ShareThisBy CINDY SUTTER
"If I could save time in a bottle ..."
Yeah, it's corny. Way corny. Like most places now, when those plump, oh-so-sweet kernels bursting in your mouth are a special pleasure of summer. Ditto those amazingly red tomatoes right out of the garden, and the aromatic basil growing wild just outside the kitchen door.
These garden wonders, along with sleek, purple eggplant, brightly colored peppers and sunny yellow squash are a perfect distillation of all that is summer, the heat of the day that gives way to a long, leisurely evenings on the deck and the chatter of children ditching their PlayStations for a bike ride.
Oh, for a little taste of that in January or February, when the thought of another hearty stew or pot of beans is just too much to bear.
Amy Condon, who with her husband, Richard, owns Cottonwood Farms, near Boulder, Colo., knows how to save that taste of summer.
"I freeze corn every year if I do nothing else," she says. "That is just the most wonderful thing in the winter at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I don't put anything on it, no salt, no pepper, no nothing. It just tastes like summer."
As does her corn soup with green chiles and a hint of curry. She pulls that out of the freezer, adds a little chicken, and summer makes another appearance when the ground is covered with snow.
While many people find canning daunting, preserving food by freezing is a simple matter, requiring only a kettle, boiling water _ to give the veg in question a hot bath to stop enzymatic action _ ice water and a freezer bag.
It's not a perfect process. While freezing does preserve a vegetable's taste, its texture is lost, making frozen vegetables great for cooking, but not for eating out of hand. Still, the taste alone can be a revelation in the dark days of winter.
"If you're going to cook with (the vegetables) anyway, you don't really mind the fact that they will change consistency or get watery," Condon says. "You can always cook that down or pour the water off."
Some summer stalwarts such as peaches don't even require blanching. Simply, peel, slice, put in a bag and freeze. While the texture is not the same, they're great for smoothies or in your morning yogurt. They can be baked into a pie or cobbler.
"You don't have to make a project of it," says Condon of freezing summer produce. "Who has that whole day to can (or freeze)? When you buy corn, buy a dozen ears and put a bag of corn in the freezer."
To get corn ready, Condon shucks it and removes the silk, plunges it in boiling water for four minutes and then in ice water for four minutes. She has a special cutter to cut it off the cob, although a sharp knife will suffice. The blanched corn is ready for freezing and later eating.
She also freezes spaghetti and enchilada sauce, made with her garden tomatoes, simply making extra when she makes those dishes for her family.
"If I make spaghetti sauce, I always make a big roaster-full," she says. "Then I've got it for a month or more." Vegetable soup, made with lots of fresh herbs, also will sit in neatly dated bags in her freezer.
"I undercook it a lot and freeze it. When I bring it out and cook it, it will be so wonderful. That is such a great thing to pull out on a cold night," she says.
And she freezes stewed tomatoes and peppers, as well as plain tomatoes, prepared by blanching them and slipping them out of their skins before bagging.
Condon also keeps a little of fall's best for winter eating, making apple butter and freezing that. Her recipe, which calls for cooking down the apples in the oven overnight, is much simpler than traditional apple butter, which requires long stirring in a kettle.
John Bizarro, former owner of John's Restaurant in Boulder, has a special way to save zucchini.
Zucchini? After being stuffed to the gills with the prolific squash, it's not something you think you'd be craving in the winter. However, a taste of Bizarro's Zucchini Soup might change your mind, he says.
"The soup is so good that everyone loves it," he says. "We froze 30 gallons last year. We give a lot of it away. It's the only thing that keeps zucchini," he adds, pointing out that the squash doesn't freeze well.
To make the soup, he sautes zucchini in olive oil with onions, garlic and cilantro, also seasoning it with cumin and oregano. He then purees it with filtered water.
"It (turns) into a thick, light green, milkshakelike," he says. "(You add) a little squeeze of lemon when you serve it, so you get a little lemony taste." Although he usually eats it as is at home, at the restaurant he often pureed cilantro and chives with sour cream or buttermilk and drizzled the mixture on top as a garnish.
While Bizarro says the soup can be made with any zucchini, he grows a variety called Largo, which he says stays tender even when the squash grow big.
"The usual variety, when they get that big, you have to turn them into a lamp or something."
He also freezes corn, chard, a large Italian bean called Romano, and endive, blanching each type of vegetable before putting it in the freezer.
The endive is particularly good, he says.
"We saute it with black olives, capers, garlic and anchovies and add seasoned, toasted bread crumbs," he says.
And, he purees herbs such as basil with olive oil and freezes them.
"It maintains its color," he says.
For a different taste of summer, drying is another option, a fact not lost on Italians who often dry their tomatoes.
Corey Buck, the current chef and owner of John's Restaurant, dries several types of spring and summer produce, including asparagus, and summer squashes.
"I like to dry a lot of stuff," he says. "I dehydrate things and make a powder out of them."
When ready to use, he toasts the powder and adds it to dishes such as risotto. Next spring he will add asparagus powder to soup stock and fresh asparagus when making soup.
Bizarro also makes use of drying. As yet another way to rise to the zucchini challenge, he makes zucchini chips.
He slices the zucchini thin on a mandoline, puts the slices on a cookie sheet and leaves them in oven with just the pilot light on.
"They get as crispy as potato chips," he says. "The flavor condenses and they get real nutty."
You can use them as a garnish or as munchies. "They will last forever as long as you don't let them get humid."
So, can you save summer?
Nothing can compete with taking a stroll in the garden and popping a sun-warmed cherry tomato in your mouth. But, a sauce made with that tomato's plum-style relative or a dish of corn kernels from a nearby ear will taste awfully good come January.
ZUCCHINI SOUP
2 quarts zucchini, cut in 1/4-inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, halved
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons ground oregano
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 lemons
Freshly ground white pepper
Salt to taste
1 quart plus one cup filtered water
Use a wide heavy saute pan or deep skillet; 3 inches by 12 inches works well.
Pour olive oil into pan. Place on medium heat. Add garlic, onions, zucchini and cilantro, along with spices and condiments. Saute approximately 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.
The most important part of the preparation is to get the veggies to give up their juices and get to the point just before they caramelize or start to brown. Use medium heat. Stir the veggies often and look for the point when the juices stop running and you notice the oil separating from the liquid. Next add enough water to cover the veggies and simmer for 5 minutes, adding water if needed.
Let cool and then blend on high speed until totally smooth. You may have to add additional water to get convection. The consistency should be like a milkshake. Check for salt and add lemon juice to taste. Chill thoroughly before serving. Serve the soup with frozen bowls from the freezer.
Optional: Garnish with a swirl of softened sour cream and whole cilantro leaves.
_ John Bizarro
APPLE BUTTER
7 cups homemade applesauce (see note)
5 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apple cider
Mix all ingredients until smooth. Bake at 200 to 250 degrees until mixture is thick, clean and smooth, several hours. Freeze or refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Note: To make homemade applesauce, peel and core the apples. Add a small amount of water to pan. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring often and adding more water, as necessary. Puree with a hand mixer or in a blender.
_ Amy Condon, Cottonwood Farms
