Residents of megacities probably don’t understand why they need to harvest dill for the winter? After all, it is always there, even in winter. But it is completely tasteless and not aromatic, because it grows in artificial conditions and lacks summer sun.
Only summer dill is the most delicious, healthy and aromatic. There are different ways to keep it fresh. The most common are: drying, salting, freezing, preparing in oil. You will learn about them in my article.
Preparing dill for the winter is the best recipe!
Dill can be stored in salted form in the refrigerator, usually for up to 2 months, but you can prepare a more interesting seasoning by adding garlic and soy sauce, and thereby increase the shelf life of the preparation.
For this we need:
- Dill – 300 grams,
- Garlic cloves – 5 pieces,
- Salt - 1.5 tablespoons,
- Soy sauce – 1 tablespoon,
- Mixed peppers - to taste
And so, let's start cooking.
The dill must first be washed and dried. Trim the hard parts, we don't need them. Chop coarsely and place in a bowl. Chop the garlic cloves a little and add to the greens. If you are a garlic lover, you can take more of it.
Add ground coriander, a mixture of peppers to taste and salt. We use regular non-iodized one. For this amount of greenfinch you need 1.5 heaped tablespoons of salt.
Blend everything with an immersion blender until smooth and green and add soy sauce. Our seasoning is ready. Yes, it turned out to be very salty, but due to this it is stored for a very long time, up to six months.
Add to meat, fish dishes, salads, and soup. It turns out very tasty and aromatic.
Store in small baby puree jars in the refrigerator. We place the workpiece tightly in a clean, dry jar, compact it well and close it.
Dill takes up little space, stores well, and goes with many dishes.
However, remember that this sauce is very salty, as salt is what ensures its preservation, so add it to your dishes carefully.
Composition and beneficial properties
The seasoning has a number of useful substances in its composition.
First of all, it is a supply of fiber, vitamins B and C. Folic acid, which the product is rich in, is very useful, especially for children and pregnant women. For men there is also a tangible benefit - the acid is involved in the normalization of sperm production. Dill is rich in various flavonoids, carotene and fatty oils. Thanks to the presence of essential oils in the composition, the production of bile and digestive enzymes improves. The digestive tract and genitourinary system are disinfected.
It is not without reason that dill water has been actively used for quite a long time as a drug that reduces colic in infants and also restores intestinal function. The presence of magnesium and iron improves blood circulation.
Despite processing such as canning, dill retains ascorbic acid, potassium and fiber.
It is very useful to use as an anti-inflammatory drug for the oral cavity. Thanks to dill, appetite and digestive processes improve, and the number and frequency of cramps decreases.
Many people are familiar with dill as a diuretic, while others are happy to use it as an expectorant. Helps in relieving tension, speeds up recovery processes after experiencing severe mental stress. Some women use dill as a weight loss aid. 100 grams of dill contains only 40 calories.
How to freeze dill in the freezer
I have been harvesting greens for several years now. I tried different methods: drying, salting, freezing. Each of them has its own merits. However, I like the last method better than the others.
Before you start preparing, I want to tell you which dill is best to prepare so that it remains tasty, aromatic and retains all its properties.
These tips are suitable not only for amateur gardeners, but for city dwellers who purchase greens at markets. It is important to choose the preparation time when our aromatic spice is most useful.
- Do not take very young greens, they have not yet gained strength. It's better to wait until it turns dark green.
- You should not take dill that has already produced umbrellas and is about to bloom. It is already losing its bright aroma and beneficial properties.
So, we have the most fragrant and beautiful vegetable, and we begin to prepare it. It's very simple. There are only 3 stages.
Stage 1 – preparation
First, remove all thick stems and rinse the greens well in running water to remove dust and soil.
Place on a paper towel to dry. You need to dry it very well. This usually takes 1-2 hours. Don't waste this time. It is important for us that excess moisture is removed, then when frozen our spice will be free of ice crystals, will retain all its beneficial properties, will not stick together, and can be easily taken out with a spoon.
Stage 2 – shredding
Finely chop our spice. For freezing, I prefer hand-cut dill, although many housewives prefer to grind it in a blender. Here you have to be careful not to make a mess out of it.
Stage 3 - packaging
Place the workpiece in a container. There may be various options here. You can put chopped greens in plastic containers, cling film, plastic bags and even a glass jar.
I put this spice in flat disposable containers; they are compact and do not take up much space in the freezer. When laying, I compact the greens well, this way they are better stored, it is easy to remove them with a spoon, taking as much as necessary.
Place the packaged spice in the freezer. The dill turns out to be fresh, green, and aromatic, just like in summer.
If you are preparing not only dill, but also other greens, then be sure to label the container so that in winter there will be no problem finding the right preparation.
Greens frozen in this way can be used in any dish: soups, pasta, potatoes, meat, pizza, jellied pie, cottage cheese. It’s simply impossible to count everything.
Frozen dill can be stored for 6-8 months. During this time, it retains all its beneficial and tasteful qualities.
This is my favorite way to prepare. Our spice does not stick together, does not freeze, and remains fresh and aromatic.
Keep it fresh
An ordinary household refrigerator is quite suitable for keeping bunches of any greenery in it for a short time.
If you are not going to store fresh dill for a long time, then:
- Take a bunch and put it in a jar. There is no need to wash the plants or trim the roots.
- Pour some clean water into the jar and cover the leaves with a plastic bag.
- Place the jar on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
In this case, the greens will not wither or turn yellow, but will remain juicy for 1-2 weeks.
You can store fresh dill in the kitchen for longer. If the garden is far away, then a piece of it can be transferred to the windowsill. Dig up young dill with roots, without destroying the earthen ball, and plant it in a flower pot. This will decorate the kitchen window sill and extend the time of use of the greenery. [flat_ab id=”28"]
Do you know that…
Some people try to grow dill from seeds on a windowsill. This is possible, but only in summer, and in winter you need powerful illumination with a phytolamp.
Although dill is sold all year round, summer dill contains 2 times more vitamin C than winter greenhouse
If you need dill throughout the winter, then use other options for storing it. Use:
- freezing;
- drying;
- pickling.
How to prepare dill for the winter and preserve the aroma
To preserve the aroma of our preparation, I suggest freezing our spice in small portions.
Molds for freezing ice, which any housewife has, are ideal here. You can also use correx - this is a plastic spacer with indentations for packaging chocolates in boxes.
We choose the “correct dill”, as we considered earlier, rinse it well, dry it and place it in a container for making ice cubes.
We compact our spice well, fill it with water and put it in the freezer. It is ideal if the refrigerator has a freeze mode. We set it to this mode.
When the cubes freeze, they can be easily removed from the container and placed in plastic bags.
The spice frozen in this way is good in any dish except cottage cheese and salads. Its only drawback is that it takes up more space than bagged greens. The dill in it turns out excellent, tasty and aromatic.
No one forbids adding parsley or other greens to the dill mass.
These cubes are perfect for adding flavor to broths, soups, stews and many other dishes.
If you don’t want to bother with chopping greens, you can make it even simpler. We wrap the prepared vegetable in small portions into freezer bags, like candy wrappers, and put them in the freezer.
In winter, when you need to cook something, just take out a bag of herbs, mash it with your hands, it will instantly chop itself, there is no need to cut it, and you can already put it in a dish.
Our seasoning will become like chopped. This is the miracle that happens to it when it is frozen.
Fragrance oil with dill
Green butter is an appetizing spread for sandwiches, croutons, rye crackers and a tasty addition to meat, vegetable and fish dishes. If you add a piece of butter to your favorite side dish, it will become even tastier. This oil is used to fill tartlets, grease savory pancakes with cheese, mushroom or meat filling, and add it to creamy soups. Dill flavored oil can be put on a hot steak - no sauce needed!
Ingredients:
- butter - 300 g
- dill - 2-3 bunches
- lemon zest - 1 tsp.
- salt, pepper - to taste
Cooking method:
- Leave the butter at room temperature for several hours. It should become soft.
- Sort out the dill, rinse it with cool water and finely chop it.
- Place the butter in a clean and dry container and mash it with a fork. Add dill and zest, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Place cling film on a work surface. Place a strip of butter on it. When wrapping, form a sausage, secure on both sides and place in the refrigerator.
At any time, you can take out dill oil, cut off a piece of the desired size and use it in the process of preparing or serving a particular dish.
Preparing dill for the winter, like fresh
You already know how to freeze dill for the winter in ice cube trays. The same principle can be used to prepare dough with butter.
We will need:
- Dill – 20 grams,
- Butter – 80 grams
This is the ratio of products needed to completely fill my ice trays. Perhaps in your case it will be different, but the ratio has been verified.
First, remove all the thick stems, then wash them, lay them out on dry towels and wait until all the moisture has evaporated. Finely chop the greens with a knife and place in molds.
Melt the butter on the stove, pour it into our green seasoning and put it in the freezer. Everything is very simple.
This preparation is excellent for preparing main courses, especially mashed potatoes, pasta, stewed cabbage with meat, and vegetable stew. The dill in it is like fresh. Perhaps it is the oil that makes it so.
Preparing the necessary ingredients
To prepare dill for winter, choose only fresh sprigs that are filled with juice. Beware of yellow branches or sticky leaves - this indicates that the product is not fresh. If there are stems or other large shoots, remove them with a knife or scissors.
Greens should be thoroughly rinsed under cold water several times. This will ensure that all dust, dirt or bits of soil are washed away. While washing, turn the bunch in your hands several times and wash the central part, which is hidden by other branches.
Next, dry the grass. You should not do this in the oven, since in this case most of the beneficial substances will die, and the grass itself will become, at best, hard, and at worst, turn yellow. The most common drying method is hanging. Please note that you need to wrap the bundle with gauze. This will prevent dust from settling on it.
How to preserve dill for the winter at home
Of all the ways to prepare greens at home, I like freezing. Therefore, I am pleased to offer you another interesting recipe. We will store our dill in pepper.
Prepare the greens as usual: remove the thick stems, wash the thin leaves, let dry a little and finely chop.
We take a regular sweet pepper, remove the seeds and use it as a storage container. Place the crushed seasoning in the pepper, wrap it in cling film and put it in the freezer. We use it as needed, cutting off as much as we need from the whole.
Dill frozen in this way is perfectly stored and is ideal for cabbage soup, borscht, and vegetable stew.
Useful tips
Advice from experienced housewives will help extend the shelf life and value of products:
- When storing dill in bunches in water, wash the greens only before use.
- Before harvesting greens, it is important to sort them out from dry and rotten leaves.
- Sterilizing containers for storing greens will increase shelf life.
- Dried dill is stored in closed bags or jars in a dry, dark place.
- Salting the seasoning preserves its beneficial properties.
How to dry dill for the winter at home
I don't really like drying dill because I have limited space to dry it. Bunched greens should be dried in the shade for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the air temperature.
It is important that it does not turn yellow, otherwise there will be no vitamins left in it.
That's why I was very interested in drying dill in the microwave. This is the method that preserves the magnificent aroma and bright color.
This is shown in detail in Yana Fedorova’s video “How to preserve all the vitamins of dill for a whole year - without heat treatment.” Check out this interesting video recipe.
Place the dried herbs in a paper bag, glass jar, or cardboard box. It is important that dust does not fall on it.
Collection and preparation of dill
The best time to harvest dill is the first half of summer, when the dill is still young. It is tender, fragrant, bright green in color, and contains many useful substances. This dill is best harvested in sunny weather, when there is no dew. After harvesting, the dill is sorted and damaged or dried branches are removed. The greens are washed with cool water, shaken and dried. If you collect dill in August, do it carefully: do not shake off the precious seeds.
How to prepare dill with garlic arrows for the winter
The garlic arrows reach the harvest almost at the same time as the dill gains its strength. You can combine them together, and you will get a unique seasoning for meat, fish, or borscht dressing.
Ingredients required:
- Dill – 100 grams,
- Garlic arrows – 50 grams
Under running water, rinse the dill and garlic arrows well. We don’t cut off the thick stems; they will also be used.
Dry the prepared greens on a towel. Drying is needed to remove excess water, because our product is subject to further freezing.
Coarsely chop the vegetables and place them in a blender for blending. If you don’t have a blender, you can grind the greens in a meat grinder.
Place the dough one tablespoon at a time on cling film and wrap it in several layers, twisting it like candy. That's it, we send it to freeze.
Now you know that for the winter you can prepare not only pickled garlic arrows, but also such an interesting snack.
You can also make other preparations from garlic arrows, such as garlic oil or garlic paste, original savory preparations.
Preparing for winter storage
Before choosing any of these storage methods, the plants must first be properly prepared:
- Rinse the greens purchased or collected from your plot under running water. Another option: place the stems in a deep bowl filled with water. Keep there for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse in the same way under a gentle stream of water.
- Then place dry towels on the kitchen table, spread the green stems on them in a thin layer, cover with paper napkins and let the moisture dry naturally.
Now the greens are completely ready for further processing.
Harvesting dill with umbrellas for the winter
I never throw away dill umbrellas, but I prepare them for the winter in the simplest way - drying them in the open air, but this simple task has its own nuances.
Depending on how you want to use them, you can harvest the umbrellas at different stages of maturity.
Those dill umbrellas that have just bloomed and the seeds have not yet ripened are more fragrant.
We cut them off, lay them out on a white sheet and send them to the attic to dry, if possible. There is a breeze there, it will dry them well. If this is not possible, then we lay out dill umbrellas in the room on the table. After a week, they will dry completely, and they need to be rubbed through a sieve into a deep bowl. The small fraction will go down. We put it in small baby food jars. Due to the tightly sealed lid, the aroma of dill is perfectly preserved.
It turns out almost like pollen. It can be added to soup, minced cutlets, sauces, and gravy.
You can prepare dill umbrellas with seeds. We also dry them on a horizontal surface in a room or in the attic, but first cut off the excess stem, leaving only a small part of the stem for convenient storage.
We put dried dill umbrellas for storage in convenient containers. In winter, we add them when cooking potatoes, dumplings, and soup.
We disassemble some of the umbrellas into seeds, which we then use to make sauerkraut.
Dill powder
Dill powder is a flavorful seasoning that can be stored for a long time. Dry the dill in any convenient way, and then grind in a blender. Sift through a sieve. Pour the resulting powder into jars and seal with airtight lids. This seasoning has a rather strong aroma, so add small pinches of it when preparing broths, soups, sauces, main courses, green cocktails or smoothies.
How to store longer without refrigeration?
Drying
One way to preserve dill for a long time is to dry it. Dry herbs are stored in glass or porcelain containers in a dry, dark place. You can store such preparations in the kitchen cabinet.
Advantages and disadvantages
The big advantage of dried seasoning is its long shelf life and better aroma retention. But every month the aroma becomes less pronounced.
This method is especially good if there is no freezer or there is little space in it. But it won't work if you don't have room to dry it.
How to dry it properly?
To better preserve the aroma, the spice is dried entirely. Then it is crushed.
There are several ways to dry dill:
- On air. The leaves are spread in a thin layer on a flat surface and mixed periodically. The main condition is the absence of direct sunlight.
- In the oven. The temperature should be less than forty degrees. The door is left ajar and drying is carried out for four hours. The dill is stirred periodically. It is advisable that the oven has a fan mode.
- In the microwave. The shoots are placed between napkins and dried at maximum temperature for about three minutes. If necessary, repeat the procedure.
- In an electric dryer. For three hours, the greens are dried in the grass mode. If there is no such mode, the temperature is set to about forty degrees and dried until ready.
How long does the quality last?
Dried dill can be stored for up to two years. After this period, the spice loses its quality.
How to use?
Dry dill is a universal spice. It combines with almost all products:
- meat;
- fish;
- vegetables;
- cottage cheese;
- cheese;
- eggs.
The spice is added to salads, first and second courses. This is an indispensable spice in the kitchen.
Help: adding dry dill to dishes makes them aromatic and enhances the taste.
