easy method to preserve uncooked rhubarb. The process to freeze it is as follows:

• Cut the rhubarb into equally small pieces.
• Blanch the rhubarb stalks in boiling water for around 1 minute.
• Transfer the rhubarb pieces into cold water(water with ice cubes) to cease the effect of boiling water.
• Immediately drain the cool water and allow the rhubarb pieces to dry.

• In order to use the rhubarb all at once, tip the pieces into an airtight plastic container and directly freeze it. This will make the rhubarb pieces to stick together.
• In order to use the rhubarb pieces independently for different purposes, align the pieces into a lined tray/baking sheet, and open freeze it for two hours.

3. Cooked Rhubarb

The simplest method to freeze rhubarb is by cooking it first. The process enables one to use the rhubarb for different motives. The process through which one can cook rhubarb before freezing is as follows.

• Tip the evenly cut rhubarb pieces into a pan and add some liquid. The liquid can be any fruit juice or simply water.
• As rhubarb is sour in taste, add ¼ of sugar or any sweetening agent as you please. This is necessary for eliminating the citric taste of rhubarb.
• Simmer the ingredients with the rhubarb stalks until it’s tender. 
• Turn off the flame/stove, and allow it to cool.
• Once cooled, tip the cooked stalks in an airtight container or plastic bags to store them in the freezer.

4. Roasted Rhubarb

Another simple way to freeze rhubarb is to roast them. This is another simple way to keep the rhubarb fresh and edible after days effectively. The simple process of roasting rhubarb before freezing is:

• Cut the rhubarb into finger-sized pieces and mix sugar or any desired sweetener to eliminate its citric taste.
• Heat the oven at 180 degrees fan and place the rhubarb in the oven. Do not forget to cover the rhubarb with aluminum foil.
• After 15 mins remove the foil and roast for another 5 minutes.
• Following this, store the rhubarb in an airtight container and freeze it.

How To Defrost Rhubarb?

Frozen rhubarb is as easy to defrost as it was to freeze. Just leave the desired amount of rhubarbs at room temperature for several hours. The rhubarbs will defrost themselves. To avoid uneven breaking off pieces, gently separate the defrosted rhubarbs. 

Uses Of Frozen Rhubarb

Frozen rhubarb can be used similarly to fresh rhubarb. Defrosting makes the rhubarb look like freshly cut rhubarbs. The various methods a rhubarb stalk can be used are:

• Rhubarb dessert- defrosted rhubarbs are excellent for a soft layer in desserts. The sweet citric taste makes the dessert super delicious. Frozen Rhubarbs that are roasted are perfect for dessert layers.
• Crumbles- raw or blanched rhubarb is excellent for the purpose of making a crumble. 
• Rhubarb Jam- Cooked defrosted rhubarbs are a perfect fit for rhubarb jam. The delicious nature of rhubarb makes a good jam.
• Rhubarb Pie- Pies are an absolute favorite dish when it comes to desserts. A delicious vegetable like rhubarb is traditionally known for being made into pies. So, one of the important dishes that can be made by defrosted rhubarb is a pie.
• Rhubarb soup- Rhubarb is known to have medicinal qualities. A rhubarb soup is a healthy option on any given day. Not only medicinal properties, but the delicious taste of rhubarb also contributes to a healthy and tasty soup.
• Sauce- rhubarb and other vegetables and herbs can be converted into a sauce that can act as a seasoning for meat.
• Tart- A tart that contains delicious rhubarb can be the highlight of a dinner party. Just mix some of the rhubarb with the custard filling and place a layer of the garnish’s stems. 
• Cocktail- A rhubarb cocktail might be a new drink to try. The rhubarbs can be tossed with gin or vodka to create a pink drink that is delicious in its way.
• Cakes and muffins- as a tasty vegetable, rhubarb is often used for making cakes and muffins. 

Conclusion

Here are the various methods of freezing the delicious pink vegetable, rhubarb. We have also listed the use of rhubarbs in general and after freezing them. Rhubarb has infinite more ways to amaze our taste buds. All you need is some experimentation. With the methods of preserving the rhubarbs for a longer time, you can keep creating new dishes any time you want. 

Sun Tea Recipe For A Newbie

Tea is a necessity. Period. But who does not know about how costly cooking gas is today. In that aspect, sun tea is a better alternative. Simply put, sun tea uses sun instead of gas. This unusual but exciting type of tea is getting famous day by day.

Many of you are wondering what this tea is. Well, tea leaves to release flavour in contact with liquid. The procedure uses this principle for making a cup of tea. In this guidepost, we will talk about this unique type of tea and ways of making it.

Knowing your sun tea in details

While someone is talking about making tea in particular, different people have different ways. Most of the time tea is something you make with hot boiling water. Then some add sugar or lemon or honey etc. etc. It is totally up to individual needs.

Most people use hot water because it is something that triggers tea leaves to release their flavor faster. But usually, people do not know the details. They do it because they have seen a particular procedure.

If more people knew the procedure of tea making with sunlight in summer, it could be a mainstream thing. Many people mix tea with their workout drink. Why? Because it becomes tasty. Also, it has zero calories.

So sun tea is an iced tea that uses the heat of the sunny summer. Generally, black teas are standard in this picture, but herbal teas, green teas are also becoming familiar with the total concept.

How do you make sun tea?

Well, until now I bet you all are thinking that making tea with sunshine is scary complicated. It is not. However, the procedure needs a bit of preparation. For newbies staying alert while making it is a crucial thing to do all the time.

Now let us look at the ingredients—nothing fancy here.

You need six to eight tea bags, around seven cups of water, ice, mint leaves, or lemon (optional). 

• At first, you need to fill the sun tea jar with the water. 
• Now add the tea bags into the water.
• Then you need to place the jar in a sunny spot. It will take nearly three hours.

How warm is that particular day also will make an affect how fast the tea is made.

• When you feel the tea is dark in color and flavor, you need to remove the tea bags. The procedure is complete.
• Now you can add ice or mint leaves when serving. You can also taste this with any homemade syrup.

Refrigeration is also a way to get a slightly different taste. But if you refrigerate, make sure that you drink it within two or three days. It will only last until that. Boiling water provides us with more flexibility, though.

Different teas and additives

There are many types of tea blends that are useful in making sun tea. People prefer herbal tea and green tea more though. But the mainstream object here is the black teas. It is like a conventional or go-to blend for most people.

Standard ice tea blends are trendy too. Specific ice tea bags are larger than usual ones. You have to manage here. More giant tea bags are family bags. If you use these family bags, use three bags instead of six to eight bags.

You can add your homemade additives into your tea. Take an equal amount of sugar with water and start heating it until the mixture dissolves completely. Mix it with your tea and enjoy the taste.

Always remember to add lemon slices and mint leaves only after the addition of syrup. It simply tastes better on a hot sunny day. Also do not forget to refrigerate or to add ice.

If you do not want sweet tea or extra calories, skip the additives part. You can and mix your syrup according to your taste also. If you don’t want to taste intense sweetness, you better add your syrup one-third of what you generally add.

Though it is not a usual thing, honey can also be used as an alternative to your syrup. Fit people can avoid sugar-syrup because of its dietary effect. But honey is something that anyone can trust upon.

Storing your sun tea and preparation time

If you are in a hurry, you can freeze some ice cubes beforehand and add them directly to your tea. But it is conventional to store your jar in the freezer. It is summer, and you want your tea cold. That is why refrigeration is essential.

Preparation Time:

Preparation time is the trickiest part of all the steps. If you are in luck of a super sunny day, then the preparation can take as little as one hour. But also a convenient way comes in the play.

Here three hour is the conventional time. Depending upon the strength of the sunlight, the time also varies. If it is not such a sunny day, the procedure can extend up to five hours.

The overall thing is strong sunny weather means less time and a weak sun results in more time. You can think sun tea preparation is over when a full red colour appears in the jar. 

Sun Tea Risks

Although it is rare, there is some risk in the making of sun tea. The problem arises when bacterial growth comes into the scene. Boiling water eliminates this threat. When boiling, there is no risk of bacterial growth.

Because of the boiling temperature, no bacteria can survive. But normal or mildly warm water is not capable of killing bacterial growth. Alongside the water, tea leaves out in the sun trigger bacterial rise in the jar.

The best method to cope up with this is to take precautions. You already know normal water cannot eliminate bacteria on its own. So first wash your container in soap water and then in bleach as an extra caution.

Do not let the jar stay in the sun for more than three or four hours. Also, do not prepare more than you need for a day. Also, avoid herbal tea as it lacks caffeine. Less caffeine means more vulnerability to bacteria.