Freeze Fresh: The Ultimate Guide to Preserving 55 Fruits and Vegetables for Maximum Flavor and Versatility

by Crystal Schmidt

Eve Kilcher (Foreword)

Capturing the peak flavor of freshly harvested produce and preserving it for year-round eating is easier than ever with Freeze Fresh, the ultimate guide to freezing and enjoying more than 55 popular fruits and vegetables. Author Crystal Schmidt shares her time-tested preparation techniques that ensure color, texture, and flavor are retained in the freezer. From familiar favorites like apples, corn, potatoes, and peas to surprises like lettuce, avocado, and citrus fruit, Schmidt details the best ways to prepare each food for the freezer, including pre-cooking, slicing, blanching, and more. She offers more than 100 recipes that freeze well, such as Blueberry Maple Pancake Sauce, Pickled Sliced Beets, Mango Chutney, and Honey Butter Carrot Mash--as well as delicious ways to cook the frozen food after thawing, including Creamy Parmesan Confetti Corn, Tart Cherry Oatmeal Bars, Broccoli Cheese Soup, and Blueberry-Matcha Latte Smoothie. Home cooks and gardeners alike will love discovering how easy and economical it can be to fill your freezer with produce customized to your own tastes and needs.

• ISBN10: 163586447X
• ISBN13: 9781635864472
• Publish Date: 5 July 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Storey Publishing LLC
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Freeze Fresh is an accessibly and clearly written resource guide to freezing fresh produce along with some recipes curated and written by Crystal Schmidt. Due out 19th July 2022 from Storey, it's 208 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

The included tutorials and recipes show how to select, prepare, and pack produce for preservation by freezing to maximize taste and quality. Essential and helpful equipment lists are included and explained very well. When I first started processing our garden produce, my tendency was to process -every- single fruit/vegetable no matter how misshapen, overripe, squishy, or blemished. I hated to 'waste' (compost) -anything- unnecessarily.The author makes a good case for selecting the best fruits and vegetables to freeze and shows how.

The following chapters include processing and recipes grouped alphabetically from apples to zucchini.

The recipes themselves are easy to read and understand. They include a header bar along with yields and a description. Ingredients are listed bullet point in a sidebar. Measurements are given in imperial (US standard) units only. Preparation instructions are enumerated step by step. Substitutions and alternative preparation or serving information are given in highlighted text boxes throughout.

Photography and food styling are very well done and prep and serving pictures are appealing and appropriate.

Five stars. This is a good addition to the home gardener's and smallholder's resource libraries. It's not a replacement for canning encyclopedias like Ball's Blue Book, but it's very good for specifics and tips for freezing produce with a collection of varied and useful recipes for using frozen fruits and veggies.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.