kerescan - Jun 25th, 2015

If you like to cook unusual recipes for the winter, then try cooking dried zucchini. Fans of healthy and original sweets will surely like them. Of course, you will have to tinker a little, but as a result it will be unusually tasty to eat them in winter.

Products for preparing unusual zucchini blanks:

- Zucchini - 1 kg. (net weight without seeds)

– Sugar -300 grams

- Vanilla - 5 grams

- Citric acid - 5 grams.

How to cook dried zucchini at home for the winter.

And so, we take zucchini of any size and age. Using overripe fruits is very appropriate in this original recipe.

We wash, clean the peel and scrape out the pulp with grains. Easy to scrape with a tablespoon.

We cut the vegetables prepared in this way into not too large uniform pieces and sprinkle them with sugar, vanilla and citric acid. Let it brew for 4-5 hours.

Then, you need to “drive out the water” from the zucchini - put it under the load and let the juice drain. While they are under oppression, you need to remove them to a cold place. This will take approximately 8 hours.

When the time specified in the recipe has expired, it is necessary to dry our “bars” in a slightly heated oven or electric dryer.

We put the properly dried zucchini in pre-prepared glass jars, cover with lids and set aside to be stored in the cold. It would be nice if you have a place for them in the refrigerator.

Sun-dried zucchini prepared according to such an unusual recipe are perfectly stored. And you can use them in winter just as a dessert, or you can make pies or various salads.

The drying process of zucchini lasted 31 hours in the Izidri Ultra dryer on 19 trays at a temperature of + 55 ˚С.

The air temperature in the room was + 28 ˚С. The Ezidri dryer consumed 18 kW of electricity.

From 18 kg of zucchini, the skins amounted to 3.4 kg. Young zucchini do not need to be skinned.

The result was 760 grams of dried zucchini.

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Zucchini is well known to people all over the world. Even the ancient Indians in Mexico grew this vegetable and ate it many years before our era. And today, the zucchini does not lose its popularity and in almost every garden, garden plot you can see numerous yellow, white, green fruits. The harvest of zucchini is most often very large, and many people, not knowing where to use this vegetable, sometimes simply feed it to livestock or poultry. However, zucchini can be used in many dishes, not only fresh, but also processed. And it is well suited for heat treatment, as it allows you to save the product with high quality and for a long time.

There are two beautiful legends about the appearance of zucchini. According to one Indian women, in anticipation of their husbands - fishermen, asked the gods to give them a vegetable that would grow on earth, but had the magical taste of sea gifts. According to another legend, this vegetable appeared in the Old World thanks to the Spanish conquistadors along with tobacco, potatoes and chocolate. It is believed that the Italians were the first to dry zucchini, but nothing is known for certain about this fact.

Useful properties of zucchini

Salad

Boil dried zucchini in salted water for about 15 minutes. During this time, you can peel the garlic, grate the lemon zest and squeeze the juice out of it. Drain the zucchini in a colander to drain excess liquid. Garlic is fried in olive oil and zucchini, lemon zest and juice, as well as herbs are added to it. For spicy lovers, you can add chili pepper. Everything is mixed and left under the lid for 3 minutes on the smallest fire. Warm salad is ready. Delicious zucchini with an expressive aroma of mushrooms are obtained. For 100 grams of zucchini, you need half a lemon, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and herbs to taste.

If you grind dried zucchini into flour, then excellent pancakes are made from it, replacing wheat flour. This is very useful, since such pancakes will not gain excess weight.

Dried zucchini can be used in those dishes where these vegetables are traditionally used fresh, just remember that they have a greater taste concentration and a sharper aroma.

If in the summer, during the period of abundance of vegetables, fruits, greens, many people neglect such a vegetable as zucchini, they cook little of various dishes from it, then in winter the attitude towards it changes. How pleasant it will be to open a jar with this dried vegetable in winter, cook first and second courses from it, crunch on fragrant chips and remember summer. During the cold period, even those who are indifferent to zucchini should try to cook them in various forms. And the Ezidri vegetable dryer will help preserve this healthy vegetable with virtually no loss of all
its beneficial properties.

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Our experience of drying vegetables in the Ezidri dryer.

Eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers were washed, peeled, cut and laid out on trays. Vegetables dried for 8 hours
at +50°C on 6 trays in the Ezidri Snackmaker dryer.

06/04/2015 2 908 0 ElishevaAdmin

Candied fruits, drying and freezing

Dried products, in principle, are prepared according to the same principle as dried products - by airing and removing excess moisture. But the difference is very significant: when drying, such high temperatures are not used as when drying. The process goes slowly, without the participation of direct sunlight, and moisture is not completely excluded, but remains in a certain amount inside the dried product. Therefore, it remains soft and elastic, while dried foods are brittle and hard.

But it is precisely due to such slow and gentle cooking that useful substances are preserved in dried foods to the maximum. It is useful to include dried vegetables and fruits in the food of pregnant women, and also in almost all diets, including diets for weight loss.

Since dried vegetables and fruits are such a useful product, modern home technologies also provide drying modes in ovens, gas and electric, and other home appliances. Therefore, the current housewives do not need to expose vegetables and fruits to the breeze for a long time, guard them from flies and the hot sun. You can do all this easier and faster. When starting drying, we must remember that only very juicy products that are not able to dry completely are suitable for it.

First, juice is extracted from such products, which can be prepared for the winter on its own or as part of some compositions. The mass remaining after the removal of the juice is dried, while the temperature should not rise above 65 degrees.

A fully dried product is absolutely edible, it can be eaten in its natural form. Such fruits and vegetables are very good, they can be enjoyed like sweets. And if you pour them with boiling water or just hot water and let it brew, you get a wonderful compote. Two hours is enough to make the compote tasty.

Dried products are used in baking, as a filling or decoration, they are used to make exceptional desserts. You can add them to salads and side dishes, use them as a seasoning for meat and fish.

Dried products are stored in paper bags or glass jars, securely sealed. It is only necessary to carefully monitor that they do not become damp, otherwise, if they start to mold, they will have to be thrown away.

dried cherry

It is often used as a substitute for raisins, in old recipes it was called "cinnamon". If you come across such a name, you will know that it is dried cherries.

Ingredients

Cherry, 3 kg

Sugar, 800 g

Water, 1 l

1. We sort out the cherries, cut off the tails, wash and get rid of the seeds.

2. Cook syrup 1x1 and immerse the cherry in it for 7-8 minutes. We do this in small portions, arranging a conveyor. The cherries taken out of boiling water are placed on a sieve.

3. When all the cherries have passed through boiling water, glass and cooled down, place the berries on a baking sheet or dish and take them out into the shade and into the air. We use syrup in the household - we cook compote or just drink tea with it.

4. Berries taken out to dry, turn over after 2-3 days. As the berries dry, they will shrink, and the dish will have to be changed to a smaller one.

5. The drying process will be completed in 2 weeks. Transfer the cherries to a glass container and close.

Dried carrots

Ingredients

Carrots, 1 kg

Sugar, 200 g

Citric acid, 3 g

1. Peel the carrots and cut into circles ½ cm thick.

2. Mix sugar with vanilla and acid, pour carrot circles. We put it in a container, set oppression and wait for the juice to appear.

3. We put the pan to heat, when it boils, remove it from the stove and drain the juice. The remaining circles lay out to dry. Dried carrots should remain elastic.

Dried zucchini

Ingredients

Zucchini, 1 kg

Sugar, 200 g

Citric acid, 5 g

Vanillin, 5 g

1. We clean the zucchini from the skin and from the seeds, cut into pieces. After mixing sugar with vanillin and acid, pour pieces of zucchini.

2. We crush them with oppression in an enamel bowl.

3. When the juice stands out, we drain it and roll it up, after boiling it first.

5. Dry the pieces of zucchini in a non-hot oven and put them in a glass dish for storage.

We treat melons in the same way - the juice rolls up, and the pulp dries. Dried melon is something special!

Dried pumpkin with apples

Ingredients

Pumpkin, 1 kg

Apples, 1 kg

Sugar, 400 g

1. We take only pure pulp from the pumpkin. Cut it into pieces, sprinkle with sugar.

2. In the same way, we put it under oppression in a cool place, for 8-10 hours.

3. Drain the juice and roll it up, boiling it.

4. Dry pumpkin slices in the oven at 60 ° C, store in glass.

Dried gooseberries
Ingredients

Gooseberries, 1 kg

Sugar, 200 g

Gooseberries for drying should be taken large green, not fully ripe.

1. We cut the washed berries along or simply prick with a fork. Sprinkle with sugar and put in a cool place for 8-10 hours.

2. We use juice for harvesting for the winter.

3. After removing the juice, the berries are heated in a saucepan to 85 ° C, collected with a slotted spoon and sent to dry in the oven.

4. After drying in the oven, transfer to a glass dish and store in the cold in a closed state.

Dried sugar beets
Ingredients

Sugar beet, 1 kg

Citric acid, 3 g

1. My beetroot in a peel and scalded with boiling water. Then we remove the skin, as with a young potato.

2. Cut the beets into slices, put them in a saucepan and add citric acid.

3. Evaporate slowly, 2 hours, but you need to make sure that there is no burning.

4. Let the beets cool in a saucepan, then spread them on a baking sheet and - in the oven, for drying at 60 ° C.

dried physalis

Ingredients

Physalis, varieties "Berry" or "Confectioner", 1 kg

Sugar, 200 g

1. Remove the covers, pour over the fruits with boiling water and wipe each one with a clean cloth.

2. Cut the fruit in half and sprinkle with sugar.

3. Having stood in the cold for 8-10 hours, heat up to 85 ° C.

4. We wait until the fruits have cooled down, and take them out of the pan with a slotted spoon.

5. Dry in the oven at 65 ° C, store in glass. Boil the juice and roll up.

Dried pears

Ingredients

Pears, 1 kg

Sugar, 200 g

1. From the pear we leave only the pulp, which we cut into pieces.

2. Sprinkle with sugar, put under oppression and wait 8-10 hours.

3. Drain and roll up the juice, and dry the pear pieces in the oven.

The resulting dried pear has a wonderful taste and aroma. Apricots, peaches, plums prepared in the same way are not inferior to her. Such dried fruits can be eaten for breakfast for those who love muesli. Adding a handful of dried fruit to the cereal, all that remains is to pour the mixture with yogurt to infuse a little, and get a healthy light breakfast of divine taste.

And what juice remains for the winter! And enjoy drinking.

dried rhubarb

Ingredients

Rhubarb petioles, 1 kg

Sugar, 300 g

1. Cut the petioles into pieces, sprinkle with sugar and put under oppression.

2. After a day, drain the juice, boil and roll up.

3. Dry petioles at 60°C.

4. We store dried rhubarb in a linen bag or in a cardboard box. It actively absorbs odors, so you need to take this fact into account when choosing a place for storage.

Sun-dried tomatoes

The recipe for sun-dried tomatoes came to us from sunny Italy. Sun-dried tomatoes are rapidly gaining popularity, and there are good reasons for this. Firstly, this is an inexpensive snack with excellent taste, it is not difficult to cook it. In addition, sun-dried tomatoes can be used in another way, putting them in soups, pizza and meat dishes.

When the tomatoes are born and they do not have time to properly process them, it is advisable to dry them. In the fall, you still don’t want pickled tomatoes, so dried ones will be used. And since they are very tasty, the people will be pleased.

Ingredients

Tomatoes, 1½ kg

Coarse salt, 1 tsp

Vegetable oil deodorized

Provence herbs, 1 tsp

1. Cut the tomatoes into halves. We remove the seeds, together with the juice, use them on the farm.

2. We cover the baking sheet with parchment, lay out the halves, cut up. Sprinkle salt and herbs on top, drip with oil.

3. Put in the oven at 100 ° C, for 3-4 hours. Keep the oven door ajar to let the moisture out of the tomatoes.

4. Ready tomatoes should shrink 3-4 times, but remain flexible and moist, slightly baked. They need to be checked during the process, and some are taken out earlier if they are already ready.

5. We store sun-dried tomatoes in glass jars under a layer of odorless oil. They infuse and themselves are a savory snack. And you can store them in oil for 3-4 months.

Dried apples

Ingredients

Apples, 2 kg

Sugar, 200 g

1. From apples, we leave only the pulp, without breaking the shape.

2. Sprinkle with sugar and put under oppression in the cold.

3. After 8 hours, drain the juice and use it as you wish.

4. Dry the apples in the oven at 60 ° C and place in boxes or jars.

Dried eggplant

Ingredients

Young eggplants, ½ kg

Vegetable oil, 120-150 g

Garlic, 1 large clove

Paprika, 2/3 tsp

Red hot pepper chopped, ¼ tsp

Rosemary or basil, ½ tsp

1. Peel eggplants. Cut into thin slices, about ½ cm.

2. Salt and wait for the bitterness to come out. This is 10-15 minutes.

3. Drain the juice, blanch the eggplant plates for a short time, just a few minutes.

4. Spread the plates on a baking sheet, dry for 2½ - 3 hours at 50 ° C.

5. By this time, we are guessing with the filling, we are preparing it by mixing all the products indicated in the recipe.

6. Dried eggplants, dry on the outside and a little soft inside, put in a jar. There is no need to ram, let them lie freely. Pour the prepared filling into them and put in the refrigerator.

7. In order for them to become tasty, it is necessary to keep them in oil for several hours. But in general, the more they cost, the tastier they become.

8. Dried eggplants are not stored outside the oil.

Dried tomatoes with herbs.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg small fleshy tomatoes
• 20 g garlic
• 10 g salt
• 5 g dried Italian herbs
• 3 g ground black pepper

Cooking method:

To cook sun-dried tomatoes at home, you need to cut them in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and partitions. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment, place the tomatoes cut side up, sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Put in an oven preheated to 100 ° C for 4-5 hours. Heat the vegetable oil, but do not boil. Put sun-dried tomatoes in a jar, sprinkle with finely chopped garlic, pour hot oil so that it completely covers the tomatoes. Immediately close the jar with a lid. Store the sun-dried tomatoes according to this recipe in a dark, cool place.

Sun-dried tomatoes with pepper and garlic.

Ingredients:

• 1.5-1.8 kg small fleshy tomatoes
• 100 g garlic
• 100 g fresh hot pepper
• 200 ml vegetable oil
• 10 g salt
• 5 g dried herb mixture

Cooking method:

Before cooking sun-dried tomatoes, they need to be washed, cut in half, the seeds carefully removed with a spoon. Cut the hot pepper into rings 1 cm thick, removing the seeds. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place the tomatoes, cut side up, and sprinkle with salt and herbs. Place in an oven preheated to 100 ° C for 2 hours, leave the door ajar. Then put hot pepper rings on a baking sheet, dry for another 2 hours. Transfer warm tomatoes and peppers dried in the oven into a prepared jar, sprinkling with finely chopped garlic. Ignite the oil, cool, pour over the vegetables. Keep refrigerated.

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Sun dried tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 3 kg tomatoes
• 5-7 g salt

Cooking method:

Wash, dry, small fleshy tomatoes, cut each in half and carefully remove the seeds. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, on parchment paper-lined trays, sprinkle with salt, cover with cheesecloth and place in the sun. The air temperature should not be lower than 32-33 °C. Dried for 7-8 days. Clean up the room at night. Place sun-dried tomatoes in an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place.

Microwave dried tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 kg tomatoes
• 150-200 ml vegetable oil
• 10 g garlic
• 10g salt
• 3 g ground black pepper
• 5 g dried herb mix (basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram)

Cooking method:

To prepare sun-dried tomatoes for the winter, cut small firm tomatoes into quarters and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper and herb mixture. Lay in a single layer on a platter. Put in a microwave oven and heat at maximum power for 2-3 minutes. Then remove, drain the released liquid, let the tomatoes cool. Repeat the procedure 3-4 times. At the last heating, sprinkle the tomatoes with finely chopped garlic. Ready-made tomatoes should be elastic, but when pressed, juice should not stand out from them. Transfer sun-dried tomatoes to a clean, dry jar. Ignite the oil, cool and pour over the tomatoes. Cover the jar of dried vegetables with a lid and store in the refrigerator.

See photos of dried tomatoes according to these recipes:

Dried eggplants in oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg eggplant
• 15 g garlic
• 10g salt
• 10 g dried basil
• 10 g dried dill
• a pinch of ground hot pepper
• 5 g ground paprika
• 5 g ground black pepper

Cooking method:

Peel the eggplant, cut into slices 5-8 mm thick, sprinkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes. Then blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Dry, put on a baking sheet covered with parchment in one layer. Sprinkle with a mixture of salt, herbs and spices. Dried eggplants in an oven preheated to 120 ° C for 2.5-3 hours. Put warm eggplants in a sterilized jar, sprinkling with chopped garlic, do not compact. Pour the calcined vegetable oil into the jar. Store dried vegetables according to this recipe in the refrigerator.

Dried bell pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg red bell pepper
• 20 g garlic
• 10 g fresh hot pepper
• 3-5 g dried Italian herbs
• 5 g salt
• 250 ml vegetable oil

Cooking method:

Before drying vegetables, bell pepper must be cleaned of seeds, cut into medium slices. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with salt. Dried in an oven preheated to 1-20 ° C for 2.5 hours. Then sprinkle with herbs and keep in the oven until cooked. Place dried peppers in sterilized jars, sprinkle with chopped garlic and hot pepper rings, pour over warm oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg zucchini
• 500 g sugar
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 15 ml cognac (optional)

Cooking method:

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, peel and seeds, cut into half rings 1.5-2 cm thick. Add half the norm of sugar, lemon zest and juice, leave for 5-6 hours. Stir gently from time to time. Pour the resulting liquid into a separate bowl, add the remaining sugar to it, bring to a boil. Dip the zucchini in syrup, pour in brandy (optional), cook over low heat until transparent (2-3 minutes). Then remove from heat and leave the zucchini in syrup for 5-10 minutes. After recline in a colander, allow excess liquid to drain. Put prepared zucchini on a baking sheet or electric dryer grate. Dried at a temperature of 60-65 ° C until cooked. Store dried vegetables in a dryer or baking sheet in a dry, airtight container.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg tomatoes
• 500 g eggplant
• 500 g bell pepper
• 250 ml vegetable oil
• 20 g garlic
• 10g dried herbs to taste
• 5 g salt
• ground black pepper

Cooking method:

Cut the tomatoes in half, remove some of the pulp with seeds. Bulgarian pepper cut into slices, peeled eggplant - thick semicircular slices. Place vegetables on a baking sheet lined with paper, sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried herbs, chopped garlic and brush with a little oil. Dried in a slightly preheated oven for 3 hours. Take out some of the vegetables that have already dried up. Keep the rest in the oven for another 2-3 hours. Check readiness every hour. Put dried vegetables for the winter in jars, pour warm calcined oil, seal tightly. Keep refrigerated.

Dried apricots with sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg apricots
• 1 kg sugar
• 500 ml water

Cooking method:

Dense apricots cut lengthwise into 2 parts, remove the seeds. Make syrup from water and sugar. Dip apricots into it, remove from heat and leave for 8-10 hours. Then drain the syrup. Put apricots on a baking sheet covered with parchment, leave in a warm, dry place for 10-12 days. You can also dry in an oven preheated to 100 ° C or in an electric dryer for 6-7 hours. During drying, the fruits must be turned over once. Store dried apricots in a glass container in a dark place.

Home dried apricots.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg apricots
• 650 g sugar
• 350 ml water

Cooking method:

Wash slightly unripe fruits thoroughly, cut lengthwise, remove the seeds. Put in a wide basin, sprinkle with 300 g sugar and leave overnight. Drain the released juice (it will no longer be needed, it can be used to make compotes). From the remaining sugar and water, boil the syrup. Pour apricots with hot syrup, leave for 7-10 minutes. Then recline in a colander, let the syrup drain. Lay the apricot halves on a wire rack, place in the oven, place a baking sheet underneath to catch the dripping syrup. Dried at a temperature of 65 ° C for 5-6 hours. Then let cool, turn over, place in the oven again and continue to dry until cooked. Dried at home store apricots in an airtight container.

Dried plums with sugar.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg plums
• 1-1.5 kg of sugar

Cooking method:

Dense plums cut lengthwise into 2 parts, remove the seeds. Put in a wide basin, sprinkle with sugar and leave until the juice is released. Put on fire, heat for 3-4 minutes. Plums should change color, but the skin should not separate. Remove from heat, leave the plums in the syrup for 5-6 hours. Then drain the syrup. Put the plums on a tray or baking sheet and dry in a warm, dry place for 10-1 2 days. You can dry in an electric dryer at a temperature of 60 ° C for 9 hours or in an oven at a temperature of 100 ° C for 7-8 hours.

Dried spicy plums.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg plums
• 20 g garlic
• 10 g salt
• 10 g dried Italian herbs
• a pinch of ground black and allspice
• 200-250 ml vegetable oil

Cooking method:

Cut plums in half, remove pits. Lay on a sheet cut side up, sprinkle with a mixture of salt and spices. Put in the oven, preheated to 100 ° C, for 4-5 hours. Then sprinkle with finely chopped garlic and keep in a warm oven for another 30-40 minutes. Ignite the oil, let it cool. Put dried plums in clean, dry jars and pour oil over them. After cooling, the dried plums according to this recipe are stored in the refrigerator.

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Ingredients:

• 2 kg ripe plums
• 1 liter of water
• 10 g soda

Cooking method:

Wash the plums, remove the stones through a cross-shaped incision from the side of the stalk. Bring water with soda to a boil, remove from heat. Place part of the plums in a sieve or colander, dip in water with soda for 30 seconds, then immediately rinse with warm water. Blanch all plums in this way, let the liquid drain. Dry the plums, put on a baking sheet covered with paper and put in the oven, heated to 50-55 ° C, for 3-4 hours. Then remove from the oven, mix and let cool. Place the plums back in the oven for 4 hours, but raise the temperature to 70°C. Remove, stir and let cool. Raise the oven heat to 90°C and cook the dried plums until tender.

Dried pears in sugar syrup.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg pears
• 300 g sugar

Cooking method:

Before drying fruits, they must be peeled and core, cut into pieces, sprinkled with sugar and left for 8-10 hours, until the juice is released. Then recline in a colander, let the liquid drain (do not pour out the liquid!). Dry the pears in an oven heated to 65-80 ° C until the color changes and part of the liquid evaporates. Put dried pears in sterilized jars. Bring the syrup released from the pears to a boil, pour it into jars and immediately roll them up.

Dried pears.

Ingredients:

• Ripe pears of summer and early autumn varieties

Cooking method:

Small pears can be dried whole, large ones cut into 2-4 parts, remove the core. Put the pears on the grate of the electric dryer or oven. Dried fruits are cooked for 6-7 hours at a temperature of 80-85 °C. Then you need to turn the pears over to the other side and dry for another 6-7 hours at a temperature of 60-65 ° C. When drying in natural conditions, put the pears on a tray covered with gauze, cover with a cloth and put in a warm place for 7-10 days, turn the fruits over once a day.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg firm apples
• 50 g sugar
• 3 g ground cinnamon

Cooking method:

Cut the apples into slices or rings 5-7 mm thick, remove the core. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet so that they do not touch each other, sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Put in an oven heated to 65 ° C for 3-4 hours. Remove, let cool, turn over and put back in the oven. Repeat the process until the apples are ready. Dried apples should remain soft and elastic, but no juice should be released when pressed. Store home-dried apples in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

• dense apples

Cooking method:

Cut the apples into slices or rings 5-7 mm thick, remove the core. Blanch for 2 minutes in hot salted water (7 g of salt per 1 liter of water), then drain in a colander and let the liquid drain. Dry the apples, put on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at a temperature of about 100 ° C. Leave the door ajar. Stir apples from time to time. Store dried apples in an airtight container.

Dried peaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg peaches
• 1 liter of water
• 20 g soda

Cooking method:

Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits. Bring water with baking soda to a boil. Blanch the peaches for 1 minute, draining the liquid. Put the prepared peaches on a sheet covered with parchment and dry in the oven at a temperature of 65 ° C for 1 hour. Then turn over and let cool. Put back in the oven and dry at the same temperature for another 1 hour. Repeat the process until the peaches are cooked. Put home-dried fruits in an airtight container and store in a cool place.

Dried melon.

Ingredients:

Cooking method:

Cut the melon pulp into thin slices, put on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Place in a preheated oven at 120°C for 15 minutes. Leave the oven door ajar. Then reduce the heat to 70-80 ° C and dry the melon for 5-6 hours, turning it over from time to time. Store dried melon in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg pitted cherries
• 300 ml water
• 200 g sugar

Cooking method:

Before drying the berries, bring the water to a boil, add sugar. Dip cherries in small portions into syrup and blanch for 7-8 minutes. Drain in a colander, let the syrup drain. Arrange the berries in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave in a warm dry place for 10-12 days. Ready dried berries should be stored in a glass container with a lid in a dark place.

Zucchini is a valuable dietary product with a rich vitamin content and excellent taste. It will be indispensable in your diet if you prefer healthy and wholesome plant foods. True, you can eat plenty of fresh zucchini only in the summer season, and in order to enjoy the taste of a vegetable throughout the year, many housewives resort to preparations: canned vegetables and salads, marinades and even zucchini jams. But in this case, the product loses a lot of useful qualities. A worthy alternative to the usual zucchini is drying the vegetable. If you don’t know what can be made from dried zucchini and how to properly organize this process, then we can figure out the issue.

Are the beneficial properties preserved when dried?

Since ancient times, people have resorted to drying vegetables, fruits, herbs and berries, as it was a vital necessity. Currently, there are many ways to preserve food - freezing, canning, pasteurization and others. But drying products is still the most financially beneficial, simple and convenient method in which the product retains all the original taste and vitamin properties.
During the drying process, vegetables lose up to 4/5 of the amount of moisture, and since zucchini consists of 90% liquid, then from 10 kg of fresh fruit you will get 1 kg of dried fruit, respectively.

Did you know?In some cuisines of the world, not only fruits, but also zucchini flowers are used as food. Their use is multifaceted: bright yellow petals are added to main dishes, appetizers and salads, desserts and pastries. Thanks to the same flowers, the fruit was grown for a long time in Europe as an ornamental, and not a food plant.

Advantages and features of this method:

1. Preservation of all macro- and microelements, vitamins. During preservation, many useful compounds are destroyed, but during drying, only moisture evaporates from fruits and vegetables.
2. Profitability. If you do not have a special electric dryer, you can always use the oven. And if you live in a private house, you will surely find a place to dry the fruits in the open air. In this case, no additional devices are required. And at the end of the process, the dried product will only have to be collected and properly stored.
3. Naturalness of products. When buying ready-made dried fruits, you can never be sure that preservatives and pest control chemicals have not got into them. If you cook dried zucchini yourself at home, you can be sure of their quality and organicity.
4. No oxidation. For the oxidation process, the presence of water is necessary, since it is a universal transporter for all substances. But if there is no moisture, accordingly, the oxidation process does not occur.
5. Absence of development of pathogenic microorganisms.
6. Absolutely any variety of zucchini is suitable for drying.

The only disadvantage of drying products can be considered the loss of the appearance of the fruit. However, this in no way affects the taste, smell and nutritional value!

The benefits and harms of dried zucchini

Since zucchini retains almost all substances during drying, the benefits of dried and fresh fruits are almost the same. Yes, the fruits are the following advantages:

1. Rich in vitamins. 100 g of fruit contains vitamins (in descending order): C, B3, E, B1, B2, B6, as well as beta-carotene, folic, nicotinic and malic acids, antioxidants.
2. A storehouse of micro and macro elements: potassium, phosphorus, magic, calcium, iron, zinc, selenium and manganese are present in smaller quantities.
3. Low calorie. It is difficult to gain extra pounds from this vegetable, since 100 g contains only 23 Kcal (fresh).
4. Not allergenic. Zucchini can be consumed even by the smallest - children from 7 months. In exceptional cases, this vegetable can cause an allergy in an adult.
5. Easily digestible.
6. Approved for use by pregnant and lactating women.

Did you know?According to one legend, zucchini is considered a gift from the gods. At a time when the main food of people was fish, and many sailors went for catches for a long time at sea, women asked the gods for food that would grow on the ground. It was supposed to have soft flesh like a fish, a sunny color like a sun-drenched sea, and a tough skin like a turtle shell. The gods took pity and gave mankind this fruit.

Eating zucchini in fresh and dried form has an effect on the body following effects:

• improves digestion;
• normalizes the functioning of the nervous system;
• improves immunity;
• normalizes the work of the heart, blood vessels;
• useful for obesity and overweight;
• suitable for people with diabetes;
• reduces the risk of developing malignant tumors.

However, with certain diseases, the use of zucchini, even in dried form, can harm the body. So, the fruits can not be eaten with kidney disease, as the fruits contain a lot of potassium. If there are diseases of the stomach and intestines (ulcer, gastritis, etc.), you also need to minimize the amount of fruit in the diet - zucchini can cause irritation of the mucous membrane. In any case, before using fresh or dried zucchini, ask your doctor for advice.

Selection and preparation of zucchini for drying

It is best to choose for drying young small (10-20 cm) fruits with an intact skin and a green tail. Compared to large fruits, they have a more tender pulp and a greater amount of nutrients.
What vegetables to avoid:

1. Partially cleaned. So unscrupulous sellers try to hide traces of rot and damage.
2. With a shiny, unnatural, bright skin. Such a skin indicates the use of nitrates in cultivation.
3. With dry stem. This feature also indicates the presence of nitrates in the fruit.
4. With cracked, flaky skin. These symptoms indicate a plant disease.

As mentioned above, zucchini of any variety, type and color is suitable for drying. You can use both early-ripening and late-ripening species. If you want to dry large fruits, you will need to remove the seeds.

Process preparation of zucchini almost the same for different drying methods. It consists of such steps:

1. Rinse the vegetables thoroughly, cut off the stalk and tail.
2. If you are using very young zucchini, you can leave them with the skin on. From large fruits, it is better to cut off the rough, thick skin.
3. From large vegetables, you need to remove the seed with a spoon.
4. Next, the fruits must be cut: straws, cubes, rings or half rings. Optimally cut into pieces 1-1.5 cm thick.
5. The chopped vegetable can be pre-dried immediately or pre-boiled for 1-2 minutes, and then cooled sharply in cold water. Instead of boiling, some housewives advise salting the zucchini (for juicing), then rinse the juice and start drying. With a short cooking time, it will be possible to extract nitrates from the vegetable (if they are there), but the amount of useful vitamins will also be reduced.

Popular drying methods

For drying, you can use both the oldest methods (in air) and with the help of modern technology (ovens, dehydrators). The first method will be somewhat stretched in time, but economical. And in a dehydrator, quite a lot of fruits can be dried in a short time.

On open air

With a natural drying method, the process can last from several days to three weeks. For drying, you need to choose sieves, grates, any flat trays with holes in the bottom. The fruits need to be spread out at a small distance from each other and placed under the sun. To achieve uniform drying, they must be turned over 1-2 times a day.

Important!You can not choose trays and pallets with a solid bottom for drying under the sun - due to the lack of air circulation, the fruits can begin to rot, which will destroy the entire workpiece.

It is also extremely important to prevent the workpiece from coming into contact with flies, midges and other insects. To do this, drying can be covered with a net. However, it should not interfere with the sun's rays.
Another option for natural drying is indoor drying. To do this, chopped vegetables are strung on a fishing line, thread or wire and hung in a well-ventilated room without drafts. However, even here you will have to take care that insects and other living creatures do not attack the workpiece.

In the oven

With this method, it will be possible to dry the zucchini in 6-8 hours. For drying, you can use a baking sheet and baking paper. Put the sliced ​​\u200b\u200bfruits on the paper with the space between them, preheat the oven to 50-55 ° C and send the baking sheet there. The door can be left slightly open for ventilation.

It is necessary to systematically turn over the chopped vegetables and change them, change their location at the back wall of the oven and at the entrance. If after this time you took out a baking sheet and found that the dried zucchini is not yet ready, you can send them to the oven again for 1-2 hours.

In an electric dryer

This method is similar to the previous one, but shorter in time and more convenient. Although for its use you will have to spend money on an electric dryer - not every home has this device.

Today, models of electric dryers (dehydrators) differ in the following indicators:

• power;
• the number and location of trays (horizontal/vertical);
• shape (round, square and rectangular);
• placement of the heating element and ventilation (on the front wall/bottom/top). In some models, in which ventilation and heating are provided evenly, you will not need to remember to turn the dryer at all;
• noise exposure (newer and more expensive models are almost silent).

Important! Each dehydrator model is designed and works in its own way, so before using the device, you must definitely study the instructions and figure out exactly how it is better to dry certain fruits in your model.

How to check readiness

The duration of the process will depend not only on the drying method and on the characteristics of the device (oven or dehydrator), but also on the fruits themselves. So, duration varies depending on:

• the amount of sugar in fruits;
• initial water content;
• cutting method and size of pieces;
• ventilation quality;
• outdoor air temperature or set temperature;
• air humidity;
• features and characteristics of the device (if you use an artificial method).

Did you know?The largest and heaviest zucchini was grown in England in 2008. The weight of this handsome man reached 65 kg. For such a gigantic size and weight, the vegetable got into the pages of the Guinness Book of Records.

How to store dried zucchini

It is best to use glass jars with a sealed metal or plastic lid to store finished products - moths, larvae and other pests are definitely not afraid of drying in such containers.
Sometimes you can find recommendations for storing drying in cotton bags, previously soaked in a salt solution. Also, the drying itself can be mixed with a small amount of salt. However, even in this case, moths can start in the product. In any case, the container should be left at room temperature in a dark place.

Another way to store dried zucchini is in the freezer. This method is especially relevant if you have not dried the fruit a little.

It is impossible to store drying in iron, plastic containers, plastic bags - due to the lack of sealing, zucchini will absorb moisture from the air and soften, and can also be affected by pests. If you properly prepared, dried and stored drying, it will stand until the next season and even longer.

What can be cooked from dried zucchini

There are many recipes that use dried zucchini for the winter. They will be a sought-after ingredient in vegetable stews, first courses, vegetable sauces and casseroles. From dried fruits, you can cook porridge, using this vegetable as the main ingredient, fry and make scrambled eggs, warm salads with them.
For gourmets and lovers of experiments with tastes, it will be interesting to make a cake from dried fruits with the addition of greens. Write in the comments what questions you did not receive an answer to, we will definitely respond!

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