Most modern housewives refuse to preserve foods with the addition of salt or sugar and try to freeze foods. Moreover, the freezing of mushrooms, vegetables, berries or fruits is considered the most uncomplicated way of harvesting for future use. The greens, which we miss so much in the cold months, are no exception.
However, is it possible to freeze sorrel - an early vegetable crop? After all, fresh and juicy leaves of this plant are quite fragile and delicate. They require careful handling and do not like the effects of the cold. How will they behave after prolonged storage at low temperatures?
Keeping useful
As you know, the leaves of this green plant contain a large amount of oxalic acid, organic substances and vitamins. Traditional medicine characterizes sorrel as a restorative agent that helps normalize the digestion process, and recommends using it all year round. Therefore, many people ask themselves: “Is it possible to freeze fresh sorrel? Will all its beneficial properties be preserved? ”
In fact, useful trace elements will be completely preserved in properly prepared leaves. Low temperatures will not affect the change in the composition of the plant and its taste. When conducting the correct technological process of preparing the leaves and their adequate storage, you can enjoy fresh sorrel dishes all year round.
Is it possible to freeze leaves: preparation technology
As soon as the sorrel of the mistress does not freeze! It is cut and laid out in packages in fresh or blanched form, placed in various containers and containers, sprinkled with salt or sugar, twisted and frozen leaves whole. However, no matter how the method of freezing is chosen, there are certain rules for preparing fresh leaves.
- Firstly, sorrel is carefully sorted and separated inflorescences, dead leaves and sprouts of other plants.
- Secondly, the grass cleaned of impurities is thoroughly washed. To do this, sorrel is soaked in a shallow container so that lumps of earth and dust settle on the bottom of the dishes. If the dirt remains on the leaves at the preparation stage, then after defrosting the product, it will not be possible to get rid of it, and the cooked dish will be spoiled.
- Thirdly, after thorough washing, water from the leaves must be completely removed. For this, the prepared grass is left for a while in a colander, and then laid out in a thin layer on a towel and dried a little.
Is it possible to freeze sorrel in the freezer if some of the water has not evaporated from the leaves? The answer is quite simple: as a result of defrosting wet grass, an unappetizing watery mass can be obtained. Undoubtedly, this can affect the appearance of the cooked dish.
Preservation methods in the freezer
For people who first encountered such a procedure, who do not know how best to freeze sorrel leaves, whether it can be done without much effort and how to get a good product, the problem of the optimal choice of conservation may arise - too many options for freezing exist today. Someone lays whole leaves in the freezer, and someone crushes the grass with a knife or using a meat grinder, blender and other devices. Some use ordinary plastic bags, while others use special containers, jars, or ice molds.
Cut, blanch and store
Many housewives, after carrying out the standard procedure for preparing fresh leaves, grind them with a sharp knife. Usually, sorrel is cut across in small strips, and if necessary, if the sheet is large, it is cut along. Then the crushed mass is lowered for several seconds in boiling water. Do not be afraid that after heat treatment the plant will acquire a completely different color - a darker color will not affect the taste characteristics of the grass.
Now it will take some time for the sorrel to cool, the unnecessary moisture has gone, and the leaves themselves have dried out a little. Then the resulting mass is laid out in plastic bags in small portions. By releasing excess air from the bag, the grass is tamped and evenly distributed.
Keep the whole sorrel
Some lovers of all kinds of pies with sorrel store prepared leaves of grass as a whole. However, this method of harvesting has a clear drawback, which owners of small freezers will probably notice - bags with leaves take up a lot of space. In addition, frozen grass is difficult to cut, as the leaves begin to crumble strongly, and when thawed they have a completely unappetizing appearance.
Grind with a blender
Recently, recipes are more and more often found in which greens are recommended to be frozen in special molds for ice. Interestingly, with the help of such attributes, is it possible to freeze sorrel in a freezer? The reviews of the hostesses who experienced this method of freezing indicate that preformed cubes are much simpler and more convenient to use in the cooking process.
In order to prepare such portioned briquettes for long-term storage, the prepared sorrel must be crushed using a blender or a conventional meat grinder. The resulting puree is laid out in special molds, poured with a small amount of cooled boiled water and sent to the freezer. When you need to add acidic seasoning to soup, salad or make a filling for pies, you do not need to get the whole batch of frozen product and pick out the required amount. It is enough to make simple manipulations here - and the finished piece of shredded sorrel will instantly move to the cooked dish.
Fragrant Ensemble
Is it possible to freeze sorrel for the winter with other green herbs and seasonings? Sure. In the cold season, when our diet is sorely lacking in fresh vegetables and herbs, a tasty and aromatic supplement will be very handy. That is why many people lay for long-term storage not one plant crop, but immediately a mixture of various green leaves. A portion-prepared ensemble of fresh herbs - onions, dill, parsley and sorrel - can be an excellent seasoning for various broths, soups, vegetable stews and salads.
In conclusion…
So we got the answer to the question: “Can sorrel be frozen?” Now we know for sure that you can enjoy the spring freshness of juicy grass all year round - it does not lose its taste characteristics. Using frozen seasoning, you can give the dish a unique taste and aroma. Moreover, this early green is very useful and partially compensates for the deficiency of trace elements necessary for the body.
However, it is worth noting that all the good should be in moderation. This also applies to the use of sorrel. The excessive amount of oxalic acid present in the plant can adversely affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract. Therefore, nutritionists recommend eating sorrel in your diet no more than 2-3 times a week.