Our attitude to juices is ambiguous. Once juices were considered almost heavenly semolina: I drank a glass, received all conceivable and inconceivable vitamins – and walk healthy! Then nutritionists sounded the alarm – they say, vitamins are vitamins, but what do you want to do with sugar and lack of fiber, without which the juice loses the lion’s share of those beneficial properties that fruits carry?
As a result, a shaky public consensus was established on the fact that juices can be drunk, but in moderation, and preferably of high quality, and not some kind of substitute. However, all of the above applies to juices as a drink. “What else is this ?!” – another reader will be surprised. I answer patiently: first of all, juice is a concentrated taste of fruits and vegetables in liquid form, which means that it can be used as a culinary ingredient, where it can express itself much more varied than in a glass.
And so that no one can reproach me that my words are at odds with my deeds – without undue delay, I quote as many as 10 ways to use juices in your daily cooking.
Marinades
Let’s start with the most obvious options. Marinades are widely used for cooking meat and fish, less often vegetables, and the purpose of pickling is usually to soften the original product and give it new flavors. There are endless varieties of marinades based on dairy products, wine, vinegar, ready-made sauces and spices, but juices do just as well.
Everyone knows about lemon juice – like the juices of other citrus fruits, it contains a sufficient amount of acid, which, on the one hand, requires careful use when using it, and on the other hand, allows you to cook dishes directly in juice, as is done in South America when preparing ceviche … Tomato juice is an excellent base for a kebab marinade, juices from peaches and other fruits will come to the rescue if you want to marinate meat before baking a large piece.
Sauces
In essence, the marinade and sauce are brothers, if not relatives, then cousins, the only difference is that the marinade is usually used before cooking, and the sauce is usually used during or after. Of course, there are also many options for making juice-based sauce. For example, if for some reason you cannot make homemade tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, tomato juice can come to the rescue, and sauces based on fruit juices for duck and game can be attributed to everyone’s favorite classics.
Finally, it is absolutely not necessary to make a sauce exclusively from juice – even a couple of tablespoons of the right juice can improve any sauce without exception.
Soups
Not all, but some soups will benefit greatly if you add a little vegetable juice to them. This is especially true for vegetarian and lean soups, which do not spoil eaters with a variety of flavors: a small amount of juice, preferably from different vegetables, and these soups will acquire new flavors. Finally, certain types of soups, primarily cold ones, can be made entirely on a juice basis – dessert soups based on fruit and berry juices, cold summer soups on beet juice, gazpacho on tomato.
If you don’t have time to squeeze juice by hand (or you just don’t have a juicer), you can get ready-made juice from a trusted manufacturer. Granny’s Secret tomato juice works very well for gazpacho (and at the same time for Bloody Mary) – it is already balanced in salinity, sweetness and acidity, and the addition of a small amount of celery gives its taste an additional dimension and volume.
Glaze
Juice, as mentioned above, is a high sugar product. We can use this property of juices to our advantage by preparing a frosting on the basis of fruit juice with the addition of spices and, if necessary, more sugar. The further use of such glaze is entirely on your conscience. You can coat a duck or goose with such glaze when baking, you can use it to decorate desserts and sweet dishes, or you can grease baked goods with it.
The required thickness of the glaze depends on how, at what point and in what amount you intend to use it, but in any case, the glaze must be thick enough to wrap around the back of the spoon dipped into it.
Cocktails
Cocktails are perhaps the most obvious of the culinary uses for juices. Suffice it to recall the Bloody Mary I already named above, which is prepared with tomato juice, although many other classic cocktails also contain fruit or vegetable juices as one of the ingredients: somewhere this is one of the main components of the cocktail, somewhere – a small amount of lemon juice or lime, designed to give a noble sourness and soften the taste of alcohol.
But do not think that juices are needed only for alcoholic cocktails: by mixing the juice of several different fruits and adding ice, you will make your own non-alcoholic cocktail, and make homemade lemonade with soda water.
If you want to use one of the methods listed here, but are not sure where to start, here are some general tips and tricks:
- Ideally, the juice should be freshly squeezed or quality purchased.
- Do not get stuck in the usual “apple-orange-tomato” paradigm: juice can be made from any vegetables and fruits, feel free to experiment.
- If the juice is not necessary to bring to a boil – do not bring it, and if necessary – do not let it boil too intensely, this may negatively affect its taste and uniformity.
- The methods given here can give the impression that almost all the liquid needs to be replaced with juice, but this is not so – in most cases a couple of tablespoons will already make a tangible difference. Not sure about the result – start small, and next time the amount of juice can be increased.
- Juice is not only about taste, but also water and (usually) sugar, so when adding juice to a recipe, to be sure, you should reduce the content of these ingredients.
Smoothies
If you want to use one of the methods listed here, but are not sure where to start, here are some general tips and tricks:
- Ideally, the juice should be freshly squeezed or quality purchased.
- Do not get stuck in the usual “apple-orange-tomato” paradigm: juice can be made from any vegetables and fruits, feel free to experiment.
- If the juice is not necessary to bring to a boil – do not bring it, and if necessary – do not let it boil too intensely, this may negatively affect its taste and uniformity.
- The methods given here can give the impression that almost all the liquid needs to be replaced with juice, but this is not so – in most cases a couple of tablespoons will already make a tangible difference. Not sure about the result – start small, and next time the amount of juice can be increased.
- Juice is not only about taste, but also water and (usually) sugar, so when adding juice to a recipe, to be sure, you should reduce the content of these ingredients.
Smoothies at some point were declared almost an alternative to juice, but when the excitement subsided, everything returned to normal, and juices and smoothies peacefully coexist and even participate in each other’s destiny. So, for example, when making a smoothie from vegetables or fruits, you can add a small amount of juice to the blender – and then the smoothie will turn out to be more uniform and unlikely more drinkable.
Bakery products
The fact that juices can be used in baking as a glaze, I have already said above, but there are other ways to use them. So, on the basis of or with the addition of juice, you can prepare a syrup with which you are going to soak a biscuit or a rum baba, or you can completely replace some of the liquid (or even all) with juice when preparing the dough. In this case, most likely, you will need to adjust other ingredients as well – for example, reduce the amount of sugar if you use sweet juice – but your baked goods will turn out to be very original and unlike anything else.
Sorbet
The very essence of sorbet, which is a delicacy made from frozen juice, tells us that it is impossible to prepare it without juice. There are classic varieties of sorbet based on berry and fruit juices, but this does not mean that you cannot mix them or make your own, author’s sorbet from the juice that you personally like. After all, who else has to make the big decisions in your kitchen if not you?See also: Lemon sorbet
Boiling in juice
As well as stewing, glazing, sewing, cooking in souvid and all other methods of heat treatment of products in which liquid is involved. As a rule, water acts as a liquid, sometimes broth, wine or sauce, but who said that juice cannot be in their place? There are many reasons to use it. It comes to the point that in good restaurants even carrots for a side dish are allowed not in water, but in carrot juice – so that the taste of the vegetable does not leave it, but remains inside and becomes more concentrated. I do not urge you to do such things, but I assure you that by adding a little juice when cooking meat or, for example, cooking rice, you will feel all the new facets of taste that it carries in itself.
Ice cubes
Some might say that ice is not really a culinary ingredient, but using juice instead of water makes it so! Why is this needed? For example, so that ice added to a cocktail does not dilute its taste, as ordinary ice does, but develops and complements it. Simply pour the juice into an ice cube tray and place in the freezer, then use as usual.
Well, I did my job – I talked about a dozen ways of culinary use of juice, without repeating (well, almost). Now it’s up to you. Do you like juices, do you often drink them, do you use them in cooking, and if so, how?