Green Beans

"Putting Up Food" - Green Beans

This past weekend, I picked up ten pounds of green beans from the CSA.  I am trying to build a good stock pile of local veggies to be eaten this winter.  How nice it will be to have food on hand and know where it came from and how it was grown.  I especially like that putting up food will potentially save me from running to the store later.

To put up greens beans via freezing is pretty simple - just a little time consuming.  Just grab a comfortable spot where you can cut the beans the way you want them.  I use my spring loaded kitchen shears to snip off the ends and then cut them into about one and a half inch pieces.  Once all the beans are cut.  I start a pot of water to boil on the stove.

Then I clean the beans by rinsing them well in the sink to remove any debris.  I  also pick through them to toss any that look spotty or rusty.  

The beans get a two minute dunk into the boiling water and then are dunked into cold water to stop the cooking process.  They come out a nice bright green with an good crunch to them.  

I then bagged them into quart size freezer bags containing approximately  one and a half cups each.  I didn't measure - just eyeballed what looked like a necessary amount for a family side dish.  I ended up with fifteen bags of green beans to go into the freezer for future use.

Typically, I would cook these in a small crock-pot with a few strips of bacon for a few hours on low.  The bacon really gives them a nice flavor.  I also like to saute green beans in a skillet  with butter and then sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese.

How about you?  Are you putting up any goodies?  Share your recipes or ideas with us below.