Asian Recipes

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The Unrivaled Practical Guide for Asian Cooking

My butcher is offering half a lamb at a bargain price - but will it fit into the freezer?

Meat sold at a good discount is worth having, and half a lamb will fit into a small freezer. Ask your butcher to cut the lamb into joints, trimming off the excess fat and removing bones where possible as these take up valuable space.

It is essential to wrap meat well to prevent the fat from turning rancid. Double-wrap the meat using some heavy-duty plastic bags and separate the chops and steaks with layers of plastic freezer film.

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21:55:18 on 11/24/06 by Webmaster - Questions and Answers -

Do cream and yoghurt freeze?

The higher the fat content of the cream, the better it will freeze. Clotted, rich and thickened cream all freeze well and keep for three months. Half-whip the cream before freezing or it will separate on thawing. Adding 1 teaspoon of sugar to 150 ml of whipped cream before freezing will stabilize it. Fresh cream freezes satisfactorily, to use in cooking after thawing. Fruit-flavored yoghurts and plain yoghurt mixed with honey also freeze well.

21:49:00 on 11/24/06 by Webmaster - Questions and Answers -

Is it really necessary to blanch vegetables before freezing?

To preserve the color, flavor, texture and nutritional content of vegetables, you must blanch them before freezing. Fresh vegetables contain natural enzymes which help them to grow and ripen. Blanching vegetables by plunging them briefly into boiling water then into cold will inhibits the action of these enzymes, which would otherwise cause deterioration during storage in the freezer.

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10:31:44 on 11/24/06 by Webmaster - Questions and Answers -