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At the end of summer, when most of the harvest has already been harvested and stored for storage, spicy dill remains in the beds. If you put a little effort, and this fragrant greens can be kept for the winter, so that on cold days you can not feel the lack of vitamins and do not buy a bunch of greenhouse dill in the supermarket, because grown on their own patch of grass and fragrant, and more useful.
The only difficulty in storing greenery is the rapid loss of moisture. Without the use of small tricks, the tender foliage of dill can only be used for a couple of days, after which it fades, loses its flavor and taste. How to prepare dill for the winter and preserve the aroma of this spice, irreplaceable in the kitchen.
How to keep fresh fennel for the winter?
The main cause of loss of juiciness is heat and light. If you put the greens in a dark cool place, the metabolic processes in the foliage are inhibited, and the dill can be saved for considerably longer.
Therefore, dill, cleared of yellowed leaves and stiff petioles, dill in the refrigerator can be saved no longer two or three days, but up to three weeks. To do this, the greens are placed in bags or containers, tightly closed and left at a temperature of 2-6 ° C. If necessary, this dill, prepared for winter, is used for cooking both hot dishes and vegetable salads, decorating game, fish, baked meat.
In order to avoid excess moisture in the bag or container, and the condensate did not cause fennel decay, before by placing in a container the greens are laid out on a napkin or paper towel until the drops drip completely water. Such fennel can be stored and in the form of whole branches, and in the already cut form, however, in the latter case, the terms are shortened.
In addition to this method, there are others. You can keep dill fresh for the winter by placing the petioles in a pot of water, and cover the foliage with a plastic bag. In order to create a constant humidity inside, the package on a jar or glass is fixed with a thread or an elastic band.
Bundles of fresh dill in a refrigerator can be stored in wrapping paper or in several layers of paper towels. Clean leaves, together with petioles, are dried and completely wrapped in a towel. In this form, the vegetable compartment will not wither green for 7-10 days, you can extend the shelf life by additionally placing the package in a bag or film.
Experienced housewives argue that the billets from dill for the winter are better kept, if you do not wash the greens before shipment to the fridge. Indeed, this leaves a natural protective layer on the foliage, but you can use advice only In the event that dill only cools, its structure and appearance during storage is not changes. Wash the required amount of the product can be immediately before use, but the initially corrupted and yellowed parts of the plant must be removed before storage.
If fennel is to be dried, frozen or subjected to other treatments, the greens are necessarily washed and dried.
Longer use of fresh dill will help a few pieces of onions, put together with herbs in a container or bag. But no matter how fresh and juicy the dill was, it would not be possible to prolong his life for the whole winter. The maximum greenness remains fresh only until the middle of December. How to keep dill for the winter in other ways?
How to dry the fennel for the winter?
Since the pinnate delicate greens of dill quickly lose moisture, then it will not be difficult to dry this crop for future use. And you can dry the grass in several ways, and the dill, prepared for winter, without loss of taste and The aroma is stored in tightly closed containers for up to a year and can be used as an additive to hot dishes.
It is dried fennel that has the most intense flavor and taste.
And you can dry the grass without resorting to any devices and heating. How to prepare dill for the winter, preserving the aroma of a spicy plant? Portion bunches of clean greens are hung in a place protected from direct sunlight. Shredded greens spread on clean paper and left in a room or in the fresh air.
In both cases, it is important to protect dill from insects, sun and wind. Before drying the dill, it is washed and peeled. The greens left on the table are sure to stir. Depending on the initial moisture of the foliage, weather conditions and a layer of greenery after 2-3 days, the dill completely dries up and is ready for storage.
The cold actively dehydrates the foliage. At the same time, she does not lose color, taste or smell. How to dry dill in the freezer? If the ground dill is spread in a thin layer on a pallet and sent to the freezer for 2-3 days, in the winter, the hostess will have a vitamin aromatic flavoring for any home delights.
Many housewives prefer to dry the dill in the oven. This is the fastest method, but under the influence of increased temperature, the tender foliage loses most of the essential oils, turns brown or turns yellow, which indicates the destruction of tissues and the loss of useful properties.
When drying dill, it is more appropriate to use special dryers, where the process takes place at low temperatures and constant air movement.
How in the refrigerator to freeze the dill for the winter?
One of the most common ways to preserve the freshness of greenery is through exposure to low temperatures. Frozen dill can be both in cut form, and in the form of whole beams. How to freeze fennel in the refrigerator for the winter? Washed and sorted greens are dried, put into containers or bags and put in a freezer.
Do not use large containers, because the vegetables and greens are not re-frozen and should be used as soon as possible.
Frozen foliage of dill retains its properties, including taste and smell, up to 6-8 months. And using this method, you can provide a vitamin supplement to the dishes until the next summer season.
Small bundles can be wrapped in food film. Good preserves dill and conventional foil.
Frozen chopped dill in the forms for ice is gaining popularity. How to keep dill for the winter in such an easy-to-use form?
- If the leaves are preliminarily finely chopped with a knife, then to fix the green mass in a small volume of the mold will help ordinary water, melted butter or vegetable oil. In this case, 2 parts of grass and one part of the filler are used. After solidification, these cubes are transferred to a bag and stored at minus temperatures up to 4-6 months.
- If in the combine or blender the green is ground to a puree state, due to the appeared juice, it is not necessary to add water or oil. Green cubes are homogeneous, have a vivid taste and a rich flavor of fresh dill.
It is not necessary to make cubes from only one dill. For the aromatization of broths, stews, sauces and other dishes, you can select compositions from your favorite herbs and spices.
For example, for mushroom soup, the spicy-flavor mixture, except dill, can include parsley, basil and a little thyme. In a borsch in winter it is good to add a cube not only with greens of dill prepared for the winter, but also parsley, chopped sweet pepper and garlic.
How to keep dill for the winter in a salty form?
To maximize the taste, color and smell of dill collected from the vegetable garden, the greens are salted. An ancient way helps today. Salted dill is a perfect dressing for all hot dishes.
- Before preserving the dill for winter with the help of table salt, fresh fennel is selected without stiff petioles and shoots.
- Raw materials are washed, dried and stacked in glass jars, layerwise pouring salt.
- The contents of the containers are compacted, and when the separated juice covers the greens, cover them with lids.
- Pickles are stored in the cold and used as needed to add flavor and flavor to soups and side dishes.
If desired, the greens and salt before shredding in cans are crushed and mixed in a blender, after which the mass is decomposed into clean jars.
Pickled dill
Dill is an indispensable spice, when housewives pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and mushrooms. But the second-star greens are worthy of becoming an independent dish. To marinate the dill, select only the luscious greens without umbrellas and coarse stems. Vegetable raw materials are washed, stacked in small jars and filled with a hot marinade. After sterilization, the jars are closed and sent to a cool storage place. You can serve snacks with fried meat and game, mushrooms and other marinades. Such a dill from the dill for the winter will add spice to the vinaigrette, pickle, dishes from beans and potatoes.
