OXO Good Tips Blogs: Cooking & Baking

Cook the Season: July Harvest and Freezing Tips

 

Celebrate July’s vibrant harvest in our latest “Cook the Season” edition! Dive into delicious recipes featuring fresh tomatoes, courgettes, and raspberries, and learn essential tips for freezing summer produce to enjoy all year round.

OXO Good Tips Blog | 18th June 2024

 

Welcome to July’s edition of “Cook the Season,” where we celebrate the bounty of summer with vibrant and delicious produce. This month, our gardens and markets are bursting with tomatoes, courgettes, new potatoes, raspberries, and sweetcorn. Let’s explore the best ways to enjoy these seasonal treasures and share some tips on freezing produce so you can savour the flavours of July all year round.

Seasonal Produce in July

Tomatoes are the stars of summer. Their juicy, sweet-tart flavour makes them perfect for fresh salads, tangy salsas, or slow-roasting to bring out their natural sweetness. For quick and even chopping, the OXO Good Grips Chopper is a fantastic tool. It features a sharp, stainless steel blade that rotates with each press, giving you perfectly chopped tomatoes for any dish. This chopper is also excellent for making fresh salsa; just add tomatoes and cilantro to create a vibrant, homemade dip.

Moving on to courgettes (or zucchini), these versatile vegetables can be grilled with a touch of olive oil, added to stir-fries, or baked into bread. One fun way to enjoy courgettes is by turning them into noodles using the OXO Good Grips Handheld Spiralizer. This tool makes it easy to create healthy, low-carb “zoodles” that are perfect for a light summer meal.

New potatoes are another summer favourite. They can be boiled for a classic potato salad, roasted with rosemary, or tossed into a summery salad. Peeling new potatoes can sometimes be a chore, but the OXO Good Grips Y-Peeler makes the task much easier with its non-slip sharp stainless steel blade that glides through even the toughest vegetables, letting you focus on creating delicious dishes.

Raspberries and strawberries offer a burst of sweetness that’s hard to resist. Enjoy them fresh in your morning yoghurt, bake them into tarts, or simply snack on them. Preparing strawberries is made easy with the OXO Good Grips Strawberry Huller. This tool quickly hulls strawberries with its unique stainless steel, tapered blades, and can also be used for tomatoes.

Sweetcorn is synonymous with summer. Whether you grill the ears for a smoky flavour, make a classic corn salad, or simply enjoy them boiled with butter, sweetcorn is a treat. For enjoying hot corn on the cob at summer BBQs, the OXO Good Grips Corn Holders are perfect. These holders feature strong, stainless steel pins and soft, non-slip handles to keep your hands safe from heat and butter.

Enjoy the taste of Summer Year-Round!

Freeze your summer bounty and you can enjoy the taste of fresh, in-season produce all year round. Not only that, freezing fresh produce is a fantastic way to reduce waste, enhance convenience, retain nutrients, and save money:

Reduce Waste: Freezing what you can’t consume immediately helps prevent spoilage and waste.
Convenience: Having prepped and frozen fruits and veggies on hand makes meal preparation faster and easier.
Nutrient Retention: Freezing preserves the vitamins and minerals in your produce better than many other preservation methods.
Cost-Effective: By buying produce in season and freezing it, you can enjoy these foods at their peak flavour and affordability throughout the year.

Tips on Freezing Produce

To freeze your produce effectively, start with blanching vegetables. This process involves briefly boiling the vegetables and then plunging them into ice water to preserve their colour, texture, and flavour. Next, spread the fruits and vegetables on a baking sheet to flash freeze them. This prevents clumping, making it easier to store and use only what you need. Finally, store your frozen produce in reusable silicone bags or containers to

How to Use Frozen Produce

Frozen produce can be incredibly versatile in the kitchen. For instance, frozen raspberries are perfect for smoothies. Simply toss them into a blender with your favourite ingredients for a refreshing drink. Frozen tomatoes and courgettes can be easily added to soups and stews, cooking down beautifully to add rich flavours. And don’t forget baking—frozen raspberries hold up well and add a burst of fruity goodness to muffins, tarts, and other baked goods.

Conclusion

July offers a splendid array of fresh produce, and with a few simple tips, you can extend the enjoyment of these flavours all year round. Whether you’re slicing tomatoes, spiralising courgettes, or enjoying corn on the cob at a BBQ, OXO products are designed to make your kitchen tasks easier and more enjoyable. By freezing your summer bounty, you’ll have a taste of July even in the depths of winter.

Happy cooking and happy freezing!