Dogwood is one of the berries that contains a large amount of useful vitamins. In this regard, many people have a question: is it possible to freeze dogwood for the winter or is it only compote and jam? The answer to this question is quite simple; dogwood can actually be frozen.
At the same time, freezing is good because it is not subjected to heat treatment, which allows the berries to retain most of their beneficial properties. In addition, freezing helps improve the taste of dogwood.
Tips for preparing dogwood for freezing
One of the most important rules that must be followed when deciding to freeze dogwood is the correct selection and preparation of the berries necessary for this.
Before freezing berries, you must first purchase them. It is best, of course, not to buy them in large chain stores, but to collect them at your summer cottage. Dogwood is harvested in late summer and early autumn. The berry picking process may take several days. This is due to the fact that only ripe berries are suitable for freezing. Slightly unripe berries can also be collected, but they need to be spread out in a thin layer at home and wait until they are ripe.
The best and surest way to collect ripe dogwood is to lay something under the bush and shake it lightly. In this case, ripe berries will fall, and unripe ones will remain on the bush.
This method has several negative aspects, since a large number of not only ripe, but also spoiled dogwood berries will fall.
In addition, if the berries fall, they can be damaged or bruised, and this is unacceptable for freezing them whole. You can determine if a dogwood is ripe or not by taste and color. Ripe berries have a bright red color. Their taste is sweet and sour, a little tart. Outwardly, they resemble ripe cherries, but are only slightly oblong.
After the dogwood has been collected or purchased, you should not delay freezing it, as it spoils quite quickly. Before freezing, dogwood needs to be sorted out, choosing suitable berries and removing unnecessary debris (sticks, leaves, etc.). It should be borne in mind that only berries that have reached full ripeness are suitable for freezing. In addition, they should feel elastic to the touch. Also, the dogwood should not be wormy, and it should not have any kind of damage, bruises or darkening.
But, there is one exception, for example, if you decide to freeze dogwood using sugar, then you can take slightly overripe berries, but in no case rotten ones.
After the berries have been selected, they must be washed thoroughly. It is advisable to wash them in running water using a colander.
Place the washed dogwood on a clean, absorbent cloth or paper towel. Thus, he should lie there for at least 15 minutes. You can also use another drying method, for example, laying the berries on a cloth, using gentle movements so as not to damage them, wiping them, removing moisture from them. Drying the berries before freezing is necessary to remove unnecessary accumulations of water and subsequent freezing on the Dogwood.
Vegetable caviar for the winter through a meat grinder
In the proposed recipe, the emphasis is on the presence of apples, which give the preparation a piquant taste.
Please note that the recipe does not contain zucchini or eggplant. Required:. Required:
Required:
- apples - 1 kg
- bell pepper – 1 kg
- carrots - 750 g
- tomatoes - 1 kg
- onion - 1 kg
- garlic - 100 g
- sunflower oil - 100 ml
- jars need to be sterilized, lids boiled
Cooking method:
1. Pass the prepared apples and vegetables through a meat grinder: apples, carrots,
tomatoes and bell peppers.
2. Peel the garlic cloves and cut into pieces. We also chop the onion into small pieces.
3. We will cook in a cast iron pan, in which you can fry and stew. Put it on the fire, pour oil and lower the onion parts. Fry until soft (no need to fry).
4. Then add the skipped carrots to the onions and fry them together with the onions for several minutes.
5. When the carrots are fried, then lower the missing apples, mix and fry. The fact that the apples have darkened should not scare you, this is allowed.
6. Fry the vegetable mass for 3 minutes.
7. Now it’s time to add the missed tomatoes and peppers.
8. Then add the pieces of garlic and mix. Assorted caviar with garlic has a special taste.
9. Salt and mix all the vegetable mass fried over high heat. At this stage of cooking, the Assorted caviar is collected.
10. Wait for all the contents in the pan to boil. As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer until done. within 15 minutes.
11. Test the vegetables to see if they are done; they should be soft, which means they’re ready. You should like the presence of salt.
12. Place immediately into jars and roll up the lids. Wrap the jars in a warm blanket until they cool.
Freezing methods and recipes
There are several ways to freeze dogwood, of which the most common and simplest is simply placing the berries in the freezer. To do this, it is necessary, after preparing the berries, to spread them in a thin layer on any flat surface and place them in this form in the freezer.
The initial freezing time in the freezer depends on the temperature setting in it. So, if you set the temperature to -12C, then after 15–20 minutes you can take out the dogwood and start packaging it. At higher temperatures, the initial freezing time increases accordingly.
When the dogwood is frozen, it must be placed in sealable containers special for freezing, cellophane or bags special for this purpose. Please note that when packing frozen dogwood into bags, it is necessary to release the air from them and close them tightly.
It is also important to remember that you need to package it as quickly as possible to avoid thawing of the berries.
After you have packaged all the dogwood, do not forget to make an inscription on the packaging containing information about the date it was frozen. For convenience, you can immediately calculate the date when the shelf life expires.
As a rule, frozen, unprocessed berries have a shelf life of no more than 9–12 months when stored in a freezer at the appropriate temperature, that is, at -18 C and below. This method of freezing whole dogwood is used to reduce the amount of space occupied in the freezer by frozen berries.
How to choose and prepare onions correctly
To get high-quality frozen vegetables, you must adhere to several rules:
- Choose only fresh vegetables that have not lost their tissue density. The bulbs should not show rot or signs of fungus inside the bulb itself (black coating on the white flesh). There is nothing to worry about if the onion begins to sprout; in this case, it is quite suitable for freezing. Limp or drying vegetables are not suitable.
- After a thorough inspection, the bulbs are distributed according to their intended purpose: large and partially damaged ones - for slicing, small ones - for whole freezing. If the work is scheduled for the next day, the bulbs are taken out to a cool room overnight. This will make cutting the vigorous vegetable easier for the cook.
- Before cutting begins, the turnips are peeled, leaving the bottoms with roots intact, and washed well in several waters. The washed onions are laid out to dry for a couple of hours, after which they proceed directly to chopping. The consistency of grinding depends on the freezing method chosen by the cook.
Is it possible to freeze dogwood for the winter?
Freezing is the best way to store berries for a long time. It allows you to preserve the main medicinal properties, as well as almost all useful components. At the same time, taste qualities are not only preserved over time, but even improve.
In winter, frozen dogwood is perfect for preparing various compotes, jelly, fruit drinks, jams and preserves. It is also often used as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. A frozen mixture of ground berries with sugar is convenient to add to tea, porridge, or simply eat as a sweet, vitamin-rich dessert.
Freezing zucchini rings
Zucchini, frozen in the form of rings or plates, is perfect for making casseroles and hot sandwiches. They can be fried in batter and served with herbs as a separate dish.
Many housewives prefer to blanch vegetables for 3-5 minutes in boiling water before freezing. Thanks to this treatment, the fruit better retains its color and taste after defrosting. However, experts say that it is not necessary to blanch, and fresh vegetables that have not been subjected to heat treatment contain more nutrients. The choice of method depends on personal preferences and tastes.
Product selection and preparation
For freezing, only ripe berries are required - they become bright red, taste sweet and sour, slightly tart and astringent. The collection is carried out in the fall, a film is spread under the bush and it is lightly shaken - the ripe dogwood falls freely. If you purchased unripe berries, you should spread them out in a thin layer and wait a few days. Then you need to immediately begin preparing for freezing:
- Sort through the berries, remove bruised and wormy ones, as well as sticks, leaves and other debris.
- Place in a colander and rinse thoroughly with running water.
- Place on a paper towel and let dry for 15 minutes.
How to freeze dogwood at home
You can freeze the berries directly with the seeds. However, you need to do it correctly in order to preserve the maximum of vitamins and other nutrients. Freezing should be quick, so it is better to place the dogwood in the chamber in small portions.
The prepared berries should be scattered on a tray in one layer and placed in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, setting the temperature to -12 degrees. Then you need to take it out and package it, but you need to do it quickly to prevent it from thawing. Containers and bags are suitable for storage - regular cellophane or special for freezing. After filling the container with berries, you need to release all the air from it and close it tightly.
You don’t have to package the dogwood, but freeze it and store it directly on a tray. However, less berries will fit this way, and the shelf life will be reduced by 2 times.
Another way to freeze dogwood involves using sugar. Simple recipe:
- Pre-washed and dried berries need to be rubbed through a sieve with small mesh - all the seeds and skin will remain in it.
- Add sugar to taste to the resulting mass and mix thoroughly.
- Transfer the mixture to a container or ice-freezing compartments, or roll into balls, wrapping them in cling film.
The berries, ground together with sugar, need to be frozen at a temperature of at least -12 degrees for 1.5-2 hours. Then they need to be removed from the mold, put into bags and sent for long-term storage.
Methods
There are several ways to store fresh cabbage in the freezer.
Whole heads
Small and medium-sized heads are wrapped tightly in cling film. Before use, transfer from the freezer to the vegetable shelf of the refrigerator.
After the cabbage has thawed a little, remove the film and divide the head of cabbage into leaves. The uncut fork preserves the nutrients better.
There is no need to blanch after freezing. The cabbage is soft enough to wrap stuffing for cabbage rolls.
The disadvantage of this storage method is that whole heads take up a lot of space. In addition, the taste of frozen vegetables differs from fresh ones.
Leaves
Each head of cabbage purchased in a store or cut from the garden must be cleaned of contaminated upper leaves and washed. It is recommended to remove the leaves by hand rather than cut them. When in contact with metal, many plant compounds are destroyed.
Instructions:
- take medium-thick leaves;
- blanch, let them cool on the counter;
- if the leaves are large, then divide into 2 parts;
- fold the leaves into piles of 10 pieces;
- place in a bag, close tightly.
Frozen leaves are not washed before preparing cabbage rolls; they are allowed to thaw a little. Then they become soft and do not tear. One sheet defrosts at room temperature after 10 minutes.
Shredded
Prepare the heads of cabbage in the same way as for freezing the leaves. Cut in any convenient way. Place in containers or bags made of thick polyethylene. They take up little space, especially after shaping them flat.
When laying out in a container, it is recommended to compact it with a spoon so that there is less empty space filled with air.
Storing shredded cabbage in the freezer is convenient because it significantly reduces the time it takes to prepare dishes.
Unfortunately, in this form the vegetable loses its beneficial properties faster, softens more, and is not suitable for salads. Whole heads and larger pieces retain more nutrients.
How to freeze shredded cabbage for the winter, video recipe:
Storage rules
When storing, the following rules must be observed:
- The date the product was prepared should be written on each package. This will help maintain the shelf life.
- Frozen dogwood should not be placed next to meat, fish and other strong-smelling foods, otherwise it will absorb foreign odors.
- In bags, berries can be kept in the freezer for 9-12 months at a temperature of -18 degrees. Unpackaged dogwood, scattered on a pallet, can be stored for no more than six months.
- Dogwood, ground with sugar, should also be kept at -18 degrees. However, its shelf life is shorter - only 4 months.
Secrets of proper freezing
- For storage, use only fresh, firm fruits without signs of rotting. If you ignore the advice, then after defrosting you will get deformed and watery fruits.
- Nutritionists advise freezing fruits and berries without sugar, then adding them to meat or using them as a light snack.
- Take the time to place fruits and berries on a polyethylene or parchment flooring. This will make it easy to separate them if they leak juice.
- Place a note in the bag of frozen food stating the time, date and approximate expiration date.
- To prevent fruits and berries from releasing their juice, freeze them very quickly, without being distracted by other matters.
- Do not leave fruit in the freezer next to smelly foods, herbs, potatoes and meat. Such a proximity will have a bad effect not only on the smell, but also on the taste of your dessert.
- For storage, it is better to use a separate freezer, but a household refrigerator with freezer is also suitable if you do not re-freeze the food.
How to defrost dogwood
The berries need to be defrosted gradually, avoiding sudden temperature changes. First, it should be moved to the lower section of the refrigerator. There it will thaw in a few hours, after which it must be used as soon as possible, since re-freezing is not allowed. Compotes and porridges can be prepared from frozen dogwood by adding it during cooking.
If you regularly eat dogwood, your appetite will improve, heartburn will go away, vascular walls will strengthen and your blood pressure will normalize. To always have this healthy berry on hand, you can freeze it - and you can prepare vitamin compotes and other dishes all year round.
Dogwood is a small tree, up to 7 meters in height, with oblong fruits, although you can also find pear-shaped berries and ball-shaped ones. Their color ranges from light red to black.
The fruits have an original sweet and sour taste and complement many dishes favorably. They are relevant throughout the year, so it would be a good idea to freeze several containers of this wonderful berry.
What are the benefits of dogwood
Dogwood contains several different essential components, which helps support many body functions.
1 dogwood berry weighs from 2 to 6 g, the pulp in it occupies 70%. There are only 40 kcal per 100 grams of product, and the decoction contains 2 times less.
100 grams of berries contain 1.2 grams. protein, 9.8 g. carbohydrates and 85 g of water. 15% is sugar.
The greatest value in dogwood is vitamin C: There are about 100 mg of it in one hundred grams. This fruit can compete even with black currants. Of the other components identified in it:
- malic and nicotinic organic acids;
- tannin;
- essential oil;
- phytoncides;
- pectin;
- minerals: potassium and calcium, magnesium.
Among the beneficial properties are:
- choleretic;
- anti-inflammatory;
- diuretic;
- bactericidal;
- antipyretic.
Dogwood eliminates vitamin deficiency, regulates blood pressure and rids the body of toxins. It is recommended to introduce it into the nutritional system for the treatment of intestinal infections, joint and skin ailments.
It increases the tone of the vascular wall and relieves swelling. It is especially useful to include fruits in the menu for diabetes mellitus. They do not cause an increase in blood glucose levels, but activate the enzymatic activity of the pancreas.
Dogwood normalizes metabolic processes. It is successfully used as food for gout, anemia and skin diseases.
Preparatory stage
Freezing dogwood for the winter is preceded by its assembly and preparation.
It ripens in late August - early September. Of course, you can buy it at the market or supermarket, but it’s better to assemble it yourself. Only ripe fruits are suitable for freezing. They can be distinguished by their dark burgundy color and softer consistency.
Unripe fruits are pale red in color and firm to the touch. They need to be laid out on some surface and wait until they reach the desired condition.
The easiest way to harvest is to lay a piece of cloth under the tree and chicken out the dogwood. It should be taken into account that along with the ripened fruits, rotten, wormy and damaged ones will fall to the ground. This is substandard. Consequently, after picking the berries, they are sorted out, leaving only those suitable for freezing. Be sure to clean them of leaves, sticks and other debris.
The negative side of this method of collecting berries is that many of them, ripe and soft, fall to the ground, become wrinkled and deformed.
When you bring them home, do not wait too long to dispose of them. This is a perishable product and therefore cannot be stored for long periods of time.
To freeze it properly, the fruits should first be thoroughly washed. Do this in a colander. Then spread it in 1 layer on a towel and let the fruit dry well. Otherwise, excess moisture will freeze on it.
How to properly prepare ingredients and containers?
For cooking, mainly choose ripe, fleshy, elastic fruits with strong skin. But a number of recipes allow the use of slightly bruised, green, unripe or, on the contrary, overripe tomatoes. Although the most beautiful, appetizing caviar comes from red, high-quality tomatoes. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants have their stems removed and cut into pieces.
It is important to remember that all vegetables included in the snack should under no circumstances be rotten or spoiled. The jars are sterilized before sealing. To do this, use a conventional oven, steam or microwave.
To do this, use a conventional oven, steam or microwave.
How to freeze?
Dogwood is very easy to freeze at home. This is best done in the freezer, where the temperature reaches minus 18 degrees. Before loading it, you need to wash it well. Set to pre-freeze the day before. Then it is turned off and storage mode is turned on.
The berries are laid out in one layer on a board and immersed in a chamber. At this temperature, they will freeze in 20 minutes.
If you want to save space, take them out and put them in separate containers. Force out the air and close thoroughly. Do this quickly as the berries may defrost. If space allows, store them on a baking sheet. This method allows the dogwood to be frozen along with the seed.
Berries that are too ripe and soft cannot be frozen entirely, so the pit is removed from them and ground into porridge. Flatbreads are made from the mass, each is wrapped in cling film and placed in the freezer.
The ground mixture is mixed with sugar. Its quantity is determined by taste. Pour into a container and send it to the chamber.
It is quite convenient to freeze such a mixture in ice trays. When it hardens, it is taken out of the cells and placed in one container or bag. These portion cubes are convenient to use for tea or porridge.
Preparing the Freezer
Before freezing, you must also prepare the chamber. You should make room in it, and wash it if necessary. If your refrigerator has a pre-freezing function, you should turn it on a day before placing the berries. After another 24 hours, you need to turn it off and activate the storage mode. It is recommended to set the temperature in the range from -18 to -23 degrees.
