Tasty blue for the winter: recipes and cooking tips

In Russia, these long, as if elongated, purple-colored fruits are very common - varieties of eggplant, affectionately called by the people "blue." In general, eggplants are round, and white, and striped, and even pink.

A bit of history

Quite a lot has already been written about this, but people did not always know about the beneficial properties of these fruits. And many dishes from the blue appeared only in the 18-19 centuries, when the culinary specialists finally learned how to cook them correctly, and the villagers learned how to grow them (for a long time the blue ones landed as ornamental plants). After all, with improper cultivation, eggplants can absorb some harmful substances, and when used, cause poisoning and even hallucinations. The birthplace of the vegetable is considered to be India and Burma, but in Europe (and afterwards to Russia) the eggplant most likely came from the American continent.

About the benefits of eggplant

A few more words I want to say about the benefits of blue. They contain many usefulnesses: trace elements and vitamins necessary for the normal functioning of the entire human body. Vegetables affect kidney function, heart activity, improve blood circulation and strengthen blood vessels. For preventive purposes, eggplant is able to gently cleanse the body, freeing it from toxins and toxins. It is difficult, probably, to find a vegetable that, like blue, has such a complex effect on many organs with regular use in food. And delicious blue ones for the winter are a natural storehouse of vitamins and amino acids, which are so lacking in cold weather. By the way, in the season - the end of summer, beginning-mid-autumn - they cost literally a penny. So you should not be too lazy and close at least a few jars of this amazingly useful and at the same time tasty product. Moreover, it will be simple to do this, using the recipes below.

Tasty blue for the winter

Of course, every self-respecting mistress in stock has a recipe (and not one) for preparing preservation for the winter, for the future. Among the variety, we selected the most popular recipes in the people. Some of them are very simple. Some suggest certain skills. But in any case, there is plenty to choose from. So, we urgently go to the nearest market (or to the supermarket) to select the fruits for the workpieces!

How to choose blue

For preservation, only fully ripened fruits should be taken, without green fragments, it is possible with yellowness on one of the barrels. Eggplant color should be steadily purple. The exception is those cases when immature vegetables are used in the recipe. Delicious blue for the winter is easy enough to prepare, as they are quite combined with many other vegetables and fruits. But let’s move on to the dishes themselves!

Blue for the winter. The simplest recipes

If you are not too confident in your abilities, then you can try to cook the most ordinary stewed eggplant with onions, peppers, tomatoes and spices, closing them afterwards in glass jars. It is only necessary to remember that eggplant containing the substance solanine (which gives characteristic bitterness) must be thoroughly soaked in salted water before cooking. Then the bitterness goes away, and you can safely continue to cook (as experienced cooks at least advise). But in the case of quenching, you can do without this procedure.

We need: 2 kilos of blue, kilos of tomatoes, a pound of sweet Bulgarian pepper, a pound of carrot, a pound of onion, one or two chili peppers, a half glass of vegetable oil, a third glass of sugar, spices and salt and pepper - to taste.

Cooking

Delicious blue for the winter we cook simply:

1. All vegetables are thoroughly washed and cleaned (eggplants can also be left in the peel, but for those who like softer, peel the fruits).
2. We cut all the ingredients into cubes almost equal in size (we cut the carrots into circles).
3. Fry the onion in vegetable oil.
4. In the same pan we throw Bulgarian pepper, carrot, hot pepper.
5. We mix and fry everything, but not too much.
6. Put the fried ingredients in a stewing dish - stewpan or pan.
7. Top with cut eggplant. The last layer is tomatoes.
8. We extinguish on the lowest heat for about an hour, stirring with a wooden spatula. In the final we introduce sugar and salt, the remaining vegetable oil, spices and pepper to taste and simmer for literally 5 minutes.
9. Pour the hot mixture into jars, sterilize and roll up according to traditional technology. Some add a spoonful of vinegar for fidelity, but this recipe is not necessary for this: well-sterilized jars almost never explode - not like cucumbers!

Like mushrooms

Blue as mushrooms for the winter is a magnificent workpiece, which also has a very original taste. Sometimes even guests who come cannot distinguish what it is: eggplant or mushrooms?

To cook mushrooms blue for the winter, you need to take: 5 kilos of eggplant, a pack (50 g) of black pepper, two heads of garlic, laurel, a bottle of wine or apple cider vinegar.

1. Remember that blue must first be soaked in brine or simply cut into circles or triangles with salt and left for several hours so that they release their bitterness.
2. Then, after soaking, pour the juice and water into a colander, and leave the blue ones under the mushrooms for the winter there - to drain
3. Next, we make the marinade based on: 1 liter of water per kilogram of blue. We add (per liter) half a cup of vinegar to the water: that is, if initially there were 5 kilos of vegetables, then we take 2.5 cups of apple or grape vinegar.
4. In a saucepan with marinade we immerse the soaked blue ones and cook for 5-10 minutes, no more.
5. Immediately lay out the product in jars, putting in each container 3-4 cloves of garlic, 10 peas of pepper, a couple of parsley. Pour marinade and sterilize. We roll it up and put it away for storage, first wrapping it in a blanket and turning it over to check for leaks. Then it can be stored in a cool dark place or at the bottom of the refrigerator, at least until spring. But usually such a valuable product is eaten on New Year's holidays.
6. Serve to the table can be with onions cut into thin half rings, seasoning with lean butter. And really, it turns out the taste is almost indistinguishable from mushroom.
   

In Korean

Such an “oriental” dish, like blue in Korean for the winter, is also prepared using vinegar, like many others. It is advisable not to overdo it with this ingredient, and instead of vinegar essence 70% take natural grape or apple 9% (therefore, it will require almost 8 times more).

To cook blue in Korean for the winter, you need to take: 4 kg of eggplant, 1 kg of onions, carrots and sweet pepper, 100 grams of garlic, 2 small tablespoons of ground red pepper, 2 large tablespoons of vinegar essence (70%). Or we take the corresponding amount of 9% vinegar - a little more than a glass.

Cooking

1. Blue eggplants for my winter and peel (sometimes cook and with it). We cut into strips or cubes - as you like more. Sprinkle with salt quite generously and soak for 3-5 hours - bitterness should come out of them.
2. We rub the carrots on a special grater so that long threads come out (or chop with a thin long straw).
3. Sweet peppers are cleaned from seeds and chopped into strips.
4. Onions - half rings, garlic - finely chop.
5. We mix all vegetables (except blue ones) in a deep bowl and season with ground pepper, pour vinegar and pickle for about 5-6 hours in a warm place. If you do not like too hot or, for example, it is not recommended by doctors, then the amount of ground pepper can be reduced or even excluded from the recipe.
6. Next, prepare a blue salad for the winter in Korean as follows. We throw the blue ones into a colander - the juice with bitterness and water should drain well. Fry eggplant in vegetable oil until half ready. And then simmer under the lid, adding half a glass of water (10 minutes will be enough). We connect eggplants with other components, gently mixing, so as not to disturb the shape of vegetables.
7. We lay out the mass in banks and sterilize for 25 minutes in boiling water in the open state. Then roll up the blue lids in Korean. The winter recipe is quite simple to implement, but it is very tasty when cans with blanks open one after another on the long winter holidays - to the table. As a rule, not a single tank "survives" until the end of winter!

In Georgian

Blue in Georgian for the winter is another dish that is probably familiar to many housewives. Cooking it is quite simple: in half an hour, with a certain skill, you can handle it. You can eat almost immediately, but you can roll up in jars and enjoy the food on cold winter evenings. Especially good are the blue ones in adjika for the winter (as they are also called) with strong alcohol, like a spicy spicy appetizer, pleasing the gastronomic taste.

Take 6 medium eggplants (if you want, take more, then increase the other ingredients proportionally), 6 sweet bell peppers, 4 hot chili peppers (light), 200 grams of garlic, half a glass of vinegar, half a glass of vegetable oil, a glass of sugar, 2 large tablespoons of salt .

Cooking

We prepare blue in Georgian for the winter as follows:

1. Traditionally we cut the eggplants either in circles or in cubes, and fill them with salt. Set aside for several hours to let the juice flow, and the bitterness is gone.
2. And at this time we’ll be preparing the sauce. With a blender, this procedure turns into a real pleasure. Bitter and sweet pepper, together with garlic, bring to the consistency of a homogeneous mass.
3. Add to the hot mixture, poured into the pan, sugar, vegetable oil and vinegar. Mix and let it boil.
4. We throw the blue ones into a colander and let the juice drain (it needs to be poured). And then separately boil the eggplant 5-10 minutes after boiling. We put the boiled vegetables in the sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes on the smallest fire, stirring with a wooden spatula so as not to burn.
5. Pour a hot dish into jars and sterilize for 15-25 minutes. Roll up the blue lids for the winter. Recipes of such dishes are sometimes supplemented with tomatoes: red or green. Then you need to cut a pound of tomato at the stage of preparation of adjika sauce and cut and place in a blender along with peppers and garlic. It turns out quite tasty and piquant.

In Georgian, but without sterilization

You can close the blue for the winter without sterilization, as they are prepared in Georgia. We take 2 kg of blue, a pound of onion, 200 grams of garlic, one and a half glasses of lean sunflower oil, a glass of wine or apple vinegar, a glass of water. From the spices we take a teaspoon of sunnel hops, as much dried cilantro, a pinch of Caucasian saffron, a little dried paprika.

Cooking

1. We prepare eggplants in advance, as in the previous recipe.
2. We make dressing: onion rings, garlic with thin plates, add other spices, mix thoroughly.
3. We prepare the marinade: half a liter of water, vegetable oil, vinegar - we mix everything and bring to a boil. Cool to a slightly warm temperature.
4. In a separate saucepan, eggplant, which has already released bitterness, is boiled for 10 minutes. We take them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the pan, where our gas station is. Mix gently so as not to disturb the shape of the blue too much (you can use your hands).
5. We put it in jars and fill it with marinade so that on top there is a kind of lock made of oil, water and vinegar.
6. We close with plastic covers and send down the refrigerator. It would be more correct to open the first jar in December - not earlier, so that the product is properly infused. But if you can’t bear it, then it is possible earlier. But usually it still doesn’t work out - such delicious things!

"Twinkle"

Very similar in taste to the previous dish and these are blue. "Spark" for the winter is preparing simply. The appetizer is spicy and savory due to the garlic and fiery pepper (hence the name) contained in the recipe.

For 5 kilograms of eggplant we take 10 chili peppers, 250 grams of garlic, 10-12 sweet peppers, 1 kilo tomato, a glass of apple cider vinegar (9%), 2 cups vegetable oil, salt to taste.

1. We prepare the blue ones, as usual, cutting them into circles (about 5 mm thick), adding salt and leaving them to release bitterness.
2. We load pepper, tomatoes, garlic in a blender or meat grinder and make mashed sauce.
3. Sauce in a saucepan, bring to a boil. We introduce vinegar and boil for 5 minutes on the smallest fire, stirring occasionally.
4. Fry eggplant in boiling lean oil.
5. In a jar we spread a layer of blue, pour in a thick sauce. Then another layer - and fill it. And so on to the top of the can.
6. We sterilize for 30-40 minutes and roll up the lids.

In tomato

If for some reason you do not tolerate spicy, you can cook blue in tomato for the winter. For these purposes, we take the same ingredients, just remove the hot peppers, and we need 2 times more tomatoes. We prepare the tomato is not sharp and pour the fried blue in the jars. Roll up after sterilization. Store in a cool dark place.