Make Mirepoix and Freeze It for Easy Cooking Later
I got this brilliant idea from my friend, Peter over at Cookblog. His instagram pic came at the perfect time -- we'd just harvested the rest of our Nantes carrots, our onions were curing in the screened porch and I had a gorgeous bunch of celery in the crisper from our friends' CSA.
In case you're not familiar with this fancy-sounding, French word - mirepoix refers to the humble but essential mix of chopped celery, onion and carrot that forms the base of many soups, stocks, stews and sauces.
Needless to say, having your mirepoix all ready to go will speed up the process of making said soups, stocks, stews and sauces by a good bit. SUCH. A. GREAT. IDEA!
I started cleaning, peeling and chopping right away. Our homegrown onions are delightful - so firm, so crisp, so sweet! The only downside is that they pack one heck of a punch and I was crying buckets until I decided to try breathing through my mouth -- which actually worked! Unfortunately, I found it surprisingly hard to remember to breathe only through my mouth, so my tear-free periods were punctuated by rivers of saline whenever I'd forget.
In spite of my tears, in not too long I had a big bowl of mirepoix. If you're not planning to use it right away, you may want to blanch the veggies very briefly, then drain them thoroughly before bagging and freezing them. I admit that I did not bother with that step as I predict that I will be going through my haul rather quickly.
I took out my biggest serving spoon and ladled the mirepoix into six quart-sized freezer bags, sucked the air out with a straw (which is ridiculously satisfying - you gotta try it), labeled them and began the Herculean task of trying to find space for them in the freezer(s). I managed to fit most of them in the chest freezer and squeezed the rest into the regular freezer.
I know I'll be thanking the summer me when the winter me wants to make soup or stew in a few months.
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