Blanks for the winter from a tomato

Tomatoes in the middle of the sixteenth century were imported from South America to Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy), where in the literature were described as "golden" or "paradise" apples. The tomato, according to the rules of botany, is not a vegetable, but a berry, and the plant itself refers not to vegetable, but fruit culture. But it happened because of the confusion of terms, that in the agricultural literature, in cooking (when you use fresh or make preparations for the winter from a tomato) and at home the fruit of this plant in our country is called a vegetable. In the European Union, confusion with terms was eliminated in 2001, recognizing a tomato as a fruit.

But experts for another reason agree that the term "golden apples" to tomatoes was applied correctly. Tomatoes are rich in vitamins such as B1, B2, B6, C, P, PP, K. They contain carotene, salts of potassium, sugars, malic and citric acid, and have phytoncidal properties. Especially valuable dietary product is the juice prepared from them, it is used in medical nutrition, it is useful for people engaged in mental or hard physical labor, it is recommended for patients with metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases and cardiovascular system. Children love tasty and healthy tomato juice with honey and lemon.

The fruits of this plant are used fresh, as well as making blanks from tomatoes for the winter: salt, marinate, canned, fry, stuff, prepare a seasoning for borscht, various soups, rassolnikov. There are more than a hundred ways of culinary processing of tomatoes at home.

Recipe 1

Blanks for the winter from a tomato in a salty kind are more often done or made with a skin, but it is better to prepare without it. As containers for storage use well washed glass jars for half a liter or one liter, which are subjected to dry heat sterilization in an oven at a temperature of 100 оС, use hot jars. Spices for this method do not apply. Ingredients (take as much as it enters the prepared banks):

• Ripe tomatoes of medium size;
• A solution of salt (one liter of water takes one spoonful of table salt) or tomato juice is used only if it was not possible to put the tomatoes in the cans tightly.

Tomatoes are blanched in hot water for 2 minutes at a temperature of 95-98 оС. Quickly take out to a colander and dip into cold water. Cracks appear on the skin. It is easily separated (they start to be removed from the opposite end of the stem). Purified fruits are densely packed in cans, so that no air gaps remain, they are immediately pasteurized and rolled up with metal lids. If the gaps remain, then tomatoes are poured with salt solution or tomato juice, pasteurized and sealed. The pasteurization time at a water bath temperature of 70-80 ° C for cans per half liter is 35 minutes, cans per liter is 40 minutes. Such blanks for winter from a tomato store in a refrigerator.

Recipe 2

Blanks for the winter from a tomato in apple juice are made from fruits, not removing from them a peel. So that it does not crack, the fruit is pierced with a wooden toothpick at the attachment points of the peduncles. Spices for this method of preservation are not used. Ingredients per one three-liter jar (washed and sterilized, as described in recipe 1):

• Ripe tomatoes of medium size (how much will go into the jar);
• 1 liter of apple juice (or a little more);
• 1 table spoon with top of salt.

Tomatoes are placed in a jar and poured with boiling water, aged for 10 minutes, the water is drained and repeated this procedure one more time. At this time, 1 liter of apple juice is brought to a boil and dissolved in it salt. Hot juice is poured tomatoes. If this amount of juice is not enough, then add the right amount of boiled (but without salt) juice. The filled jar is not pasteurized, but immediately rolled up with a metal boiled lid. The bank is turned upside down and left in this state until it cools down. Store such blanks from a tomato for the winter in a cold place.