Simple recipes for "Mother-in-law's Tongue" cucumbers for the winter and storage conditions for the snack

"Mother-in-law's tongue" is a type of vegetable preserve for the winter. This appetizer's distinctive feature is its savory flavor and the need to cut the vegetables into tongues. This is where the appetizer gets its name. Similar appetizers can be made from a variety of vegetables, but most often, home cooks use cucumbers—the most economical of all garden-grown produce. There are also numerous recipes for "Mother-in-law's tongue" cucumber preserves for the winter. Each one uses different additional ingredients.

The intricacies of preparing "Mother-in-law's Tongue" from cucumbers for the winter

To prepare a delicious and mouth-watering vegetable snack for the winter, you'll need to know a few tips. These tips will help extend the shelf life of your preparation and make it as appealing as possible.

When preparing, you need to take into account the following subtleties:

• the salad can be prepared not only from young, but also from overgrown vegetables;
• young vegetables are cut into thin slices diagonally, there is no need to peel the cucumbers;
• Overgrown cucumbers need to be peeled and then sliced ​​lengthwise using a vegetable peeler;
• Before slicing cucumbers, they should be soaked in cold water for at least 4 hours;
• For preparation, it is better to choose jars with a volume of 0.5-1 liter;
• Before adding the salad, the jars must be sterilized for 10-20 minutes.

When preparing a salad, you need to adjust the amount of hot ingredients based on your own taste preferences, but you can’t exclude them.

Selecting and preparing cucumbers for canning

To obtain a quality product, you need to take a responsible approach to choosing the main ingredient.

To do this, you need to consider the following tips:

• cucumbers should be fresh, and their size should be medium or large;
• cucumbers should be soaked in ice water so that they do not lose their crispy texture;
• When soaking vegetables, you can add ice cubes to the water;
• Before preserving, cucumbers must be washed thoroughly.

It is better not to use wilted vegetables, otherwise the shelf life of the prepared food will be reduced.

Cooking recipes

There are numerous recipes for "Mother-in-law's Tongue" for the winter. Most often, this appetizer is prepared in the classic way without any additional ingredients. However, you can enhance the flavor of this dish by adding red bell pepper or tomato sauce.

The classic way

To prepare the “Mother-in-law’s tongue” appetizer according to the traditional recipe, you will need:

• 50 grams of hot pepper;
• 7 garlic cloves;
• 125 grams of granulated sugar;
• 3 kilograms of cucumbers;
• 125 milliliters of 6% apple cider vinegar;
• 40 grams of salt;
• 0.5 kilograms of tomatoes;
• 0.5 kilograms of bell pepper;
• 0.25 liters of vegetable oil.

The specified amount of ingredients is needed to prepare six 0.75-milliliter servings. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to prepare the appetizer:

1. Cucumbers are washed and cut into thin slices.
2. The tomatoes are freed from the stalk and compaction, and washed thoroughly.
3. Wash the peppers and remove the seeds. You don't have to remove the seeds from hot peppers, but they will add a spicier flavor to the dish.
4. Tomatoes and peppers are cut into pieces and minced. Garlic is peeled, pressed through a garlic press, and mixed with the tomato mixture.
5. Place the cucumbers in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in the tomato-pepper puree, add oil, and sprinkle with salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly and simmer over low heat for a third of an hour.
6. Vinegar is poured into the mixture, everything is cooked for another 5 minutes, and then removed from the stove.
7. The snack is distributed among heat-treated jars and sealed. The jars are inverted and left to cool completely.

Such preparations must be stored in a cool, dark place.

A simple recipe

You can cut down on the time it takes to prepare this appetizer by using this recipe. You'll need:

• 0.25 kilograms of granulated sugar;
• 5.5 kilograms of cucumbers;
• 20 grams of coarse salt;
• 1 liter of hot tomato sauce;
• 0.25 liters of 9% vinegar.

Step-by-step preparation:

1. Cucumbers are washed and cut into long slices using a vegetable peeler.
2. The tongues are placed in a saucepan, covered with tomato sauce, and sprinkled with salt and sugar.
3. After half an hour, the pan is placed on the burner and the mixture is cooked in low mode for half an hour.
4. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, add vinegar and mix everything.
5. The salad is distributed into sterilized containers and sealed. The containers are turned over.

The specified amount of ingredients is needed to prepare 6 snacks with a volume of 1 liter.

With bell pepper

To add variety to the taste of the finished dish, you can use a large amount of sweet bell pepper during cooking.

Ingredients:

• 3 kilograms of bell pepper;
• 1 kilogram of tomatoes;
• 2 chili pods;
• 2 kilograms of cucumbers;
• 0.1 liters of 6% apple cider vinegar;
• 1 head of garlic;
• 1.5 tablespoons of salt;
• 0.2 liters of vegetable oil.

Method of preparation:

1. Cucumbers are washed thoroughly and soaked in very cold water for a couple of hours.
2. The tomatoes are blanched, peeled, and stemmed. The tomato pulp is cut into small pieces and placed in a saucepan.
3. Chili and bell peppers are washed, stems and seeds are removed, and they are put through a meat grinder.
4. Thinly slice the cucumbers, place them on top of the tomatoes, and drizzle with the Bulgarian dressing. Mix everything together and season with salt.
5. The pan is placed on the fire and the mixture is simmered for 20 minutes.
6. The garlic is peeled, pressed through a press and added to the general mixture.
7. Pour vinegar over everything, stir and simmer for another 5 minutes.
8. The snack is distributed into sterilized jars and sealed.

The specified amount of ingredients is needed to prepare 6 jars of 0.75 liters each.

With pepper in tomato sauce

You can speed up the preparation process of the appetizer by replacing the tomatoes with tomato sauce.

Ingredients required:

• 100 grams of garlic;
• 0.5 liters of tomato sauce;
• 100 grams of sugar;
• 0.5 kilograms of bell pepper;
• 50 grams of hot pepper;
• 40 grams of salt;
• 3 kilograms of cucumbers;
• 20 milliliters of 70% vinegar essence.

How to cook:

1. Cucumbers are washed and cut into thin slices.
2. The pepper is washed, the stem and seeds are removed, and it is ground in a meat grinder.
3. The garlic is peeled and minced.
4. Tomato sauce is added to the mixture, everything is salted, sweetened, and mixed with butter.
5. The cucumbers are placed in a saucepan, poured with the resulting puree, and simmered over low heat for half an hour.
6. Vinegar is added to the mixture, everything is mixed and after 2 minutes it is distributed into pre-sterilized containers.
7. The blanks are sealed.

The specified amount of ingredients is enough to prepare 4 1-liter portions.

Further storage

The prepared snacks can be stored at room temperature until winter. However, the jars should be placed in a cool, dark place. If you want to keep the snack for a year, it's best to refrigerate it.