Mushroom pate and baked paprika: unusual homemade canned recipes

Canning is most often done by those who have their own beds – and for them the hot season falls on September. For those who rely on the assortment of the nearest market (or, perhaps, a vegetable warehouse), it is a little easier: they will be brought vegetables from other regions, so it will be possible to pickle tomatoes or make jam even in October. Another advantage is that when vegetables and fruits are bought specifically for canning, they are most often in small quantities. So, you can afford something more sophisticated. Correspondents of “MK” have collected several non-banal recipes that can be implemented in October.

The real cauliflower

Few people grow cauliflower on their own plot, but almost everyone is happy to buy a few heads of cabbage at a seductive price in the fall on the market. You can save some for the winter. Here is one of the popular and easy recipes:

– Disassemble the cauliflower into small florets (they should fit freely in the jar) and boil in boiling water for 5 minutes in advance – it should remain crispy.

– Cut the carrots and bell peppers into thin strips. The proportions of vegetables can be varied to your taste, so that the dish turns out bright, elegant, colorful. But still, there should be more cauliflower. Add finely chopped parsley and crushed garlic.

– Boil water for the marinade (1 kg of cabbage will require 1 liter of water). Add about 200 ml vegetable oil, 150 ml vinegar, 50 g salt and 250 g sugar. You can also add black peppercorns. If you have more vegetables, increase the amount of marinade proportionately.

Arrange the vegetables in pre-sterilized jars, pour the marinade. Let cool, then store in a dark place.

We play cubes – from eggplant

Canned eggplant is a classic: eggplant caviar, pickled spicy “tongues”, and circles in adjika are laid out in jars. However, traditional recipes are already tired of many, and modern trends prescribe preference for healthier options for cooking vegetables. Eggplant stew with tomatoes is an ideal side dish for meat, but it can also be turned into a preparation for the winter.

– Prepare vegetables – eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and onions – in arbitrary proportions. Cut them into cubes of the same size. It is advisable to soak the eggplants for a short time in salt water, and then squeeze them well – this will remove the bitterness from them.

– First, fry (in a small amount of vegetable oil) the onions, then add the tomatoes. Let them release the juice. Only after that add pepper and eggplant – if you fry in a different sequence, the vegetables will lose their shape and look ugly.

– You need to salt vegetables at the last moment. Be sure to try: if the eggplants were previously soaked in salt water, perhaps this salt is enough. You can also add garlic and your favorite spices (Georgian hops-suneli or dried basil work well). If you like it spicy, use not only sweet, but also hot peppers.

– When the dish is ready, add vinegar (about 50 ml for every 500 grams of food), mix well.

– Arrange in pre-sterilized jars and close.

Paprika for any occasion

Bulgarian pepper on the market in October can be found at a symbolic price – for example, 40-50 rubles per kilo. It is possible, however, that peppercorns will come across with defects – with dark sides, with rotten, soft … All this is not scary if you immediately, on the first day after purchase, prepare for their preservation. A simple recipe can be borrowed from the cuisine of the Balkan countries – one of the authors of travel blogs shared her recommendations for cooking “baked paprika”:

“Sweet red pepper (as much as you have) put on a baking sheet, after piercing each with a knife. If there are unsuccessful areas (soft, dark), cut them out in advance. Send the pepper to the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for about 30-40 minutes. I note the time intuitively – when the skin starts to turn black, then it’s time to turn it off. Quickly place the hot peppers in a saucepan and cover tightly with a lid – this is necessary so that the skin comes off easily. Leave for another half an hour or an hour, let cool. Carefully remove skins, seeds and stems from peppers. Cut the pulp into arbitrary strips (most likely, it will fall apart by itself). Arrange in jars in layers and generously season each layer with spices – you will need olive oil, lemon juice, a little vinegar, salt, garlic, fresh herbs and your favorite seasonings. Close,” the author instructs.

The beauty of this appetizer is that pickled peppers can be eaten as you like – on their own, added to salads, served as a side dish for meat, for filling for burgers. A good snack option is to make rolls from such strips of pepper, wrapping a little soft cream cheese inside.

In addition, in October, you can make homemade sauce from absolutely any fresh herb – by analogy with the popular Italian pesto sauce. To do this, chop dill (parsley, cilantro, basil, tarragon, spinach, arugula, etc.) in a blender, add salt, pepper, a little vegetable oil and a drop of vinegar. Green seasoning can be stored for a very long time – in winter, when the greens will be expensive, it will please you.

Pumpkin jam

October is a traditional pumpkin harvest time. If you do not have your own garden plot, you can always buy a pumpkin in the market or in a store.

Pumpkin is not only tasty, but also an extremely healthy product. It contains beta-carotene (the precursor of vitamin A), vitamins C, E, B₁, B₂, PP, K, T, minerals: potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, fluorine, copper, manganese, phosphorus and sodium. Pumpkin is especially useful for people suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system. The vegetable contains a large amount of potassium, which is necessary to strengthen blood vessels and maintain the tone of the heart muscle.

This melon culture is good for its variability in application, including it is great for canning for the winter. For example, excellent vegetable caviar will come out of a pumpkin. You can put it in juice. Or, for example, make an original jam from it, with which you can dump your guests on the spot.

So, pumpkin jam with lemon and nuts.

Remove the skin from the pumpkin and cut it into small pieces. For a kilogram of pumpkin, you will need the same amount of granulated sugar, three lemons and a handful of walnuts.

It is best to cover the pumpkin pieces with sugar for a few hours, adding half a cup of water (so that the jam does not get too thick). After this time, boil the jam for 10 minutes and remove from heat. The resulting mass must be left for 10–12 hours, after which the procedure should be repeated 3–4 times. Before the last time, add finely chopped lemons and walnut pieces to the jam. Pour the finished product into sterile jars and close with plastic lids. It is better to store such jam in a dark, cool place, but it is unlikely to be stored for a long time.

Japanese quince with sugar

In recent years, Japanese quince has become a frequent decoration of vegetable gardens near Moscow, but few people know what to do with it. And most often she observes her gorgeous flowering in May, and then she is sad, looking at the harvest that is disappearing in October. Quince ripens just in October – it turns yellow and begins to fall off.

The fruits of chaenomeles (as quince is officially called) are rich in vitamins and other useful organic compounds. Ripe fruits contain about 12% sugars, among which are fructose, glucose and sucrose. In addition, many organic acids have been found in them, which are of great benefit. Among them are malic, wine, ascorbic, fumaric, citric, chlorogenic. These compounds normalize the acid-base balance, participate in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, prevent the development of nerve and muscle pathologies and such serious illnesses as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. What is useful quince – high content of ascorbic acid. Therefore, it is often called northern lemon – it gives a strong sour taste to ripe fruits.

The taste of Japanese quince is really very sour, but tea with it has a unique taste. Therefore, it is worth preparing this delicacy for the winter.

Fresh fruits should be cut in half and freed from stones. And then everything is simple. Pass the quince through a meat grinder and sprinkle the mass with sugar (take 1.5 kg of sand for every kilogram of quince). Let the mass stand for several hours and roll it into jars.

By the way, the resulting delicacy can be added not only to tea, but also to make alcoholic cocktails with it to keep warm on cold winter evenings.