Mirepoix "ready-to-use"

[AnnaRaven]

So sometimes I'm just in a mood to cook, and not up to slicing and dicing stuff. I'd love to have some mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) pre-sliced and ready to saute. I'm thinking that freezing would be the best way of achieving this. Basically, prep a bunch of mirepoix one day, and freeze the extra.

My question to ya'll is:

1) have you ever done this?
2) did you blanch the veggies first?
3) did you freeze things separately or together?
4) how well did it work?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I do this, but didn't know it had a name However, I keep it in the fridge. I have no success freezing raw onions. Yuck!! You could probably saute it before freezing, I just have a bunch cut up in the fridge, and use as needed. Usually lasts me a coupla days before I run out.

 

[moolie]

I wouldn't freeze either the onions or celery without cooking first, and carrots need blanching so it would probably be best to saut up a big batch and portion it out before freezing. Don't know if that defeats the purpose of having it ready-prepped though--I love the smell of onions cooking, an my Grandma always said that if she had been out all day and hadn't anything on the stove cooking by the time Grandpa got in she would start to fry up onions so the house would smell like she'd been at it all day

 

[Dace]

I disagree....mirepoix is a more of a seasoning blend and the end result is not the focus of the dish....meaning they fade into the background. Some dishes you would add more larger chunks of carrot, onion or celery if you want them to play a more prominent roll.

I would prep them all and store in appropriate proportions (1 part celery, 1 part carrot to 2 parts onion) in 1 cup portions in the freezer.

If you like cajun food you can also make a trinity which is onion, bell pepper and celery in the same proportions as the mirepoix....and also store in the freezer.

 

[patandchickens]

I dunno bout freezing them raw. You would lose water and then be sauteeing a very wet mess, it seems to me. But this is just a guess, why not try it with a small batch and see how it actually works for you?

Personally I am more apt to do the sauteeing AND THEN freeze things like that. Not a big mirepoix person, cooking-style-wise, but whenever I come into possession of large amounts of mushrooms or onions I cut them up and sautee them then freeze in ziploc baggies (in fairly thin layer) so I can just break off a chunk of the frozen 'sheet' whenever I need some for cooking. And this works fine for me, although it is not quite the same as doing them fresh (you do not get the same nice flavoring of the pan for the subsequent ingredients).

So you might try it that way too. In fact, maybe try both, then use both, see how you like 'em, and report back to us

Good luck, ahve fun,

Pat

 

[AnnaRaven]

Yeah - I've done the "trinity". For jambalaya. Yummy.

Okay - so it sounds like two different "schools" of thought here. I am wanting them to help season the pan so I'm a little concerned about fully sauteeing them before freezing. OTOH, I don't want them to be a watery mess like someone else mentioned.

I think I'm gonna just go ahead and try freezing them separately so I have the option. Not sure what to do about the celery. Will it freeze okay?
ETA: Modern Victory Garden says yes on freezing celery (If you're cooking it afterwards). They say to chop it up and freeze it in one layer on a cookie sheet then package it. Sounds like a plan. I'll try it and report back.

 

[moolie]

Celery won't freeze well raw, at the very least it will need blanching.

 

[patandchickens]

I thnk you should just try it.

But, realizing that you may not be satisfied with the results.

Some things you just *can't* do in advance and have them come out the same.

And really, how long does it take to bang out a little bit of cut up carrot/celery/onion, maybe two minutes? (and that's with having to fish them out of the fridge, cut off the piece you want, wash it, etc)

Good luck, have fun, let us know how it goes,

Pat

 

[AnnaRaven]

Therre are times when my wrist goes out on me and I can't cut things safely. Or I'm out of an ingredient. Or it's gonna go bad before I use it up. Lots of reasons to have it stored in prepped mode.

 

[Dace]

Anna....don't sautee first, you will lose some of the flavor that you are looking for.

Celery will be just fine....this is mirepoix folks, no one will notice that it was frozen by the time you get to the finished product. She is not looking from crunch here. This is just background flavor....which freezing will not ruin.

The veggies will release more liquid when you use them....just sautee a few minutes longer, trust me it will be just fine.