After Thanksgiving everything seems to be on sale. I had to go to a couple different stores today but I got a lot of great deals. Celery was one of them. Normally I don't buy celery because Phil doesn't like it but it was such a good deal (50 cents) that I decided to get some. I used to dehydrate it and slip it into our soups and stews so Phil wouldn't notice as much.
First it has to be dehydrated. I waited until tonight to start it because the heat from the dehydrator will be appreciated the most at night when we really need it. I started by pulling the celery apart and washing the stalks. I then cut a little bit off the large end and fed these pieces to the meal worms. The rest was chopped up into small, maybe 1/4 inch pieces. I do use the leaves as well because they have a really nice flavor and can be added to most anything. I then blanched them for a 1 minute in boiling water. Blanching is not really necessary but the celery just looks and tastes better to me when you blanch it first.
After blanching you drain it in a colander and run cold water on it to stop it from cooking more. Now it is just spread on the dehydrator trays and left to dry overnight.
That is one thing that I haven't dehydrated. My favorite is to dehydrate cherry tomatoes and slip them into soups, chili, and stew!
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to see what it looks like after dehydration.
ReplyDeleteCelery is one thing that I could detect a mile away. I'm very sensitive to the smell of celery (I don't dislike it, though) and you could certainly not slip any into my food without me noticing!
ReplyDelete