Every summer resident knows the feeling of waiting for the first cucumber from their own garden. It seems so tasty that it cannot be compared with store-bought vegetables. And when our cucumber harvest is measured not in pieces, but in kilograms or buckets, then it’s time to start winter preparations.
We offer you a simple and tasty option that every housewife should try at least once - pickled cucumbers for the winter “You will lick your fingers.” In the cold season, they are perfect for Ukrainian hot borscht and mashed potatoes with meat. Elastic, aromatic, crispy and moderately spicy cucumbers will be an excellent appetizer at a festive feast.
When the family is small, we recommend making the preparation in jars with a capacity of 1-1.5 liters. They are very convenient to use - you open one, eat it and don’t have to look for a place for it in the refrigerator. But if you have ten relatives living in your family at the same time or you have student children, it will be more practical to prepare cucumbers in three-liter jars.
For canning, choose small-sized vegetables; more of them can fit in a jar and they look more beautiful.
Taste Info Cucumbers for the winter
Ingredients for a 1 liter jar:
- cucumbers – 500-600 g;
- vinegar 9% – 40 ml;
- dill umbrellas – 1-2 pcs.;
- horseradish leaves – 1-2 pcs.;
- garlic cloves – 3 pcs.
- black peppercorns – 3 pcs.;
- allspice peas – 2 pcs.
- For 1 liter of marinade (for 2 1 liter jars):
- coarse salt - 1 tbsp. l.;
- granulated sugar – 1 tbsp. l.
How to prepare pickled cucumbers for the winter “You will lick your fingers.”
Start by preparing the dishes. Wash glass jars with soda, rinse with plenty of water and, without wiping them dry, place them in a cold (!) oven. Now light the fire and heat the oven to 180-200 degrees. Keep the jars at this temperature for 10 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let the dishes cool without removing them. A very convenient method, because you can pasteurize a large batch of cans at a time. You can also put the lids in the oven, but only those that are screwed on and not turnkey (the rubber band in them may crack from the high temperature).
Place a horseradish leaf, an umbrella of dill, peeled garlic cloves and peppercorns on the bottom of a clean pasteurized jar.
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly in advance and trim the ends. Fill the jar with them; it is best to place the cucumbers vertically, close to each other. Select and place the smallest vegetables in the remaining space on top. You can place carrot strips between the cucumbers.
Place a horseradish leaf and an umbrella of dill on top again. To make the cucumbers crispy, it is also recommended to use oak leaves, but it is better to exclude currant leaves. To add more aroma and piquancy, you can optionally add cherry leaves, clove buds, bay leaves, a few mustard seeds, horseradish and parsley roots, and mint sprigs.
Pour boiling water over the cucumbers and let stand for 10-12 minutes.
After the required time has passed, pour the water from the jar into a saucepan and start preparing the marinade. Add salt and sugar to the drained liquid, put it on the fire and let it boil. Stir at the same time so that no grains remain. When the liquid boils, add vinegar, stir and pour the boiling marinade into the jar. You can do it differently - put sugar, salt and vinegar in a jar, bring the drained water to a boil and pour it over the cucumbers again.
Immediately roll up the lid, turn the jar over and cover with something warm. Let it sit there until it cools down. At first the cucumbers will be green, as if fresh.
After cooling, you will see how they change color. This means that everything was done correctly. After 3 weeks, you can try the finger-licking cucumbers for the winter; by this time they will have been pickled. They turn out incredibly tasty and crispy, just lick your fingers.
This is a workpiece that has been tested over the years. It's very tasty! This is a solution if the cucumbers are overgrown. Or if they are crooked and crooked. Because the appearance of cucumbers does not play any role here. I even refused to make “fingers” this week, because the cucumbers are still smooth and small, just right for pickling. Usually I make “fingers” after the main salting. The main thing when working with “fingers” is not to go crazy from the magical aroma in the kitchen.
CUCUMBER FINGERS
4 kg cucumbers
2 tbsp. l. pickling salt (heaped)
1 cup sugar
1 cup refined vegetable oil
1 cup 9% vinegar
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. allspice (I added peas, did not grind them)
1 tsp. dry mustard (with a mound)
2 heads of garlic
1 bunch of parsley
1 piece salad pepper.
Proportions can be increased or decreased. You can cook from both small cucumbers and large overgrowths.
Remove the skin from old large yellowish cucumbers.
Wash the cucumbers. I trim off the ends a little. If the cucumbers are small, cut lengthwise into 4 pieces. If small and plump, then into 6 parts. If they are long, then first across, then along. In short, you should get “fingers” approximately the size of ours, a lady’s index finger.
Pepper - in thin strips (you don’t have to put it in).
Wash the parsley and chop it.
Pass the garlic through a garlic press.
Place all the vegetables in a deep enamel bowl, add spices and mix very thoroughly.
Let stand in a warm place for 8-12 hours. Mix thoroughly several times during this time.
Cucumbers can stand for 8 to 15 hours. It's a matter of taste. You have to try it from time to time. Once the taste is satisfied, we proceed further. I usually have 12 hours.
Place the “fingers” into clean jars and cover with sterilized lids.
Place the jars for 15 minutes (half-liter) or 20 minutes (liter) to sterilize (without rolling them up).
After 15 (20) minutes, roll up the jars.
I filled the “fingers” up to the shoulders of the jars and topped them with marinade. Makes 8 half-liter jars or 4 liter jars.
The mustard makes the filling cloudy, but this, of course, does not affect the taste!
You can eat it right away or store it in the refrigerator in a jar with a nylon lid. Well, here, however, the shelf life is limited. Weeks 2-3.
I have a huge saucepan. I make a full portion (4 kg). Cucumbers - to the top of the pan. I mix them very often throughout the day. And after 12 hours, the cucumbers, having given juice, settle to half the pan, become softened, and are easy to put in jars.
I often sterilize my “fingers” not in a pan, but in the oven. Pour about a centimeter of water onto a cold baking sheet. I put the jars without lids. Baking tray - into a cold oven. And I turn on the oven at 200 C. When the oven has warmed up, I keep an eye on the jars, opening the door slightly from time to time. When the bubbles begin to rise from bottom to top, I time it for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I carefully take out one jar at a time, cover with sterilized lids and roll up.
You can make “fingers” from zucchini. Only it’s better to cut the zucchini twice as thin. And here it’s a matter of taste: I didn’t like the zucchini too much. And my brother liked it very much.
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My other recipes
The article will talk about Finger, a description of this variety, features of care and planting of the plant.
Description of the variety
This variety was bred by the Russian breeder V. A. Shefatov at the Volgograd experimental station VNIIR. The variety belongs to the early ripening and bee-pollinated variety.
This plant has increased disease resistance and frost resistance, and the fruits are highly versatile, which allows them to be used both raw and as a raw material for various pickles and preparations.
Did you know? The average cucumber is 95% water.
The Finger cucumber is excellent for growing in our climate. The fruiting period begins 40-45 days after transplantation to the place of permanent growth.
Zelentsy are oblong, cylindrical in shape, length reaches 11 cm, the surface has a rare and very noticeable lumpy structure, the flesh is juicy, has a pronounced aroma and crunch, and is quite dense. The average weight reaches 120 g.
Advantages and disadvantages
Watering
- noble “water farmers”, however, despite this peculiarity, it is worth remembering that waterlogged soil can cause the development of many diseases of a fungal nature. Ideally, you need to water the cucumbers every day, with at least one bucket of liquid for each bush.
On particularly hot days, it is also a good idea to spray the leaves with drops of water, which will protect them from premature falling and prolong the fruiting period. Watering is best done with water heated to ambient temperature in the evening or early morning. Top dressing
Over the entire season, cucumbers of this variety require several additions. For example, during the mass period, it is advisable to fertilize cucumbers with the help of some kind.
During the active phase, it is worth using fertilizers containing
This recipe has many advantages. Firstly, this cucumber salad for winter turns out to be very tasty. Secondly, it is prepared very simply and relatively quickly. Thirdly, not only medium-sized cucumbers, which are usually canned, are suitable for it: you can make such a salad from overgrown cucumbers for the winter. And fourthly, this preparation has a very beautiful and delicate name - “Lady fingers” (due to the shape of the cucumbers).
I can also add that the ingredients for such preservation will need the simplest: besides, of course, cucumbers, onions and a marinade with vinegar, garlic and spices will be used. As you can see, the winter cucumber salad “Lady fingers” has many advantages. As for the downsides... There is one: you need to prepare a lot, a lot of salad: it is so tasty that it is eaten right before your eyes. So, how to make cucumber salad for the winter - an accessible recipe with step-by-step photos at your service!
Ingredients:
- 4 kg of medium-sized cucumbers;
- 150 ml vegetable oil;
- 100 g salt;
- 250 ml 9% vinegar;
- 1 glass of sugar (250 ml);
- 5 large onions;
- 2 tablespoons garlic (crushed);
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper;
- a piece of red hot pepper (about 2 cm).
Yield: 5-5.5 l. ready-made canned food, depending on the filling density of the cans
How to prepare cucumber salad for the winter “Lady fingers”:
We select fresh, elastic cucumbers. We wash them thoroughly. Cut off both ends and fill with cold water. Soak the cucumbers in water for 3-4 hours.
Wash and peel the onions, cut out the root bottom. Cut the onion into thin half rings.
Cut the cucumbers lengthwise into 4 parts. Cut long cucumbers (about 10 cm) in half.
Prepare the marinade. Pour vegetable oil and vinegar into a large saucepan (to fit all the cucumbers), add salt, sugar and ground black pepper. Squeeze the previously peeled garlic there. Finely chop a piece of red hot pepper and add it to the pan with the marinade. Mix everything well.
Place cucumbers and onions in the pan. Mix thoroughly and gently.
Cover the pan with a lid and set aside for 4-5 hours. Externally, the salad will not change much, it will just release a lot of juice, and the cucumbers will darken a little.
Then put the salad into pre-sterilized jars. When laying the jar, shake it so that the cucumbers settle down more tightly. Pour the remaining marinade on top. The marinade will cover the cucumbers approximately 2/3 of the way up.
We cover the bottom of a wide pan with a napkin (or install a special grid-stand) and place jars of cucumbers there. Cover the jars with lids. Pour warm water into the pan - the water should reach the hangers of the jars. Place the pan on the stove, bring the water to a boil over high heat, then sterilize over medium heat for 20 minutes.
We take out the jars, seal them hermetically, turn them upside down and wrap them in a blanket. Let it sit until it cools completely (about a day).
Cucumber is a typical ingredient in many salads, the only vegetable that is happily eaten unripe.
The proposed recipe is incredibly simple, but requires sterilization of the product. The vegetable mixture must be kept for several hours before putting into jars.
It is necessary to choose cucumbers with thin peels, which facilitate easy penetration of the marinade into the fruit and better pickling. Cutting vegetables into characteristic finger-shaped sticks serves the same purpose and ensures high-quality marinating. They will be wonderfully complemented with onion rings. This cucumber mix can whet your appetite just by looking at it.
Ingredients
You will need 3 0.5 liter jars. 
- cucumbers – 1 kg
- large onion – 1 pc.
- garlic - 3 teeth.
- salt – 25 g
- vegetable oil – 40 ml
- sugar – 3 tbsp. l.
- vinegar 9% - 60 ml (4 tbsp.)
- ground black pepper - to taste
Preparation
1. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly, since we will not peel them. Cut the fruit crosswise into two parts, and then into four more. We get “lady fingers”. Place them in a deep saucepan or bowl.
2. Cut the onion into half rings or? ring. Pour over the cucumbers.
3. Add salt, granulated sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, crushed garlic and pepper.
4. Mix the contents of the pan very thoroughly. It’s best to close the lid and shake well several times. Leave the cucumbers with spices to marinate for 4-5 hours.
5. During this time they will release juice well.
6. Thoroughly wash 0.5 liter jars of soda and fill them with cucumber salad.
7. All that remains is to sterilize the workpiece so that it can be stored for as long as possible. To do this, you need to take a saucepan with a wide bottom that will fit the jars. Place a fabric or silicone hot plate on the bottom of the napkin. Place the jars covered with lids on it and carefully fill them with warm water to the level of the hangers. Bring water to a boil. Then reduce the heat and set for 20 minutes, if the jars are 0.5 liters, if 1 liter, then 25 minutes. Sterilize in moderately boiling water.
Note to the hostess
You can sterilize jars with preparations in the oven. This method is good when the salad is prepared in more than three jars. Many workpieces are thermally processed at one time. To do this, the container is filled with salad. Place in a cold or slightly warm oven on a wire rack or, better yet, on a baking sheet. You need to set the temperature to 120 degrees and wait until the unit heats up. Then note the time: 20 minutes for 0.5 liter cans and 25 minutes for 1 liter cans. Carefully remove after sterilization and roll up the boiled lids.