As the heat and humidity continues, my freezer door opens and closes more than it probably should. The ubiquitous bowl of frozen grapes has now been joined by trays and plates of fruit slices.
Fair warning to all – line your baking sheet or plate with parchment paper so that you can remove those frozen goodies. Once frozen your pretty chunks and slices may be stored in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months. (Larger meaty fruits may be stored longer but the taste will start to fade.)
Bananas ripen in the blink of an eye and days before the urge to bake. Peaches go from sublime to bruised if you blink. Strawberries perfume the produce section and turn fuzzy overnight on the counter. Need I go on…
Of course I could refrigerate my summer bounty but then those melting flavors lose their joy. So let’s begin with the grapes. I enjoy seedless green grapes whenever I find well ripened ones. They’re a great portable snack, go well with cheese and crackers along with topping a salad. But rinse off the little buggers, drain well and place in a small bowl in the freezer and you have an any time of day frozen treat. Perfect refresher for the middle of the night when the temperature meets the dew point and you groan awake.
Bananas I crave on the oddest days and I love their overripe sweetness for baking. Sometimes a banana or two works when I shop, sometimes I buy a bunch. Ripe bananas will hold for 2-3 days in the frig, although the skin blackens. Longer than that and I freeze them – peeled and cut in 1 to 2 inch chunks. The frozen chunks work well in smoothies and eliminate the watering down of ice cubes. Two things to note – I wrap about half a banana’s worth of chunks in waxed paper before placing in a freezer safe plastic bag. I do this because even pre-frozen chunks tend to clump when too many are bagged together and so that I have measured amounts for smoothies and baking. The second thing to note – frozen bananas are not as moist as fresh bananas so add additional liquid to your recipe OR use an extra 1/2 -1 banana per recipe.
Peaches, plums and nectarines scream summer to me and are eaten best over the sink so that the juiciness is contained. For fruit that has softened I cut it up and blend with yogurt for a snack or to add to my overnight oatmeal. When there is too much soft fruit I cut it into chunks and freeze for baking. Peaches I peel first but I don’t mind the skin on the plums and nectarines.
Strawberries sliced adorn salads, baked goods and oatmeal. But I examine them everyday and either eat or cull the ripest. Strawberries don’t last long once they have been washed. So for those I am freezing I wipe well with a dampened cloth and air dry before slicing and freezing. Frozen strawberries go anywhere a fresh berry has been.
All these fruits work well to chill your favorite summer beverage from sangria to plain water. The fruit that has worked it’s way to being my go-to ‘crushed ice’ this summer is watermelon. It did take me a while to get this ‘recipe’ down more because I eat the fruit up before freezing it and then to get the lime right.
- 1-11/2 ice cube tray of watermelon cubes
- 2-3 large tbsp fresh watermelon
- 1/2 lime zested and juiced
- 3-4 tbsp tequila or favorite white liquor
- Place watermelon and lime in high powered blender or food processor and blend into slush
- Pour over tequila
- Garnish glass with lime slice and watermelon chunk
- ENJOY
NOTES:
- freeze the watermelon the day of or the night before using
- watermelon will start to crystallize in the freezer and does not last long
- use the same recipe with your 1 – 2 cup strawberry slices
- Frozen peaches go well with breakfast mimosas or a pre-dinner glass of Prosecco
- I tried cutting the lime up into chunks as well but ended up with small chewy bits of lime – which works fine for me
RICOOKANDCLICK 