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Experienced cooks know that in preparing various dishes you can use not only garlic bulbs, but also the greens of this plant. Young leaves and arrows have a characteristic aroma and pungent taste. They contain many vitamins, minerals and other beneficial microelements. Garlic greens can boost immunity and have a healing effect on the human body. Such properties of the product are especially valuable in winter and spring, when various pathogenic viruses are activated and there is a lack of vitamins.
But is it possible to save garlic greens for the winter without loss of beneficial properties and how to do this? It is this question that may become relevant in the summer when young shoots form on the garlic. For diligent housewives who want to get the most out of their garden, we will try to describe in detail the various storage methods and recipes for preparing winter preparations from garlic herbs.
Garlic greens - a universal seasoning
Some gardeners specially grow garlic on their plots, cutting off a green bunch every 2 weeks and using it for food. The thing is that garlic greens contain more vitamin C than the bulbs themselves. Therefore, even if the garlic grows on a head, you should not neglect the green leaves and arrow.
The garlic arrow forms at the end of the growing season, in the summer. It is suitable for food for 2 weeks before the small bulbs on its top begin to ripen. During this period, the arrow is cut off, the top and lower rough part are removed. Young garlic leaves are also cut and used in preparing various dishes or stored for the winter. The edges and “tails” of the leaves become rough as the plant grows, so they should be removed.
Garlic greens can be used in the preparation of soups, main courses, sauces and other culinary delights. This seasoning can be an excellent addition to meat, fish or vegetable dishes, and salads. After cutting a bunch of greens from the garden, you need to lightly fry it in a frying pan, this will make it softer and more aromatic.
Preparing garlic greens for the winter
Experienced housewives offer several different ways to preserve garlic greens in winter. For example, garlic arrows can be dried, pickled, salted or frozen. Each method includes several recipes, the most popular of which we will try to give below in the article.
Drying is an easy way to preserve vitamins
It is known that during the drying process, moisture evaporates from the product, and all useful vitamins and microelements are preserved. For the winter, it is customary to dry spicy and fragrant herbs.The garlic arrow in this case is no exception.
For drying, it is preferable to use especially hot varieties of garlic. This will make the taste of the seasoning more tart and bright. The fleshy shoots of the plant are cut off before full maturity. The tip with the seeds is cut off, the remaining greens are washed with running water and dried, cut into pieces.
You can dry the arrows:
- in the oven at 400With the door ajar;
- in special electric dehydrators;
- on the tablecloth, scattering the chopped arrows in a thin layer and placing them outside in the shade.
Dry herbs can be crushed to make a bulk seasoning. It is better to store dry green garlic in an airtight container.
Freezing garlic greens
Freezing allows you to keep the product fresh and healthy for a long time. The only drawback of this storage method is the need to take up free space in the freezer.
There are several ways to how to freeze greens garlic:
Freezing in a bag
Fresh garlic herbs can be frozen without any preparation. To do this, rinse the product with running water, dry and finely chop. Pour the greens into a bag and place it in the freezer. The bag must be kneaded several times before complete freezing so that the greens are crumbly.
Batch freezing
For ease of use, garlic greens are frozen in portions in small plastic or silicone molds. To do this, pour chopped greens into molds and fill them with a small amount of chilled boiled water. The containers are placed in the freezer and after hardening, the ice cubes are taken out of the molds and placed in a plastic bag. If necessary, the housewife can add a frozen cube of herbs to the first or second dish.
Freezing fresh garlic allows you to get a fairly coarse seasoning that needs to be cooked (stewed, boiled) along with the main dish. But there are some recipes that allow you to prepare garlic greens in a certain way before freezing, giving them softness and tenderness.
Recipes for freezing
To get soft garlic arrows, you need to blanch them before freezing. To do this, the product must be washed and cut into pieces 4-5 cm long. Immerse the prepared greens in boiling water for 5 minutes, and then in very cold water until completely cooled. Such a sharp change in temperature will allow the arrows not to be completely welded, but only to make their structure softer.
Blanched arrows are slightly dried, removing excess moisture from their surface with a paper towel, after which they are placed in containers or plastic bags and placed in the freezer for subsequent storage.
There is another interesting way to freeze garlic greens for the winter. To implement this, the arrows need to be ground in a meat grinder or blender until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. A little salt and vegetable oil are added to it. After thorough mixing, the garlic paste is placed in containers with an airtight lid and placed in the freezer.If necessary, such paste can be taken with a spoon in the required quantity without first defrosting, since it will not remain completely frozen during storage.
The given freezing recipes allow each housewife, if there is free space in the freezer, to choose her own, most suitable method of storing a healthy product. It is also worth remembering that you can freeze not only garlic greens, but also a mixture of chopped greens and heads, a mixture of fragrant and spicy herbs with the addition of garlic greens.
Pickling garlic arrows
Various pickles become a real boon in winter. Among other recipes, experienced housewives know how to properly pickle garlic arrows so as to preserve their benefits. For example, the following simple recipe may be useful for novice cooks:
- Wash young garlic arrows, dry and cut into 4-5 cm pieces. Mix them with salt in a weight ratio of 5:1. For example, for 1 kg of shoots you need to add 200 g of salt. The resulting mixture should be left alone for half an hour. During this time, the greens will release juice. Fill the prepared jars tightly with arrows so that the juice completely covers the product. Hermetically sealed jars with such pickling are stored in a dark, cool place.
You can prepare pickling according to another interesting recipe that may be of interest to beginners and experienced housewives:
- Blanch the arrows, cut into 4-5 cm pieces, for 3 minutes, cool in ice water. To prepare the brine, add 25 ml of vinegar (9%) and 50 g of salt to 1 liter of water. Bring the brine to a boil. Fill clean, sterilized jars with arrows and cold brine and seal tightly. Store in the cellar.
Such simple recipes will help keep the product fresh and healthy throughout the winter. It is important to remember that pickles should be stored at a temperature of no more than +50C. If such conditions are not established in the cellar or basement, then storage is recommended in the refrigerator.
Marinating: harmony of taste and benefits
More and more often, housewives pickle garlic arrows. Such preparations combine the benefits and excellent taste of the product. Pickled arrows can be an excellent appetizer on the table or an original addition to the main dish.
You can marinate garlic arrows according to several different recipes, for example:
- Wash the green arrows and cut into long pieces. Blanch them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then cool with cold water. Prepare the brine. To do this, add 50 g of salt and sugar and 100 ml of 9% vinegar to 1 liter of water. Place 2-3 mustard peas and chopped arrows into prepared clean jars. Pour boiling brine over the ingredients. Roll up the cans.
- Grind the blanched arrows and place them in sterilized liter jars. Prepare the marinade: for 3 liters of water, 4 tbsp. l. salt, 10-12 black peppercorns, bay leaf. Add 3 tbsp to jars. l. vinegar 9% and pour boiling marinade over the arrows. Sterilize the filled jars for 15 minutes and then roll them up.
Anyone who has ever cooked and tasted pickled garlic arrows claims that it is simple, quick, and, most importantly, very tasty. Rolled jars will not take up much space and will become a real treasure in the cellar.
You can learn some other recipes for marinating this product from the video:
Conclusion
Every farmer who grows garlic on his plot should try to use healthy greens, because they are in no way inferior in their properties to the heads of this plant. Only the owner decides whether to use the product during the summer season or to prepare it for the winter. The article suggested many different methods of preparation and recipes for preparing this tasty and very healthy product.
