With the arrival of summer days, the first greenhouse appears in the garden beds. These are dill, celery, oregano, parsley and other herbs. Greens are rich in useful trace elements and vitamins. It can be used to season salads, soups, or simply eaten fresh. But in any case, all good things come to an end. And with the onset of autumn, the plants begin to wither. But you have the opportunity to stock up on such greens for the winter. How to properly prepare and preserve the aroma of herbs? Our article is dedicated to harvesting dill.
Methods for preparing dill for the winter while preserving the aroma
Fragrant dill is a favorite spice of all housewives. Some dishes are hard to imagine without it, not to mention the amount of beneficial minerals that help improve digestion and cleanse the blood. To preserve the greens for the winter, you need to know some of the subtleties and methods of harvesting them. Dill can be salted, dried, frozen, or simply placed in a glass container. It all depends solely on your desire. The main thing to remember is that each individual harvesting option differs in the shelf life of the greenery.
The whole difficulty of storage lies in the rapid loss of moisture. That is why it is worth knowing some of the subtleties of how to properly keep the foliage of greens fresh, fragrant and tasty.
Salting
If you decide to preserve the color and aroma of greens as much as possible, then it is best to give preference to salting. This is the perfect spice for first courses, although, for example, for cooking potatoes in the oven or meat, such herbs are also suitable.
To salt greens it is recommended:
- Prepare exclusively leaves, completely cutting off the shoots.
- Grind everything very finely and place in a glass container, sprinkling generously each layer with salt.
- After tamping the greens, close it tightly nylon cover.
- To keep the seasoning for a long time, it is recommended put on the top shelf of your refrigerator.
You can use salted dill for a whole year. But it is worth remembering that it is too salty, and when using it in a dish, gently salt the food.
Drying
Dried dill has the most aromatic spicy taste. It is customary to use it for preparing first courses.
There are several methods for drying greens. Let's consider the main options:
- can hang a pre-washed bunch of greens on a rope in a place protected from direct sunlight, wind and various insects. After a few days, the plants can be considered dried and ready for winter;
- can cut green tea into pieces and spread it out in a thin ball on a tray in a room away from direct sunlight, wind and insects. You need to wait 2-3 days, periodically shaking the greens, and then it will dry properly;
- some housewives decide to speed up the drying process. For this they dill are spread on a baking sheet and heat treated in the oven... But this method has its drawbacks. Due to the high temperature conditions, the tips of the leaves begin to turn yellow and curl. As a result, the seasoning will not be as beautiful as in the first two cases.
It is best to use special dryers for drying greenfinches. At the same time, the process of preparing greens for winter involves drying at low temperatures for a long time with mandatory ventilation.
Freezing
Freezing greens - This is one of the most popular options for harvesting dill for the winter. At the same time, herbs can be frozen chopped, in bunches and even in the form of ice cubes. In the first case, the greens are washed, dried, cut and laid out on a tray. It is recommended to periodically look into the freezer and stir the spice so that the leaves do not stick together. After a day, the tray is removed, and the greens are poured into a bag.
And you don't have to bother with cutting. To do this, the spice is tied in bunches, wrapped in plastic wrap or foil, and then hides in the freezer. Whereas dill with ice cubes is not such a common method, but very interesting. Therefore, we will consider it in more detail.
The spice can be stored frozen for 6-8 months. This time it retains all its useful and taste qualities.
How to prepare greens in ice cube trays?
- To hold finely chopped dill into ice cube trays you can use plain water, pre-melted butter or sunflower oil. It all depends on the further use of the seasoning.
- If you blender a plantthen it will drain the juice and liquid addition can be avoided. The resulting mass will have a rich aroma and pleasant taste.
Nobody forbids adding parsley or other herbs to the dill mass. These cubes are perfect for flavoring broths, soups, stews and many other dishes.
Cold storage
You can ensure the safety of dill by placing it in the refrigerator. But in this case, the aroma, useful properties and taste will remain the same only for three weeks, no more.
In this case it is worth using a regular plastic container. But it is worth placing greens in it carefully. Do not tamp the dill. Better if he lies free.
Then the greens are poured with water at room temperature so as to cover all the leaves. The container is placed in the refrigerator for six hours. And after draining the water, the greens are gently shaken and placed back in a dry container under the lid.
In no case should you put the container in the freezer, otherwise everything will become ice.
Fresh greens in jars
If desired you can ensure the safety of greenery using ordinary glass jars. They must be sterilized and always dry. A bunch of dill is placed in the container and sealed with a lid. In this form, greens can be stored for a whole month.
It turns out that you can return dill and parsley to their attractive appearance. To do this, you need to carefully dip their stems first in hot and then in cold water.
How to properly prepare dill for storage?
To prepare dill for the winter, it is important to properly prepare the greens. But everything has its own subtleties. So:
- flush greens recommended with water at room temperature. Hot water is not suitable;
- before cutting it is recommended put the greens on kitchen towelsso that it dries well;
- do not put greens in the sun, direct sunlight is our enemy;
- important protect the harvesting of greens from insects and wind... It's just not hygienic.
It is difficult to imagine dishes without herbs. These are very useful and tasty additives that a good housewife always has. To stock up on dill for the winter, you can freeze it, pickle it, dry it, or simply store it in the refrigerator. But all of this is worth doing right. Then your efforts will be rewarded, and there will be aromatic, healthy and tasty food on the table for a long time.