Tomatoes, along with cucumbers, are among the most beloved vegetables in Our Country, and many different methods are used to preserve them for the winter. But, perhaps, not everyone knows that not only ripe red, yellow, orange and other multi-colored tomatoes, but also unripe, green ones can be stored for the winter.
Unlike their mature counterparts, they cannot be eaten immediately, since they still contain a high content of a toxic substance – solanine. But they are ideal for various preparations for the winter. After all, there are two main ways to neutralize solanine: either soak green tomatoes for several hours in salt water, or subject them to heat treatment, such as blanching. Therefore, both the method of pouring hot brine and the cold salting of green tomatoes are equally suitable so that the preparation for the winter no longer contains toxic substances at all, but, on the contrary, would please with its taste and content of useful elements.
Many people prefer to prepare vegetables, and, in particular, green tomatoes without vinegar, rightly believing that vinegar does not always improve the taste of finished products, and besides, it may not be useful for every stomach. And there are many similar recipes, so there is always plenty to choose from.
Standard cold pickle recipe
If you seriously decide to start harvesting green tomatoes for the winter, then the simplest and most attractive way to make them involves the use of the so-called cold pickling.
Well, the taste of such a dish is in no way inferior to the famous pickles, but you can crunch them to your heart’s content, unlike their soft ripe counterparts.
Since the green tomatoes themselves have a fairly neutral, only slightly sour taste, they readily absorb all the aromas and taste characteristics of the spices that accompany them. That is why it is so important to use as many different herbs and spices as possible, remembering that in this case there cannot be too many spices.
Below is a list of spices that are highly desirable to use when cold pickling green tomatoes. The quantity is indicated approximately for 10 kg of tomatoes. If some spices cause you rejection, you can safely do without them.
- Dill (grass and inflorescences) – 200 g;
- Parsley – 50 g;
- Basil – 50 g;
- Celery – 50 g;
- Kinza – 50 g;
- Marjoram – 25 g;
- Tarragon (Tarhun) – 25 g;
- Savory – 25 g;
- Horseradish leaves – 4-5 pieces;
- Horseradish rhizomes – 100 g;
- Cherry leaves – 15-20 pieces;
- Blackcurrant leaves – 15-20 pieces;
- Oak leaves – 5-6 pieces;
- Laurel leaves – 5-6 pieces;
- Black peppercorns – 10-12;
- Allspice peas – 12-15;
- Garlic – 1-2 heads;
- Hot pepper – 2 pods;
- Carnation – 5-8 pieces;
- Mustard seeds – 10 g;
- Coriander seeds – 6-8 g.
The process of cold salting is quite simple. It is only necessary to choose a container of a suitable size, focusing on the number of green tomatoes that you have available.
Prepared dishes must be thoroughly washed and disinfected by scalding with boiling water.
The tomatoes themselves are also well washed in several waters and dried. If you want to try the first pickled tomatoes in a few weeks, then prick the tomatoes in several places with a fork or needle, or even cut them. In this case, they will be salted much faster, but they will be stored for a maximum of several months.
If, on the contrary, it is in your interest to keep the tomatoes as long as possible until spring, then you should not damage their shell. In this case, it makes sense to try cooked tomatoes no earlier than 1,5-2 months from the moment of pickling.
Lay the bottom of the cooked dishes with a mixture of spices and lay green tomatoes tightly, pouring and shifting them with spices. When the dishes are almost completely filled, you can fill everything with brine. The recipe calls for brine water to be boiled with salt, unless you have access to clean spring or well water. Take 70 g of salt per liter of water used. After boiling the brine, it must be cooled and filtered.
If you use spring water, then you can sprinkle the tomatoes themselves with salt and pour them on top with clean cold water. Now the tomatoes are covered with a clean cloth, and a flat bowl with a load is placed on top.
Pickled green tomatoes can be kept in the room for no more than 5 days. Then they must be moved to a cold place – in a cellar or basement.
Salad “New Year’s”
According to this recipe, it is quite easy to prepare a green tomato salad for the winter without vinegar. The dish turns out so beautiful and delicious that it is quite worthy to be a decoration of your New Year’s table.
Prepare:
- Green tomatoes – 6 kg;
- Green apples – 2 kg;
- Onion – 1 kg;
- Sweet bell pepper, preferably red and orange -1 kg;
- Carrots – 2 kg;
- Salt – 100 grams.
All vegetables with apples are washed and de-seeded. Tomatoes are cut into thin circles – they will retain their shape due to the density of unripe fruits.
Peppers and carrots are cut into strips, and apples are cut into thin half-slices. All components mix well with salt in a separate bowl. Then cover them with a towel and leave for about 6-8 hours in a warm room. Can be left overnight.
During this time, a brine is formed in the vessel from the juice of vegetables. You will use it last when seaming. The next step is to prepare a large deep frying pan and a cauldron. Pour two glasses of any vegetable oil into it, heat it up and put green tomatoes, peppers, apples and carrots without brine into the oil with a slotted spoon. Pour everything on top with one glass of granulated sugar and mix. Bring to a boil.
During this time, prepare sterile jars, preferably small, about one liter. Arrange a mixture of vegetables and apples in jars, pour brine. Finally, lettuce jars must be sterilized for about 20 minutes and only then rolled up.
You can store such a blank of tomatoes in a normal room, not necessarily in the cold.
spicy tomatoes
Cold-salted tomatoes acquire a very bright and interesting taste when they are cut in various ways and stuffed with all sorts of delicious fillings.
When the tomatoes are tightly packed in a suitable container, they are poured with ordinary brine and placed on top of a plate or on a lid. In the future, everything happens approximately, as in the case of the first recipe. The readiness of tomatoes can be checked already a couple of weeks after salting, so this method can be safely called accelerated.
If the previous recipe was designed mainly for the female and even children’s part of the population, then these tomatoes with garlic should appeal to the strong half of humanity.
So, to prepare a spicy green tomato appetizer, look for:
- 3 kg of green tomatoes;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 3 pods of hot pepper, preferably red;
- 100 grams of celery and parsley;
- 2 tablespoons of mustard seeds;
- 100 grams of horseradish rhizomes and a few of its leaves;
- 50 gram of sugar.
To begin with, garlic, pepper, herbs, and horseradish rhizome are crushed through a meat grinder. Of course, you can just finely chop all the vegetables and herbs with a knife. Mustard seeds and granulated sugar are added to them and everything is thoroughly mixed.
Tomatoes, as mentioned above, can be cut into halves not completely, but you can simply cut into several parts. Further, the entire herbal-vegetable mixture is added to the tomatoes, and they are, as it were, coated with it from all sides. In this form, green tomatoes should stand for about an hour while the brine is being prepared. This recipe uses a fairly standard concentration of brine – 1-50 grams of salt is added per 60 liter. Pour tomatoes in vegetable seasoning with cold brine and send everything, as usual, under oppression.
Using the recipes above, you are unlikely to let unripe tomatoes now go to waste, which you may not have previously been able to find a use for. And your stock of blanks for the winter will be replenished with delicious and vitamin snacks.
