With the onset of summer, the time begins for vegetables and fruits, which every housewife prefers to preserve for the winter. Cucumbers with oak leaves are an unusual, but at the same time very tasty pickle that will not leave anyone indifferent. Preserving vegetables this way is quite simple.
Pickled cucumbers with oak leaves
Traditionally, pickles are prepared with currant or cherry leaves, tarragon or dill. But you can experiment and add oak leaves instead of the usual greenery.
In fact, pickling cucumbers with oak leaves is not such a new recipe. Our great-grandmothers and grandmothers very often used oak and walnut leaves for pickling.
Required ingredients:
- 6 kg of medium-sized cucumbers;
- 20 pieces of oak leaves;
- Black currant leaves;
- 2 medium heads of garlic;
- A bunch of fresh dill;
- 40 grams of mustard seeds;
- Black pepper (better to take peas);
- 4 tbsp. l. finely ground table salt;
- 160 ml acetic acid;
- 60 grams of granulated sugar;
- 3 liters of filtered water.
Method for preparing cucumbers with oak leaves in jars for the winter:
Soak the cucumbers for a day in cold water. Then rinse thoroughly and trim from the stem side. Place them on a towel to dry.
Peel the garlic completely, finely chop the dill. Prepare jars in advance. Place oak leaves, garlic and peppercorns on the bottom. Place the vegetables tightly in prepared jars, then add currants and cherries, mustard and dill.
Now you can start preparing the brine. Bring the water to boiling point, add finely ground salt and granulated sugar. Pour the prepared brine over the vegetables. Now you can sterilize the pickled cucumbers (for 10 minutes). Cover the jars with a metal lid and screw on.
Turn the jars upside down and wait until they cool, then you can put them in a cool room. Oak leaves give vegetables an unusual flavor.
Cold canning cucumbers
How to cold pickle vegetables for the winter? Pickled cucumbers prepared using this method turn out very tasty and crispy. And most importantly, this is the fastest recipe for pickling cucumbers for the winter.
What you should not do to make pickled cucumbers very crispy is to get carried away with garlic and add it to jars in large quantities. Otherwise they will become too soft.
Required ingredients:
- 5 kg gherkins;
- Dill umbrellas with seeds;
- 6 leaves of black or red currant;
- Oak leaves;
- Sprigs of tarragon;
- Lavrushka;
- 7 small cloves of garlic;
- Black peppercorns;
- 55 ml vodka;
- 2 liters of filtered water.
Canning vegetables without cold-salted vinegar:
Marinating with this method requires special preparation of vegetables. The gherkins must be washed thoroughly, changing the water several times. Then the gherkins should be scalded with boiling water and filled with ice water for several hours. They should absorb enough liquid.
Let's now start salting the gherkins without vinegar. The greens need to be washed and placed at the bottom of the jar along with the oak leaves. Then compact the gherkins tightly.
There are different marinades, but in this case it will be based on vodka. For 1 liter of water you will need 50 ml of vodka and 50 grams of salt. You can store gherkins salted using this method under a nylon lid in the refrigerator or in any cool place.
Pickled cucumbers with onions and oak leaves
You can pickle cucumbers not only with garlic, but also with onions. For preservation, it is better to use special varieties of cucumbers. They should have thin skin and a lot of black spines.
It is advisable to collect oak leaves away from roads and large populated areas. Canned cucumbers with leaves can be consumed not only in their whole form, but also in solyankas, soups and various salads.
Required ingredients:
- Medium-sized young cucumbers;
- Young oak leaves;
- 3 small onions;
- 100 grams of coarse salt;
- 2 tbsp. l. grain mustard;
- Black pepper (you can take peas);
- Lavrushka;
- Cold water;
- A bunch of dill;
- A few sprigs of tarragon;
- Horseradish leaves (you can take the root)
- 170 grams of granulated sugar;
- 50 ml 9% acetic acid.
Recipe for cucumbers with oak leaves and onions:
First you need to deal with the cucumbers. They should be washed thoroughly, filled with cold water and placed in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Then place them on a towel, cut off the stem and let the liquid drain.
The jars must be sterilized in a steam bath. Wash the greens, finely chop the dill. Cut the onion into large slices. After this, put some greens, some onions and some cucumbers on the bottom of the jar. Then again lay out the greens, the rest of the onions and cucumbers. Vegetables should fit tightly together. Pour over the marinade.
In a large container, bring water to boiling temperature and pour over the cucumbers for about 10 minutes. Then pour the water into the same pan and boil again. Repeat the procedure three times. This is necessary so that the vegetables warm up and the greens do not become dark.
The last time you can add table salt and sugar to the water. Pour the marinade over the vegetables and add 2 tsp. acetic acid (you can use vinegar essence). Cover the jars with a lid and roll up. Turn over, cover with a cloth and leave to cool. Then go down to the basement. Pickled cucumbers can be served as an appetizer for any dish.
