Harvesting sorrel for the winter freezing recipes. Proper freezing of sorrel

In early spring, sorrel is one of the first to appear on our table. Useful, juicy grass has a lot of fans who want to eat dishes with its content. all year round. With the help of freezing, you can enjoy fragrant treats even in winter. How to freeze correctly, what methods of freezing exist, we will talk in this article.

Sorrel is a perennial herbaceous plant. The leaves are fleshy, have an oblong shape. Since the plant contains vitamins and minerals, it is used not only in cooking, but also for the treatment and prevention of many diseases.

Bright green sorrel leaves have a specific sour taste. Produces restorative action on the body. Such an effect is explained by the content of a rich complex of vitamins: B1, B2, PP, K, A, C, E. The herb contains copper, potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese, fluorine, sodium, therefore it has healing qualities.

Vitamins, minerals, organic acids will help to cope with beriberi, anemia, increase hemoglobin levels. Recipes can be found traditional medicine recommending tinctures of sorrel as a remedy for inflammation and to stop bleeding, heal wounds. Sorrel eases the load on female body during hormonal changes.

Sorrel is used for the prevention and treatment of diseases, namely:

• normalizes the work of the stomach and intestines;
• activates metabolism;
• fights hemorrhoids, scurvy and malfunctions in the genitourinary system;
• helps to get rid of cough or sore throat;
• strengthens the cardiovascular system;
• relieves gynecological disorders.

There are many varieties of sorrel - cultivated and wild. Garden varieties are considered useful. By taste and set useful substances more delicate greenery overtaken by their wild relatives. Therefore, use as a traditional medicine and component culinary specialties only cultivars.

Preparation

Not everyone knows whether it is possible to freeze sorrel fresh? It turns out that the plant perfectly retains the taste and beneficial features after freezing. This is the easiest way to harvest spicy greens for the winter. Freezing seasonings for the winter allows you to save:

• vitamins and nutrients;
• peculiar sour taste;
• the color and aroma of the fresh plant.

It does not require salt and sugar. When freezing, no preservatives are used. Avoid the labor involved in applying and sterilizing jars and save time. The procedure is simple and can be done at home.

Experienced housewives recommend freezing sorrel in portions. One frozen briquette is enough for a one-time preparation of soup, cabbage soup, borscht or vegetable salad.
Harvesting starts in May. Choose young juicy leaves that have retained tenderness and rich light green color. This seasoning is more useful. Late harvest (July–August) loses flavor due to oxalic acid buildup.

The procedure for preparing sorrel for freezing is as follows:

• sort out the leaves, remove damaged, sluggish and yellowed leaves;
• wash with running water;
• shake off the bundle from excess moisture;
• lay out on towels to dry;
• chop the herb (optional).

The secret of proper preparation is freezing dried, slightly damp sorrel!

Most housewives prefer to cut off the stem, as it is rough and hard. However, in terms of useful properties, it is not inferior to the foliage plate. Therefore, make your own decision - cut off the stem or leave it.

Used for cutting different ways grinding. Most prefer to cut with a knife. But you can grind with a food processor or blender.

Freezing methods

To freeze sorrel for the winter, use disposable bags, briquettes, cling film or plastic containers. Prepare the place in advance freezer. Among the ways to freeze greens:

• cutting into strips or pieces;
• in the form of whole leaves;
• puree preparation;
• fresh or blanched.

lovers vegetable salads prefer to freeze whole leaves to preserve vitamins and minerals. But in the future, cutting the ice cream sheet may cause difficulties, and storage of the sheet mass takes up a lot of space. The package with chopped sorrel is more compact.

A common way is to freeze sorrel in bags. You can use single bags or specialized vacuum bags. Spread the chopped greens in separate portions and release the air. Try to seal the bags tightly to avoid absorbing foreign odors.

For puree, skip spicy herb through a grinder. Distribute the resulting slurry in special molds of small sizes, and place in the chamber. Transfer the frozen cubes to a bag or tray.

If there is not enough space in the freezer, prepare blanched herbs. After such processing, the green mass decreases. Briquettes will take up less space in the freezer.

The order of preparation is as follows:

• Immerse finely chopped leaves in a container with a small amount of water;
• blanch over low heat until the leaves soften and juice is released (2 minutes);
• leave to cool completely;
• Arrange in trays (containers, forms) and place in the freezer.

The disadvantage of this method is that it is lost most of minerals and vitamins, the taste deteriorates.

Remember! Re-freezing is not allowed! Use the extracted portion immediately.

For a variety of dishes, you can freeze with the addition of other spicy greens. For example, before freezing in forms, nettle, onion feathers, garlic, parsley, cilantro or dill are added to blanched sorrel.

Behind frozen sorrel stored in the freezer of the refrigerator for a year. During this time, the color of greenery may change slightly, but the beneficial properties will remain unchanged.

Using frozen sorrel

No need to defrost sorrel before cooking. When thawing, the taste and quality value will deteriorate. Take it out of the freezer while cooking.

Harvested sorrel is used similarly to fresh:

• for first courses: borscht, cabbage soup and sorrel soup;
• for baking: pies, pies;
• in vegetable salads.

Sorrel puree or chopped leaves are dipped into the broth without defrosting. When preparing the filling for baking, briquettes with blanched greens are thawed and combined with egg, rice.

Choose the blank option of your choice. But keep in mind how you use it. If you plan to cook cabbage soup from frozen sorrel, then freezing chopped greens in a bag will do. If you decide to surprise your guests with a unique snack, then freeze chopped sorrel in butter.

Preparation of sorrel in frozen form - great alternative canning. You do not need to waste time on vegetable seamings. Quick and easy, and most importantly - without loss of nutrients and vitamins.

How to freeze sorrel for the winter to keep the maximum benefit? Despite the ease, the harvesting process has its own nuances. Be sure to remove all flower stalks, they are tough and can give bitterness in ready dish. The leaves can be cut and folded into bags as in the video recipe or thermally processed. This will reduce the volume of greens by 3 times, which is especially true if you have a small freezer.

You can store in any form: leave the leaves whole, cut into pieces or chop with a blender. Finely chopped sorrel is suitable for pies, but large sorrel will be good for making soup and salads. Be sure to include a note with the name of the product and the date of preparation in the bag.

How much can be stored

Stored in the freezer for 4-5 months if properly temperature regime-18 degrees. Therefore, it is advisable to use sorrel of summer sowing, so that it is enough for the whole winter. If the sorrel is stored for more than six months, then it will change its bright green color to marsh and lose some of its nutrients.

In what container to store

Regular cellophane bags will do. The air must be released, and the workpiece itself should be rolled up with a tube. If you decide to freeze with other greens, then you can portion it in portions in disposable cups. When preparing a dish, you will not need to take out the entire package, but immediately take the finished portion.

In winter you can pamper yourself summer meals and fight beriberi thanks to home-made frosts in the refrigerator, which retain all the vitamins. Cook with love and for the joy of loved ones.

There are housewives who are wondering if it is possible to freeze sorrel for the winter at all? And will the beneficial properties of this plant be preserved when exposed to low temperatures?

Reference. These greens are rich in vitamin C, ascorbic acid, vitamin B1, K, essential oils, carotene, organic acids and minerals. Sorrel helps to improve the functioning of the digestive tract, eliminate toxins, has choleretic action and helps against inflammation.

Freeze the vegetable so that it does not lose its useful qualities, Maybe, only for this should be given Special attention his preparation.

How best to process and properly store at home?

In order for the frozen sorrel prepared for the winter to be stored for a sufficiently long time, you must first sort it out, select whole leaves. It is advisable to use freshly harvested greens so that as many vitamins as possible are preserved in it. It is better to get rid of yellowed and damaged parts, because they can adversely affect the harvesting process.

Cultivated sorrel is most suitable for freezing thanks to their large sizes and softness. But other types are also acceptable for this.

Collect greens should be before the arrows appear on the leaves.

Before freezing sorrel, it must be washed well. clean water, or soak in some deep dish in cold water. After a while, all the dirt will be on the surface of the water. After washing, the vegetable must be dried.. If this is not done, then excess liquid will freeze with it. The leaves can be laid out on a towel until the moisture disappears.

Once they are dry enough, you can start grinding them. Some are not entirely clear whether to freeze the stems along with the leaves? If they are not very rough, then you can add them. Rough ones are not recommended because they will give a bitter aftertaste.

After the harvesting is over, you need to choose a method for freezing the plant.

Regular freezing of a fresh plant in bags

This method is easy to perform and does not require special skills.. No additional costs are needed.

The disadvantage is that previously defrosted greens cannot be re-frozen, because the beneficial properties will be lost. Therefore, always keep the temperature low.

Ingredients:

• a large pile of young sorrel;
• packing bags for products.

Cooking method:

1. Pack finely chopped sorrel into bags so that each has a serving for 1-2 dishes.
2. Wrap the bags in a tight roll, release all the air from them.
3. Leave in the freezer until winter.

In the cold season, you can add sorrel to soups and pies.

We invite you to watch the video step by step instructions for freezing sorrel in bags:

Storage in briquettes

This good alternative traditional freezing. Briquettes take up little space in the freezer and look beautiful.

Ingredients:

You can use only sorrel.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse the nettle with cool water.
2. Shredded sorrel and nettle put in deep plates.
3. Pour boiling water over both dishes for about 20 minutes.
4. Squeeze them out carefully so that there is no excess water.
5. Grind nettle, mix together with sorrel in one bowl.
6. Put the resulting mass into molds, tamp.
7. Place in the freezer for 12 hours.
8. Remove the frozen briquettes from the molds, arrange them in packing bags, close well.

From the resulting briquettes in winter you can cook soups and green borscht.

Blanching method

This method allows you to bypass the bad consequences, as well as to preserve the color and beneficial properties of greenery as much as possible. This is due to the fact that during such processing, the functions of enzymes slow down, and under the influence high temperature they are completely destroyed.

Cooking method number 1:

1. Put finely chopped sorrel in a colander.
2. Place it in a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds.
3. Take it out of the water, wait until all the liquid has drained.
4. Arrange blanched sorrel in molds.
5. Send to the freezer for several hours.
6. Pull out, decompose into containers or bags.

Cooking method number 2:

1. Put the chopped sorrel in a saucepan, put on a small fire.
2. Remove greens 5 minutes after boiling.
3. Let it cool, spread it into molds.
4. Arrange the frozen sorrel in bags, close well.

In winter, you can add it to any dish.

Preparation in ice cubes

Is it possible to freeze sorrel in ice cubes and how to do it? It can be done very simply and quickly. The method is convenient in cases where you need to add a small amount of greenery.

All you need is sorrel and ice molds. They can be either plastic or silicone.

Cooking method:

1. Spread finely chopped sorrel into each cell.
2. Pour in water (about 1 tablespoon of water per cell).
3. Put in the freezer for a few hours.
4. Pour frozen cubes into a bag.

These cubes can be used to make sorrel sauce or delicious pies.

You can freeze greens in any of these ways. It is permissible to store until the next season. When used in cooking, defrosting is not required. You just need to add frozen sorrel to the dish.

Summer is the harvesting season, many housewives try to cook as many marinades, jams and compotes as possible for the winter. If our mothers preserved vegetables and fruits only with the help of canning, then we have a great opportunity to preserve the product in its original form by simply freezing it. One of those necessary useful products- this is a sorrel. When frozen, it does not lose its beneficial properties, oxalic acid becomes more saturated and less aggressive for the stomach. Frozen sorrel is fast way cook borscht or soup, make a filling for a pie. To this useful greens was always at your fingertips, you need to be able to freeze it correctly.

The benefits of sorrel

Sorrel contains great amount vitamin C, which is very important during the flu and colds. Sorrel improves the absorption of iron, which helps to raise hemoglobin in the blood. Sorrel improves the functioning of the digestive tract, in small doses it can act as a remedy for diarrhea, and in large doses it can act as a laxative. Sorrel is recommended for eating with gastritis with a small release of gastric juice. In ancient times, sorrel was used to treat heart disease. A decoction of this herb helps to get rid of rheumatism and back pain. For some poisonings, sorrel can become an antidote. This herb has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic properties. Sorrel is very useful for mature women during menopause - it normalizes hormonal background, eliminates excessive sweating, eliminates headaches. Sorrel is a real salvation in the spring, when the body suffers from a lack of vitamins.

How to freeze sorrel

For freezing for the winter, you need to take only fresh and whole leaves. Ideally, freshly harvested greens from the beds are frozen.

1. All leaves need to be sorted out - we remove all yellow, rotten and wormy leaves, leaving only healthy, green and whole.
2. Pour sorrel cold water and leave for 5 minutes. Then rinse each leaf and put the greens in a colander to excess water glass. Then place the sorrel on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.
3. It is very important to dry the sorrel sufficiently, otherwise excess water may interfere long storage product. After half an hour, you need to sort out the sorrel and cut off all the stems at the root - we will only freeze the leaves.
4. Cut the sorrel across the leaves the way you are used to doing it for cooking. Remember that after defrosting, you will not have the opportunity to chop the greens. It is better to immediately cut the sorrel into the desired pieces.
5. Now the sorrel needs to be frozen. You can put greens in sealed plastic containers, vacuum or conventional plastic bags. To save space in the freezer, sorrel needs to be mashed a little with your hands. So it will take up much less space.
6. It is most convenient to freeze sorrel in small packages, in portions. That is, you do not have to pick out a certain amount of sorrel from a large container with a knife. Just take out one sachet and use it to prepare one serving of your meal. In addition, you do not have to take out all the sorrel every time, which can lose its beneficial properties with frequent temperature changes.
7. For sorrel to be useful, you do not need to throw an icy piece of frozen greens that you took out of the freezer into the dish. It is much more correct to defrost the greens on the shelf of the refrigerator and only then add it to the dishes. So sorrel will not lose the lion's dose of vitamin C.

This is the easiest way to freeze sorrel, which will help preserve the taste and benefits of the product.

Borscht is the most popular dish, which is prepared from sorrel. Therefore, some housewives freeze sorrel in ready-made so that it can be conveniently added to the soup. For freezing, you can use not only sorrel, but also nettle, parsley, and other herbs that you usually add to borscht. Remember, greens (especially nettles) must be collected away from highways and roads so that the product is safe and healthy.

Wash the nettle and remove the leaves from the stem. Sorrel and other greens are also thoroughly washed and sorted. After that, finely chop the blanks and pour boiling water over everything. After 5-10 minutes, the water can be drained and the greens laid out in small molds. It can be Silicone forms for cupcakes, an ice-freezer, even simple cups or serving containers. When the blanks are frozen in the refrigerator, it is very easy to remove them from the dishes and put them in a bag. If necessary, when you cook borscht again, just take out a “piece” of greens and add to the pan 10 minutes before cooking. fragrant dish with a summer scent already on your table! When removing the rest of the greens in the refrigerator, tightly tie the bag so that the sorrel does not absorb foreign odors.

What to cook from frozen sorrel

Many housewives use sorrel only for making green borscht. But in fact, this product is used in many recipes.

1. Everyone knows the rich sorrel soup with an egg. This savory dish with slight sourness fine taste and rich aroma.
2. If you fry thawed sorrel in a pan and mix it with chopped boiled egg, then you get an amazing filling for fried pies.
3. Mix sorrel with boiled rice- stuffing for lean pie ready.
4. If you add greens and cheese to sorrel, you get a spicy French salad.
5. Sorrel is added to various drinks, for example, in lemonade or smoothies. It gives cocktails a special sourness.

In general, there are a lot of recipes with sorrel. And if this greenery grows in your garden, do not neglect it, add sorrel to various dishes.

Sorrel goes well with meat and fish dishes. In ancient times, women believed that if they ate a lot of sorrel, they would get pregnant with a boy. It is best to use and freeze young sorrel - it is more tender and contains more useful components. Eat and harvest sorrel for the winter - take care of your health!

Video: sorrel conservation for the winter

IN winter time there is a noticeable shortage of vegetables and fruits, so some housewives do various blanks for the winter. At the same time, many are trying to prepare sorrel. In the past, most greens were packed in jars, but today there are other ways. Quite often, harvesting sorrel for the winter is carried out using freezing.

It seems to many that freezing greens is very simple and for this it is enough just to place it in the freezer. However, freezing sorrel is not an easy process, for which you need to prepare in advance. Exist various recipes and ways to freeze greens that everyone should be familiar with.

Preparation

In order to be able to cook sorrel soup all year round, it is necessary to prepare a considerable amount of greenery for the winter. To do this, you should familiarize yourself in advance with the nuances of preparing the plant for freezing. This will help freeze it in such a way that all the beneficial properties are preserved.

First you need to collect the entire crop from the site and carefully sort it out to get rid of bad leaves. Regardless of the freezing method used, all collected sheets are thoroughly washed. Also, they should be thoroughly dried so as not to freeze the liquid.

After drying all the collected sorrel, you need to start cutting it. In this case, special attention should be paid to the stems of the plant. If they are not too rough, then they can be left, as their taste is practically the same as sheets. After cutting all the leaves with stems, you should familiarize yourself with the main freezing methods and choose the most suitable one from them.

Classic way

Very often, freezing of greens is carried out using this method. For cooking winter harvest you will need the following:

• water;
• sorrel;
• a small bowl or saucepan;
• knife and cutting board;
• towel.

It is very important that all the collected greens are well washed. To do this, all the leaves are placed in a bowl of cold water and soaked in it for 5-10 minutes. Then, they are all wiped with a towel and laid out in a separate container. After that, all washed leaves are carefully sorted out to get rid of yellow or sluggish sorrel.

Having selected the best leaves, you can start cutting them. There are several methods for grinding them. Some housewives prefer to grind it with a blender. However, not everyone has this opportunity, so you can use a regular knife.

For cutting, all the leaves are folded into a small bundle and cut into small strips.

After that, the cut liquid is placed in a separate plastic container. However, it will not be frozen in it, but in small trays with lids. Before placing the cut sheets in the trays, they should be thoroughly mashed. This is done so that more greens fit in one tray. Then, all containers with frozen leaves are covered with plastic wrap and a lid so that during freezing, the prepared sorrel cannot absorb foreign odors.

Harvesting in briquettes with nettle

Some housewives are wondering if it is possible to prepare sorrel not in trays, but in other containers. Often, small briquettes are used for freezing. You can also freeze sorrel with nettles. With the help of such a blank, you can not only cook tasty soup but also do winter menu more varied. You don't need a lot of ingredients to prepare this winter harvest:

• 300 g of sorrel;
• 100 g nettle.

First you need to start preparing the greens. It is washed in cold water, after which it is necessary to separate the leaves from the branches. Then you can start cutting. Greens can be cut together or separately. To do this, its bundles are laid out on a special board and finely chopped. After shredding all the greens, it should be transferred to a separate container.

Chopped ingredients are poured with hot boiled water and infused in it for about 20-30 minutes. Then everything is thoroughly wrung out to remove excess moisture and mixed. The prepared mixture is laid out in briquettes and compacted in them. In the future, frozen greens can be used to make borscht or soups. Also, they can be used for filling pies or pies.

Conclusion

Not every person knows how to freeze sorrel for the winter for soup. To deal with this, you need to study the cooking recipes and choose the best one.