Preserving vegetables is one of the ways in which a person gets the opportunity to extend the time when he can enjoy the taste of his favorite foods. Of course, these days in stores all this is sold all year round. But nothing beats pleasure when in winter or at the festive table, you can open a jar of vegetables prepared by your own hands.
Homemade blanks
People are arranged in such a way that, even against their will, they constantly think about tomorrow. This primarily concerns housewives, for whom the desire to stockpile has become a familiar thing. Taking care to feed the family, they try to make homemade preparations whenever possible so that even in the most difficult times they do not feel a lack of certain products. This mainly concerns vegetables. The choice of object and method of processing depends on national traditions and taste preferences. For example, in Russia, canning of vegetables always began with the simplest option of pickling. It has been known since time immemorial. The most popular canned product, without a doubt, can be considered cucumbers.
They are salted and pickled in a variety of ways. For one of the most interesting options, you must have the following products: fresh cucumbers, spices for pickling and pickling, 90 grams of salt 40 grams of sugar and the same amount of vinegar, as well as dill umbrellas, horseradish leaves and a few cloves of garlic.
Preservation of vegetables is as follows:
- First, vegetables and greens must be washed, and garlic peeled.
- Then add the additional ingredients to the bottom of the jar, and then fill it to the top with cucumbers.
- Products in the bank pour boiling water. It will take about one and a half liters.
- After 15 minutes, the water must be drained and again bring it to a boil.
- Directly add the remaining ingredients to the jar according to the recipe.
- Pour boiled water repeatedly and roll up.
To cool the jars, it is better to turn upside down. This will allow the caps to undergo additional sterilization.
Alternative option
Some believe that preserving vegetables should certainly be accompanied by rolling cans with metal lids. It is believed that so products are less susceptible to external influences. However, this is not entirely true. Cucumbers stand for a long time and turn out to be no less tasty, even if you use nylon covers for canning . As an example, you can offer a recipe for which you will need: cucumbers, garlic, raspberry, currant, horseradish and cherry leaves, cloves, allspice peas and 1 dill umbrella.
By technology, such a process is no different from the previous version:
- Banks must be sterilized before work. To do this, you can hold them over steam or briefly put in the oven.
- After that, put some spices on the bottom.
- Next come the cucumbers themselves.
- Top them must be covered with the same leaves and pour out the remaining spices.
- Fill the jars with boiling water and wait 10 minutes.
- Drain the water and make a marinade from it, adding salt and sugar.
- Fill the jars to the top with this solution.
- Dip the lids in boiling water for 15 seconds, and then close the cans with them, dripping on each strong vinegar essence.
After cooling, the lids will be pressed even closer to the neck, which will exclude any penetration of air from the outside.
Winter stocks
Most often, at home, canning of vegetables is carried out for the winter. In many homes, this has become a good habit. The second most popular harvesting item is tomatoes.
There is a rather interesting option for which certain components are required: 2 kilograms of tomatoes, a glass of vegetable oil, 2 liters of water, bay leaf, 2 onions, 100 grams of salt and sugar, herbs, 90 grams of vinegar and spices.
In this case, the preservation of vegetables for the winter is performed somewhat differently:
- First you need to boil a liter of water.
- After this, it is necessary to dissolve salt, spices, sugar in it, and also add vinegar and herbs.
- The solution should boil for approximately 1 minute. Then it can be removed from the fire.
- Peel the onion and gently cut it into rings.
- Put the tomatoes in pre-sterilized jars, and then cover them with onions and bay leaves on top. If desired, you can put garlic there.
- Fill the empty space in the jars with the freshly prepared marinade.
- Cover them on top with metal caps and sterilize in a water bath for 10 minutes.
- Then you need to add vegetable oil to each jar and finally roll them up.
This preservation of vegetables for the winter can be considered over. After that, they can only be cooled and put in a cool place. And after a couple of months it will be possible to enjoy the unique taste of juicy and fragrant tomatoes.
Successful addition
The recipes for preserving vegetables are especially popular when products are cooked in natural fill.
A vivid example of such a successful combination is pepper made in tomato sauce. The list of components in this case is also small: 2 kilograms of sweet pepper, 3 kilograms of tomatoes, 40 grams of salt, 30 grams of vinegar, 150 grams of sugar and the same amount of vegetable oil, allspice and bay leaf.
The cooking procedure consists of several successive steps:
- First you need to wash the tomatoes, and then, passing through a meat grinder, transfer to a pan and cook for 40 minutes, periodically removing the foam.
- Add salt, vegetable oil, sugar to the boiling mass and wait 5 minutes until they completely dissolve.
- In peppers, remove the stalks with seeds, and then randomly cut the remaining pulp into cubes.
- Add chopped vegetables to a boiling mass and wait 10 minutes.
- Introduce spices, vinegar and let the mixture boil for another 5 minutes.
After that, the mass can be laid out in banks, rolled up and sent for storage in a cool place.
Vegetable semi-finished products
There are various reasons for preserving vegetables for the winter. Recipes are sometimes designed so that the finished product is not an independent dish, but just a semi-finished product. Take, for example, canned beets.
It is usually prepared in order to be used later as the side dish or one of the components of another, more complex dish. For such work you will need: 800 grams of fresh beets, peas, and 50 grams of salt per liter of water.
Cooking process:
- Vegetables selected for preservation must be washed, and then put them in a pan and cook in the usual way.
- After cooling, the products must be peeled.
- Then the fruits must be chopped at random.
- Boil a measured amount of water and dissolve the salt in it.
- Pieces of vegetables are folded into jars, add pepper, and then pour everything with cooked brine.
- Sterilize them for 10 minutes under the lid, and then finally cork.
This type of preservation is very convenient, since at the right time the semi-finished product is completely ready for use.
Custom Solution
As a rule, housewives canned vegetables in large volumes. For this, two- or three-liter cans are most often used. But sometimes you want to have different types of vegetables for dinner or for the festive table . We have to open several cans, which in itself is very irrational, because it is not always possible to eat their entire contents. The remaining products deteriorate and have to be thrown away. To prevent this from happening, it is better to preserve assorted vegetables for the winter.
There are many options for such a solution. One of the most popular includes the following components: 1 kilogram of tomatoes, sweet pepper and cucumbers, 2 onions, 6 dill umbrellas, a couple of heads of garlic, 8 peas of allspice, 2 carrots, a teaspoon of vinegar essence, and 2 tablespoons of sugar and salt.
To prepare such an assortment is quite simple:
- First, sterilize the dishes.
- Then you need to prepare the vegetables. After repeated treatment with water, they need to be processed: hold the cucumbers in cold water for a couple of hours, peel the garlic, and remove the seeds from the peppers.
- After this, the products must be crushed. To do this, it is better to cut the carrots into thick rings, pepper - into strips, and cut the onion into 4 parts.
- After that, all prepared ingredients need to be put in jars and pour boiling water. This will destroy putrefactive bacteria and microorganisms that may be present in them.
- After 15 minutes, the water should be drained into a pan, add sugar and salt and put on fire again.
- After boiling, introduce the essence into the solution and again pour the products with the prepared marinade.
- Now the cans need only be rolled up and wrapped in a blanket, put to cool.
This option is convenient in that it does not require additional sterilization. This can significantly save the time required for work.
Convenient option
Some housewives like another interesting way - preserving vegetable salads.
This is very convenient, because in winter the necessary components can not always be found. And in this case, opening the jar, you get not just individual products, but a ready-made full-fledged dish. For example, lecho with zucchini and eggplant. To prepare it, you need: 1 kilogram of carrots, eggplant, sweet pepper and zucchini, as well as a bunch of parsley and dill.
For the sauce: 2 kilograms of tomatoes, 2 heads of garlic, 0.5 cups of table vinegar, 5 peas of black and 4 allspice, one and a half cups of sugar and vegetable oil, 2 leaves of laurel and a teaspoon of coriander.
The process consists of several stages:
- First you need to chop the vegetables: cut the pepper into rings, eggplant with zucchini in circles, chop the greens, and grate the carrots. Prepared foods should be poured into a deep pan.
- Then you should make the sauce. To do this, the first thing you need to grind tomatoes in a blender.
- Add sugar, butter, salt and grated garlic to them.
- Add the sauce to the pan with the main products and put in a stew for an hour.
- Put the finished mass in banks and roll up.
Such a bed after cooling can stand in the basement for a long time. In winter, such a salad will be a real find.