Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Freezing Ingredients for Later

Today, I attempted to make Boeuf Bourguigon , you know, the dish from the movie, "Julie & Julia."

And just like the character Julie did in the movie, I burned it.

To a crisp.

The recipe I used wasn't a difficult one. In fact, it was very easy to put together. But this recipe called for me to cook it in the crockpot for 8-10 hours. I didn't have that kind of time today, so I used a dutch oven.

Lesson learned? Never, and I mean, never, cook Boeuf Bourguigon in a dutch oven at 325 F. for 6 hours. It is not a good idea.

Ever.

Because it smelled so good for the first 4 hours, I will be trying this again next week.

In the crockpot.

In the meantime, since this recipe called for 1 Tb. of tomato paste, I had to figure out what to do with the remainder of the can. I've heard of people freezing the leftovers in ice cube trays and I think that is a lovely idea. Unless of course, you don't have ice cube trays.

Which, as of my cleaning spree 3 weeks ago, I do not.

To freeze leftover tomato paste without ice cube trays, measure out 1 Tb. "blobs" and plop them onto a cookie sheet. Cover them with saran wrap or waxed paper and set them inside the freezer for approximately 2 hours.



When they are frozen, remove from cookie sheet and drop them into a freezer-safe canning jar.

Place a lid on top and return to the freezer! Now whenever you need to remake a dish that everyone was salivating over, but it somehow failed to make it to the plate, you'll be able to do so without opening a new can of tomato paste!

*BTW...the Boeuf Bourguigon didn't go to waste. My dogs are fat and happily sleeping it off.

3 comments:

Michaela Dunn Leeper said...

Haha! One of the reasons we have a dog....

Cindy said...

That is a great idea for the tomato paste. We made some last summer from the excess of tomatoes we had. Just put the tomatoes in a blender, liquify, run through some type of sieve or cheesecloth, add salt and whey, stir, put some olive oil on the top to seal and throw it in the back of the fridge. When you need some, just scrape the hardened olive oil to the side, scoop out what you need, then push back the olive oil. I used the last of my six jars just last week. It was still good! I plan to make a lot more this year.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

great idea! I never know what to do with the leftover tomato paste when a recipe only calls for a couple of tablespoons.

And the maple walnut scones in the last post look absolutely delicious. I think I'll make some scones today!