ParsleyYou can collect the entire season, cutting off as needed, while the plant growing on the open ground remains green and juicy until late autumn.
Parsley Harvesting: Harvesting
Most parsley varieties are ready to be harvested two to three months after planting. When harvesting for the winter, it should be noted that the young sprigs of parsley are the most fragrant, so it is best to collect first-year parsley.
For the harvest, stalks with three or more branches with leaves are suitable. Gathering greens, cut the stems at the root, in time new branches will grow. It is better to cut the stems growing on the edge of the bush, in this case, the inner shoots will develop better. Before frosts, cut off all the stems so that the parsley does not die and grow in the next season.
Did you know? According to Egyptian mythology, parsley grew in the place where the drops of Gore's blood fell, having lost an eye in the battle with Seth.
Easy and simple: how to dry parsley for the winter
Drying parsley is one of the easiest options for keeping parsley for the winter without freezing. For this preparation, you need young greens with soft stems and leaves. If you do not grow yourself, and buy, do not take the greens standing in the water. Parsley absorbs moisture and will dry for a long time.
Greens grown on your land are harvested for drying in dry weather. Greens are sorted out by discarding the yellowed or faded leaves and stems, the stalks are slightly shortened. Rinse the parsley and dry it on a towel. Can be dried in bunches: having gathered several twigs, they are tied with a culinary thread and hung in a ventilated place in the shade. Drying in the shade is the basic rule of how to prepare parsley for the winter using the method of drying, while retaining the aroma.
Greens will turn yellow from direct sunlight, and its oils will evaporate. Dried bundles of greens in about a week Greens are carefully removed from dried beams, separated from the branches, crushed and stored in a closed glass dish for about a year.
You can dry the parsley in the already chopped state, scattering it on thick paper, but observing the same conditions. If the weather or living conditions do not allow air drying, use the oven. You can dry on a baking sheet, covered with parchment, at a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees.
Important! When drying in the oven, keep the door ajar, shaking the greens from time to time.
Ways to freeze parsley
If the question arises whether it is possible to freeze parsley for the winter, it is not only possible but necessary. In parsley, a lot of vitamin C is needed in the winter. In addition, the greens will give the dishes both taste and aroma, and during holidays, parsley will serve as a wonderful decoration of the dishes.
Normal freezing (bunched, crushed, diced)
To freeze take only fresh greens, parsley, washed, sorted and cleaned yellowed and sluggish. Then you need to dry the parsley - too much moisture. If you freeze bundles, enough dried greens divided into portioned "bouquets", folded in a plastic bag and put in the freezer.
The next option, how to freeze parsley for the winter, - freeze cubes. To do this, fresh green leaves are separated from thick stems, crushed with a sharp knife. Then tightly stuffed with hardwood ice molds, pour purified water and put in the freezer. After some time, the cubes can be transferred into packages to prepare the next batch.
Another option is how to make parsley for the winter cubes, - it is grind in a blender. At the same time, Parsley will put its juice in and add water to ice molds. Storage options for cubes are convenient: later you just need to add the required number of cubes to the dish.
Interesting! Washing cubes of frozen herbs - calendula, chamomile, parsley - improves the complexion, removes puffiness and smoothes out circles under the eyes. Parsley, among other things, has a bleaching effect.
Freezing parsley with butter
Frozen with butter is best suited for second courses. The washed and dried parsley is finely chopped and poured in melted ice cream in ice tins. After complete freezing, the cubes are laid out in bags or plastic containers.
Freezing parsley with sunflower oil
Perhaps the most attractive method to keep parsley fresh for the winter is to freeze it with sunflower oil. Especially since freezing as such is not needed. Prepared greens are laid, lightly pressing, into glass jars and filled with oil so that air bubbles do not form. These blanks can be stored in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf or in the cellar.
Important! If you mix the sunflower oil with olive oil, you get a ready salad dressing.
How to pickle parsley
How to keep parsley for the winter fresh - tell grandmother's recipes. Our ancestors salted for the winter not only vegetables, fish and meat, but also greens. Since salt is a natural preservative and does not allow harmful bacteria to develop, the greens in it will be perfectly preserved.
Not only the leafy part of parsley can be salted, but also the grated root. Ingredients are taken five to one (raw / salt). In deep dishes mix the ingredients and place as tightly as possible in the jars, count on the fact that greens with salt will make juice. Blanks can be stored in the cellar and in the refrigerator.
Pickled Parsley Recipe
Marinated parsley for the winter has one drawback - it can not be stored for more than six months. But more is not needed, in the spring there will be fresh greens. Washed and sifted parsley tightly packed in jars, filled with marinade and sterilized for 30 minutes. Then close the lid and store in the pantry or cellar.
Marinade: per liter of water 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 spoons of sugar and 200 g of vinegar.
Parsley, harvested for the winter according to these recipes, will improve the taste of your dishes, saturate the body with vitamins and give spring aroma with its aroma.
