For 5 kg of grapes, you need to take 400 g of sugar, if the berries are sour, you can add more sugar. Wash the grapes thoroughly and crush the berries. Strain the resulting mass several times. Boil the resulting juice for 5 minutes, not forgetting to remove the foam. Add the right amount of sugar and boil for another 3 minutes. Cool the liquid and pour into half-liter plastic bottles. You need to store such a concentrate in the freezer, and defrost as necessary to prepare excellent compotes, jelly and jellies.
For gourmets, such a preparation will be a godsend – after all, melon with spices is so refined and piquant. Boil half a kilo of melon with salt, 30 g of honey, 2 cloves, a cinnamon stick, a glass of water and 100 g of 6% vinegar. Cool, put melon pieces in jars and pour over the resulting marinade. Sterilize jars for about an hour, roll up and keep under a fur coat for a day.
It’s even more original than the famous French onion soup. But guests will definitely ask for more! Cut 7 onions into half rings, fry in vegetable oil and add 2,5 cups of sugar. On low heat, bring the jam to the color of caramel. Pour in 2 tbsp. l. 5% vinegar and 2 tbsp. l. white wine vinegar and boil for 15 minutes. Our unusual jam is ready, and it can also be used as a seasoning for potatoes and vegetable dishes.
Sun-dried tomatoes, which are widely used in Mediterranean and Oriental cuisines, can be prepared by yourself. For this, it is better to take tomatoes of small varieties. Cut the fruits into halves, sprinkle with a Provence mixture of herbs, no salt is needed. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Set the oven to 125-135 degrees and bake for up to 6 hours with the door slightly ajar. Before use, sun-dried tomatoes are soaked for 3 weeks in a jar with garlic and spices to taste. Spicy sun-dried tomatoes are good both for sandwiches and as part of vegetable salads.
In the year when juicy and sweet carrots were born in the garden, you can cook delicious vegetarian carrot cheese. Root crops cut into pieces and put in a cauldron for pilaf. For 1 kg of carrots we take 50-70 ml of water. Simmer over low heat until completely softened and crush with a pestle. Boil for some more time so that the mass becomes thick. Now you need to add grated lemon (along with zest) and a teaspoon of spices: coriander, cumin, anise, dill. Divide the chilled mass into small rectangular pieces and wrap in gauze. We keep the resulting bricks for four days under oppression between two cutting boards. Then remove the gauze and roll the pieces of cheese in the remaining spices or wheat, rye, oat bran. Such a dietary product is stored in a dry and dark place.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. You can vary your favorite recipes with different vegetables and fruits. Cucumber jam and plum ketchup will appear in your cellar, and you won’t have to persuade your relatives to treat yourself to a jar of homemade preparations. On the contrary, the queue of admirers of your culinary talents will become longer than you can imagine.