6 clever ways to preserve food

Sometimes, our gardens bless us. Sometimes, our neighbours have extra or we’ve travelled somewhere typically Australian in the bush and found some market stalls selling organic fruit and veg. I know that every trip to Stanthorpe we ever made we’d spend $20 and get a boot load of fruit and vegetable from one of the old school Italian farmers. It always gave me such joy to eat their beautiful foods and to support them.

Anyone who has ever grown their own food knows this problem: One day you have hardly any fruit or vegetables, and the next day all the plants are ready to harvest and you have more than you can possibly eat. When the glut of fruit or veggies comes in, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Of course the easiest way to use up the produce is to eat it while it is fresh, but sometimes that is just not possible. So here are some other ways you can make the most of your fresh food glut.

FREEZE IT

Some fruits can be easily frozen whole. At the moment I have a bag of plums, sour cherries, and mulberries in the freezer, all waiting for me to get to them. The plums and sour cherries are actually easier to stone once they have been frozen (and defrosted), and the mulberries will probably be pulled out a little at a time to serve on French Toast, or pancakes.

Other fruit such stonefruit, apples, and pears, can be stewed up quickly before being put into containers (I use takeaway containers) and frozen in portions. These are perfect to pull out of the freezer in winter and make into a pie or crumble, or even just heat up and serve with some custard as a warming treat.

The last way to use the freezer is to freeze vegetables. We freeze corn (cut off the cob first), beans and peas, brocolli, carrots, and cauliflower. These vegetables are best cut into portions (we cut the carrots into rounds), and then blanch them. Blanching is plunging the vegetable into boiling water for 30 seconds and then popping it straight into cold water to stop them cooking anymore. Blanching stops the vegetables deteriorating while they are in the freezer. Once the vegetables have cooled down, drain them well and pop into snap lock bags until you need them.

PAR COOK IT

For vegetables like pumpkin and beetroot, I often roast them in chunks then freeze them. This makes them easy to pull out of the freezer to make soups and dips with. I can get a vegetable soup on the table within 10 minutes if I have frozen pumpkin in the freezer. A life saver at the end of a busy day.

MAKE JAM

Jam is actually super easy to make. Whack an equal weight of fruit and sugar in a shallow saucepan and cook gently till the whole mess gels. If you’re not sure whether it will set, you can add some pectin or jam setter to the mix. It makes a perfect treat of summer fruit that can be enjoyed all year round. Whilst not strictly a jam, try making lemon curd, passion fruit curd, or raspberry curd if you have lots of those fruits lying around.

MAKE PICKLES, CHUTNEYS, AND RELISHES

OK so not everything can be turned into jam, and to be honest, there is such thing as too much jam. So try pickling your own beetroot – just like the canned beetroot, only tastier. You can also preserve garlic cloves to use when your fresh stuff has run out. We’ve also made our own tomato relish, caramelised onion, plum sauce, as well as chutneys including pumpkin chutney, peach chutney,  zucchini chutney, and rhubarb chutney. My sour cherry preserve, plum paste, and pear and ginger paste, are all favourites around here too.

MAKE SAUCES AND DRESSINGS

Too many chillies? Try sweet chilli sauce. Got lots of berries or fruit? Try a fruit vinegar. Both are super easy. You can also make your own Italian tomato cooking sauce. It is sooooo easy. We make our own pesto when we have enough basil, and have even made kale pesto which is delicious over pasta. Make your own with what ever leafy greens you have.

DRY IT

Drying food is something I’m gradually embracing. So far I have dried chillies by hanging them up in a dry, covered spot, as well as using the oven to dry figs and tomatoes (with mixed results). The trick is to put your oven on as low as it can go, and watch them carefully. Dehydrating is another fantastic option, as is freeze drying which is becoming more accessible and cost efficient long term.

What fruits and veg do you often have too much of? How do you use up extra fruit and veg?

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