25 Pounds of Asparagus

So that 25 pounds of asparagus that I got at the Farmer's Market has been blanched and frozen for the winter. I'm planning on it lasting a year which means we would eat it about twice a month. I'll let you know how it turns out when it is thawed out and eaten. In case you are thinking about preserving some asparagus yourself, here is what I did...

1. Cut the ends off each stalk and rinse with water. Asparagus is very sandy so if you don't clean them all the way, when you are eating them you'll find grains of sand in your teeth.

2. Boil water and put stalks standing up in a multipot so ends get less cooked (see last picture below). Blanch for about 3 minutes. Overcooking will make them mushy and slimy.

3. Take out insert of multipot containing asparagus and run under icy cold water.

4. Pour asparagus out onto towels to dry as much as possible. I left them on the towel for about a half hour so they would dry and cool down some before putting them in bags.

5. I used gallon sized freezer bags and filled them about 2/3 full. Laid them flat on a shelf in my freezer. And there they sit! My plan is to take out however many stalks I need when I am cooking rather than unthaw an entire bag and use all the asparagus at once.

Here is what 25 pounds of asparagus looks like sitting in a bag in your fridge.Washed, cut and ready to be blanched.Blanched and ready to be dried off and put into freezer bags.