The Vegerator by konomike of Flickr
There is nothing worse than saving a few bucks on groceries only to have it go to sludge in the bottom of your crisper. Worse, in a professional kitchen, it is those nickle-and dime produce that can really affect your bottom line. Either way, it makes sense to protect your investment and get the most time out of your purchase. Smart buying means that you only buy as much as you need. What happens when the sale is jsut too much to pass up?
Follow these few tips below to save your produce from going to the crisper in the sky:
Celery
Celery will be happiest if you wrap it in aluminium foil and keep it in the crisper. Take off the plastic bag and wrap it tightly, and your celery will last for months in the crisper. I am not sure why this is, but I can tell you that for about 6 weeks, it will still be crisp as the day you bought it.
Carrots
Finding about carrots was a little difficult, but a good resource here tells us all about how to store them. Of course, it is all about what you buy in the first place. Choose bright orange colored carrots without cracks in the skin. If they have tops, it is important to cut them off. Place them into their own, new plastic Ziploc bag. If your carrots ever get limp, you can slice off the top of the carrot, and refresh them in a bowl of ice water just before you use them. It could take up to a half hour to get the carrots back into shape.
Onions
Okay, this one is a little weird, but it works. Take the best onions you have, remove all loose skin, shoots, etc. Now put them in a pair of panty hose, knotting the panty hose after every onion. The makeshift mobile can now be hung, and everytime you need an onion, you just cut above the knot. The clerk may look at you weird (if you are a guy) when you are purchasing the panty hose, but if it is in the name of saving our produce, why not?
Garlic
You should buy the garlic when the skins are tightly wrapped around the cloves, and there are no green shoots. To store them, either buy a garlic keeper, or make one yourself. Keep the garlic in a dry, cool place to keep for maximum time. (I can usually get about 2 months.) That means it needs to go in a cupboard, not on your kitchen counter.
That covers the basic kitchen staples. Are there any tips that you have for keeping your produce fresh?
