How to prepare cauliflower for the winter

The most elegant vegetable in our garden is cauliflower. Her blossoms will decorate any dish, especially when paired with broccoli. And it’s not even worth talking about the great taste and benefits of this vegetable, because it contains many times more useful elements than its protein relative. Having a good harvest, I want to keep it as long as possible. Therefore, it is customary to freeze cauliflower, dry, ferment, pickle and pickle for the winter. But how to properly harvest it, tell our useful tips.

How to choose cauliflower

Before you begin harvesting, you need to choose the right product - cauliflower. For this purpose, it is necessary to choose only selected inflorescences that do not have unnecessary inclusions, without pests and their traces. In addition, the vegetable must be ripe, with uniform white or cream inflorescences.

Before conservation, the heads are cut into small pieces or simply broken open by hand.

Product freeze

As a rule, white cabbage is not frozen for winter, but cauliflower tolerates frost perfectly and does not lose its beneficial qualities or great taste.

Fresh

It is possible to freeze this vegetable both in a raw, and in thermally processed. In order to freeze fresh inflorescences, they are briefly placed in salted water so that the flies and caterpillars, which could settle in the head, surfaced.

After a time, the inflorescences are washed in running water, disassembled into pieces and laid out on a terry towel so that they dry out. After that, the flakes are placed in a bag or a special container and placed in a freezer.

Boiled

You can blanch the inflorescences in acidified water before freezing (15 g of citric acid hydrate for three liters of water).

This water is boiled, lowered into it for 3-5 minutes, slices of vegetable and thrown into a colander.After the liquid has drained, the inflorescences are laid out in bags and put in the freezer.

This species of the Romanesco family is perfectly combined and stored along with other vegetables (broccoli, peas, asparagus).

Pickling

You can use this method of preserving cauliflower blossoms for the winter, as pickling. And thus harvested vegetables resemble to taste pickled mushrooms. Recipe number 1. For procurement required:

• cauliflower forks;
• black pepper-peas - 6 pcs .;
• allspice - 6 peas;
• Carnation flowers - 2-3 pcs .;
• chilli (Bulgarian) pepper - 1 pc .;
• bitter red pepper - 1 pc. (the amount depends on the desired sharpness of the final product);
• dry dill - 2 sprigs;
• bay leaf - 1-2 pcs .;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• Table vinegar - 2 tsp;
• granulated sugar - a tablespoon.

You should immediately prepare the container - banks with lids. They need to be thoroughly washed, scalded with boiling water and allowed to dry. At the bottom of each jar they spread dill, bay leaf and peppercorns.

Garlic is cut in half and put in a jar. Bitter pepper is also placed there.

With the fork cut off the inflorescences, cut into half rings Bulgarian pepper and put these ingredients, alternating layers.

All this is poured boiling water and left for 10 minutes to warm up the buds. Then the water is poured into a saucepan, boil and again poured into jars. Again leave for 10 minutes and poured into the pan. In the remaining ingredients without water, add 2 tsp of vinegar and begin to prepare the marinade. To do this, take a tablespoon (without a slide) of salt and sugar per liter of water and add them to a saucepan with drained water, bring it to a boil.

After the salt and sugar dissolve, pour the vegetables with this marinade and tightly close the lid.

Banks set aside and cover with a dense cloth.

Recipe number 2. Pink preservation. In fact, this recipe is very simple, and the glamorous shade of the vegetable becomes due to the beets. For conservation will need:

• average cabbage forks (700-800 g);
• small beets;
• bay leaf - 1 pc;
• black pepper-peas - 5 pcs .;
• allspice - 5 peas;
• coriander seeds - 1 pinch;
• 9% solution of acetic acid - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• water - 1 l;
• 1 tbsp. spoonful of salt and sugar.

The forks are washed out and disassembled into inflorescences, dipped in boiling water for 1 minute and dipped in ice water. Beets are peeled and cut into strips (grated for Korean carrot). In sterilized jars compact, up to the top spread the beets and cabbage. And the first and last layers - beets. Lent proceed to the preparation of brine.

Sugar, spices, salt are added to the water and set on fire to dissolve the salt and sugar. At the end add vinegar.

The resulting brine is poured vegetables, cover with a lid, sterilized for 15-20 minutes and rolled. After this, the banks are turned over, wrapped in cloth and left to cool completely.

It is necessary to store the blank in a dark cool place (better - in the basement). And if the jar is swollen, you can put it in the fridge or open it, drain the marinade, boil it and roll up the billet again.

Pickling

Salted cabbage is the best preservation for winter. And there are many recipes for how to taste crispy vegetables in the middle of a cold winter. We describe only the most popular.

• Recipe number 1. The easiest.Ingredients: cauliflower head; 1000 ml of water; 3 tbsp. spoons of salt, vinegar.

The head of the main ingredient is thoroughly washed, divided into pips and dipped for 5-7 minutes in heated water with vinegar. After that, the vegetable is pulled out, cooled and laid out on the banks.

Salt is added to a pot of water and vinegar and kept on the fire until dissolved. After that, remove from heat and cool. Banks are poured with this brine and put on sterilization. After 2 days, sterilization is repeated. Store in a cool dark place.

• Recipe No. 2. Ingredients: cauliflower - 3 kg; carrot - 500 g; water - 1 l; salt - 50 g; black pepper-peas - 5 pcs .; celery, greens, leaves of black currant and grapes - to taste.

Separate the inflorescences, rinse well under running water and leave to drain. Carrot cut into slices. Put the leaves of currants and grapes on the bottom of the jar, then put the vegetables. From above the mass is covered with greens and poured with brine.

Banks are covered with parchment paper, the neck is tied up and sent to a cool place.

Sauerkraut

A wonderful option for a table in the winter is sauerkraut. Moreover, the color is not at all inferior in taste to white.

• Recipe number 1.Products: 1.5-2 kg of cauliflower; small beets; medium carrot; 2-3 cloves of garlic; 4-7 black peas and 3 sweet peppercorns; 1.5 liters of water, 100 g of salt and 0.5 cups of granulated sugar.

The main ingredient is taken apart and washed. Beets and carrots are cleaned and rubbed on a large grater. All vegetables are placed in a jar, garlic is added there and everything is poured with hot pickle.After that, the banks are cleaned in a dark place for a few days (usually 3-4 days are enough). After the vegetables are fermented, the cans are covered with a capron lid and put into the refrigerator or cellar.

• Recipe number 2. The easiest option for those who do not like spices and appreciate only the taste of this cabbage representative. Products: cauliflower - 10 kg; water - 5 l; salt - 400 g; vinegar - 400 g

Forks are divided into wobs, washed and tightly placed in jars.

Brine is prepared from salt, vinegar and water and cooled.

The inflorescences are filled with this brine, and the jars are left at room temperature for two weeks for the starter. After that, they are cleaned in a cold place.

For taste, 100 grams of crushed walnuts can be added to the starter.

Salads

If you like preservation, then you can prepare an interesting salad of vitamin cauliflower for the winter, which will delight anyone who prefers this vegetable.

• Recipe No. 1. Ingredients: 1.5 kg (or 2 fork) cauliflower; 1 kg of tomatoes; medium carrot; 50 g of salt; 200 ml of lean (better - sunflower) oil; Bulgarian pepper; 100 grams of vinegar; 100 g of sugar, parsley, garlic.

All vegetables are washed and dried. The head is divided into knots, which are boiled in salted water for 5 minutes and reclined in a colander.

Carrots are cut into thin slices or cubes, and Bulgarian pepper - into strips.

Tomatoes scroll through a meat grinder, chopped dill and parsley. All vegetables, except cabbage, are laid out in a large saucepan, oil, salt, granulated sugar, vinegar is added and everything is put on the fire. After boiling, put the cabbage into the pan and boil for 15 minutes.

The resulting salad is tightly spread in sterilized jars, which are rolled, turned over, wrapped in cloth and set aside in a dark place until completely cooled.

• Recipe number 2.Products: cauliflower, carrots, citric acid. Vegetables can be taken in any quantity.

Plugs disassembled on the buds, boiled water over and placed in a wide container. Carrots are grated on a Korean carrot and added to cabbage. All ingredients are mixed, salted and laid out in jars, in which water is poured, and all this is put to sterilization for 15 minutes. Before rolling in cabbage salad for the winter, one-third of a teaspoon of citric acid is added to the jars, then rolled, turned over, covered with a blanket and left to cool completely.

In winter, you can add garlic and mayonnaise to this salad.

Useful and tasty cauliflower, subject to the rules of harvesting for the winter, which are mentioned in recipes, will remind you of the past summer in the cold winter. And you will always have something to please your loved ones.