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In the traditions of cuisine, various pickles have played a significant role for centuries. Differing in delicious taste, they also have a beneficial effect on the vital activity of the human body. Pickles are not only a source of vitamins in winter, but also accelerate enzymatic processes during digestion. They are best combined with fatty and meat dishes, as they facilitate their digestion. But the role of salted and pickled vegetables during fasting is also difficult to overestimate.
Salted green tomatoes are the most typical example of pickles. Indeed, it is in Our Country, because of its unstable and cold climate, that at the end of summer, on the eve of autumn cold weather, gardeners have to remove green tomatoes from the bushes in large numbers and think about what to do with them next. Well, salting green tomatoes for the winter allows you to save almost any number of tomatoes at no extra cost, especially if you live in a house with a cellar where you can easily store any amount of winter preparations.
Naturally, many novice gardeners have a logical question about how to salt green tomatoes for the winter? It is this question that will be answered in detail in the course of the article, and several recipes for making salted tomatoes will be given. After all, this process itself can be called creative, because by skillfully selecting various spices and spices for pickling green tomatoes, you can significantly modify the taste of the finished dish. Well, in winter, you can put a salad with salted tomatoes on the table, or serve them as a separate excellent snack, especially if you season them with oil and fresh herbs.
Recipe “At the origins of salting”
Perhaps, according to this recipe, your great-great-relatives also salted green tomatoes. And even then they knew and took into account many subtleties that can affect the taste and quality of green tomato blanks.
Secrets of Delicious Tomatoes
Although in those days they preferred to use exclusively wooden utensils for pickling tomatoes: a variety of barrels and tubs, in the modern world glass utensils are more popular. Because it is easier to clean, wash and sterilize. If you are thinking about how to pickle green tomatoes in large quantities, then you can use enameled buckets and even large 20-30 liter pots for pickling.
Well, if you manage to get a real oak barrel for pickling green tomatoes, or at least a small barrel, then the taste of the finished tomatoes will be, as they say, “you will lick your fingers”.
True, the degree of maturity, and the size of the green tomatoes themselves, still matters. Very small and dark green tomatoes are most likely not suitable for pickling. They still contain too much solanine, a substance that is toxic to humans, but is destroyed by hot water and saline. Experience shows that the most delicious pickled tomatoes are obtained from light green, almost white or even already brownish tomatoes.
A variety of spices play an important role in obtaining the unique taste of salted tomatoes. They largely determine the quality of the finished dish. For example, herbs such as blackcurrant, cherry, oak and horseradish leaves increase the shelf life of pickles and make them crispy. Basil, parsley, dill, tarragon and savory – give the aroma of green tomato dishes a kind of spicy notes, mustard seeds, garlic, pepper and horseradish roots improve the taste, and celery, black pepper, coriander and the same basil have a beneficial effect on digestion.
Finally, there are some factors that are unusual for the rational mind, which nevertheless have long been taken into account when harvesting pickles. It has long been noticed that pickles made on the full moon are not very tasty and spoil rather quickly. For example, vegetables become soft and rather tasteless.
cold pickling process
The recipe for pickling green tomatoes is simple and difficulties can arise only with finding some spices and seasonings. However, you can always start with what you have on hand, and then add more rare herbs if possible.
On average, for 10 kg of green tomatoes, you will need to cook:
- Several dozen leaves of cherry and black currant;
- 5-6 leaves of laurel and oak;
- 200 g of inflorescences and dill herbs;
- Several varieties of spicy greens, 100 grams each (parsley, celery, basil, tarragon, marjoram, savory);
- A few leaves of horseradish;
- If desired, horseradish root, cut into small pieces, a few pods of hot pepper, a few tablespoons of mustard seeds and a few heads of garlic;
- 10 peas of allspice and black pepper.
For salting green tomatoes in the first way, only the tomatoes themselves, spices and salt are needed, which is poured into the container in the process of dense packing of peeled and washed tomatoes with herbs. At the same time, salt consumption per 10 kg of green tomatoes is approximately 1,1-1,2 kg.
Salting tomatoes in this way is the easiest way. From above, it is enough to put oppression in the form of a stone or a jar filled with water. If after a few days the juice that comes out of the fruit is not enough to completely cover all the tomatoes, then the required amount of 7% brine must be added to the container from above (that is, use 70 g of salt per 1 liter of water). In the room, such tomatoes should be no more than three days, after which they must be moved to a cool and dark place. The taste of salted tomatoes cooked in their own juice without pouring, of course, cannot be compared with pickled ones, and in terms of usefulness, such a product is superior to preparations that use vinegar.
To salt green tomatoes using cold filling, first prepare the brine, with a strength of at least 7%.
Green tomatoes tightly packed in a suitable container, lined with spices on all sides, pour cold brine and leave in the kitchen for 5-6 days. Next, the workpiece must also be moved to a cool place.
Tomatoes harvested in any of these ways can be tasted after 2-3 weeks, but they will acquire a full bouquet of taste and aroma in 5-6 weeks.
Tomatoes “You’ll lick your fingers”
In urban areas, the easiest way to cook salted green tomatoes according to the recipe with the tempting name “You’ll lick your fingers.” After all, according to this recipe, tomatoes are cooked immediately in glass jars, so they take up little space and can be stored in a conventional refrigerator. In addition, granulated sugar and mustard powder are added to spices, which makes green tomatoes very tasty.
Despite the tasty name, the recipe is very simple and for it you need to find:
- 2 kg of green tomatoes;
- 4 pieces of currant leaves and 6 pieces of cherry;
- 80 grams of dill;
- A couple of oak leaves and horseradish;
- a tablespoon of coriander seeds;
- 50 gram of garlic;
- 6 peas of black pepper;
- 2 Cloves;
- 2 liters of water;
- 40 grams of salt and sugar;
- 10 grams of mustard powder.
All spices and herbs with vegetables must be washed well and dried a little. In a clean jar, fill the bottom completely with the leaves of spicy plants, add half a serving of garlic, coriander and pepper.
Then pack green tomatoes tightly to the middle of the jar, put another layer of spices, tomatoes again and cover all the remaining spices and herbs on top. According to the recipe for preparing the brine, add salt and sugar to the water, boil, and when the brine cools down a bit, add mustard powder to it.
Pour the cooled, strained brine over the jars with the stacked tomatoes so that they are completely covered with it. Place a lid or plate with a weight on top. After 3-4 days, pickles can be sent to the refrigerator.
Winter preparations according to this recipe can even be stored in normal room conditions if you pour hot brine over the tomatoes, let them stand for 15 minutes, drain the brine, boil it again and pour it over again. It is enough to repeat this procedure 3 times, after which the banks can simply be rolled up.
Having tried once to pickle at least a small amount of green tomatoes for the winter, you will see that they disappear faster than all the other pickles prepared for the winter. And, perhaps, next year you will already be ready in advance for large volumes of blanks.
