French Fries

Ingredients:
10 lbs red potatoes (cut lengthwise into about 1/2 inch wide strips)
1 tablespoon salt
10-12 cups canola oil (only use canola oil)

Instructions:

1: Slice the potatoes into about 1/2-inch wide strips, or to desired thickness.

2: Place them in a large bowl and cover them with cold water, drain and cover them again with cold water (for extra crispy fries mix 1-2 tablespoons sugar with the cold water until completely dissolved before adding in the potatoes).

3: Place the bowl in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours, even overnight or up to 2 days.

4: When read to make, drain as many as you are going to fry in a large strainer and leave the rest in water (you will be working in batches).

5: Have another large bowl ready to put the fryed fries into, and have a large slotted spoon ready also to remove the fries from the oil.

6: In about a 5-quart non-stick Dutch oven or a deep fryer, heat 10-12 cups oil until hot with 1 tablespoon salt or more if desired (must use the salt in the oil!) I just throw one French fry in, if it bubbles then to the oil is ready, this will take about 8 minutes to heat until hot.

7: Carefully place the drained fries into the hot oil (no need to pat them dry!) and fry only until the edges begin to turn a little brown, and fries feel soft (do not cook them totally).

8: Remove with a slotted spoon and place into a large bowl.

9: Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

10: When the fried potatoes are room temperature prepare one or two large cookie sheets.

11: Spread the fries on the sheets (you may pile them on top of each other they will come apart when defrosted) and place in the freezer until completely frozen, then just pop them into a large zip-lock freezer bags and store in the freezer.

12: **NOTE** Of coarse you can make some right away if desired, after they have come down to room temperature just re-fry them again until desired crispness.

13: After freezing just drop the frozen fries into hot oil, there is no need to thaw them first.

(Recipe from www.recipezaar.com)

Zucchini Bread Batter

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
4 cups zucchini, shredded
6 eggs
2 cups oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups brown sugar
6 teaspoons vanilla
6 cups flour
6 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts

For Baking:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:

1: Put all in a processor and blend well.

2: Line loaf pans (9x5) with plastic and fill loaf pan 2/3 full.

3: Freeze.

4: Remove from pans and wrap in plastic.

5: To bake, remove plastic and thaw out.

6: Add 1/2 tsp soda and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder per loaf.

7: Grease pan and pour in batter.

8: Bake at 350 approx 1 hour.

(Recipe from www.recipezaar.com)

Garden Veggies

I love this time of year because there are so many fresh, yummy veggies to eat. This afternoon my neighbor gave me some beans, carrots, and gigantic zucchini from their garden. Usually, I try to eat fresh veggies immediately, but since I have been doing research on freezing things I decided to learn how to properly freeze them. Sometimes I assume that everyone already knows all these things and I am the only one that is completely clueless. Just in case some of you are in the same boat as me, I am going to post what I learned today about..BLANCHING.

According to my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, blanching is a "heat-and-cool process". The point of which is to "stop or slow the enzymes that cause loss of flavor and color, and toughens the food." I am a visual learner, so I will use pictures to explain the process I used to blanch my beans.

Step #1: I removed the little strings from the green beans and cut off the ends. Then I cut mine into 1 inch pieces. You can leave them whole, if you prefer. Here are my beans, all chopped up and ready to go..

Step #2: Fill a pot with water and use a gallon per pound of vegetables. I had less than one pound, so I used one gallon. Bring the water to a boil...

Step #3: Add the beans, cover, and boil on high for 4 minutes. Start timing as soon as you put the beans in...

Step # 4: Immediately transfer beans to a colander and place the colander in a large bowl of ice water. Leave the beans in there for 4 minutes (the same amount of time you cooked them for)...
Step #5: Put the beans in a freezer container and make sure to leave 1/2 inch at the top.

Step #6: Store the beans in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can store them for 8-10 months. So, you can have all these fresh garden veggies all year round!

I ended up freezing all of beans and the carrots. Freezing the vegetables was a really quick and easy process. Here's a list of other veggies you can try and the blanching times:

Carrots: Blanch whole carrots for 5 minutes and cut-up carrots for 2 minutes.

Asparagus: Blanch small spears for 2 minutes, medium for 3 minutes, and large for 4 minutes.

Corn: Boil corn for 4 minutes. Cool quickly and then cut off the cob about 2/3 of the way through the kernel.

Peas: Blanch for 11/2 minutes for small flat pods, 2 minutes for larges flat pods, and 3 minutes for developed pods.