Juniper: plant features, calorie content and composition of berries. Healing properties and contraindications to the use of natural antiseptics. Recipes with berries and interesting facts about the plant. When stimulating the pancreas with juniper, you should consult your doctor, since the pulp contains a small amount of sugars.
Berries should be consumed in dosage. If you do not limit their amount in the diet, overexcitation and seizures may appear.
Juniper Berry Recipes
Dishes in which juniper berries are an ingredient in the sauce have no beneficial properties - heat treatment causes the breakdown of nutrients. But alcoholic beverages infused on the fruits of the Cypress family plant are not only tasty, but also have a healing effect.
Juniper Berry Recipes:
- Home tincture … Approximately 60 g of berries are placed in a bottle of vodka, tightly capped and left in a dark place for 10-14 days, shaking occasionally. After the allotted time, the berries are decanted, and the tincture is stored in the refrigerator.
- Homemade gin … 30 g of berries are placed in a bottle of vodka, and cumin and coriander seeds are poured into the second. All containers are removed to a dark place. After 5-7 days, the tinctures are diluted in half with water, filtered from berries and seeds, and juniper tincture is distilled in a moonshine still. The first 2 tablespoons are drained. Then, without rinsing the apparatus, pour in a diluted tincture of coriander and caraway seeds, drain the first 10 ml. It remains only to combine the distillates, bring the volume to 1 liter with boiled water and leave to infuse in a dark place.
- Bavarian stewed cabbage recipe … The dish is very tasty, it can be served not only at home, but also to surprise guests. True, cooking a dish takes a lot of time - at least 2 hours. A head of cabbage for about 600 g is peeled from the top leaves and chopped. Finely chop 3 onions and 350-400 g of bacon, heat the butter in a deep saucepan, fry the onions. When it is browned, add half of the prepared ingredients and spices - peas of various types, cumin, salt, cloves, mix, bring to a boil and add the rest of the cabbage, juniper berries - a tablespoon, a little more butter. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in half a glass of water, mix with a spoonful of apple cider vinegar and add half a glass of apple juice, pour the sauce into the cabbage and bring to a boil. While it has not cooled down, the pan is placed in an oven preheated to 180 ° C and left to simmer for 1-1.5 hours. It is very convenient to cook in a multicooker - in this case, it is enough to change the cooking modes from "stewing" to "baking".
- Juniper jam … The recipe is proportioned for 800 g of plums. Remove the seeds from the plums and cut them into pieces. Finely chop the apple, mix with the juice of a whole lemon. The zest is removed and set aside. Juniper berries - 50 g - are mixed with apple peel, zest is added, everything is pounded and mixed. In a saucepan, heat 450 ml of water, bring to a boil, add grated berries, boil for 15 minutes and lay out plums and apples. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat, add 800 g of sugar and boil again until the mixture thickens. The foam is removed, everything is filtered, the confiture is poured into sterilized jars and covered with lids. It thickens after 2 weeks, you can store it for 2-3 years.
- Kaurma … These are marinated by-products prepared for future use. They are a snack themselves, but they can also be used as a hot dish. In this recipe, kaurma is made from pieces of lamb's neck. First, make a marinade: in 2.5 liters of water add 2 g of black peppercorns, a spoonful of salt, wine - 1.5 liters, juniper berries - 1.5 tablespoons. The marinade is boiled, boiled for 1-2 minutes, cooked pieces of meat are poured in and left in a cold place - a cellar or refrigerator - for 10 days. Stir daily. After 10 days, the meat is laid out on paper napkins, soaked, strung on a fishing line and hung to dry in the fresh air, in the shade. After a day, each piece is cut into 3-4 pieces, dipped in heated ghee and left to simmer. Cooking time - 3 hours, no less. Then the meat is laid out in sterilized jars, the marinade is boiled again, mixed with butter and the jars are rolled up. You can try it in 2 weeks. Store the kaurma in a dark place.
- Marinade for smoking … The rich taste of the marinade is combined with lamb, beef and poultry. The meat should be completely dipped in the sauce. A full tablespoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of grated ginger root, 1 teaspoon each of ground black pepper, allspice, ground coriander and ground cinnamon, 2 bay leaves, 2 garlic cloves are added to a liter of water and 30 g of crushed juniper berries. The marinade is brought to a boil.
Juniper berries not only improve the taste of the dish, but also increase the shelf life. Thanks to the content of resins and essential oils, it feels like the food was cooked on a fire, in addition, the meat becomes more juicy.
In order not to overdo it with tart seasoning, experienced chefs advise to adhere to the following recommendations for different dishes: when stewing and marinades for 1 liter of water, add 1.5 teaspoons of crushed berries, when fermenting cucumbers or cabbage - 1 teaspoon.
Interesting facts about juniper
The smell of juniper and pine needles indicate that the plant belongs to conifers. But instead of cones, berries are formed at the ends of the branches. Botanists say: berries are juniper cones. Indeed, the bunch resembles a bump in shape.
The ancient Romans treated snakebites and diseases of the genitourinary tract with the help of juniper, including venereal infections.
The Slavs made dishes from wood - they noticed that milk in a juniper bowl does not spoil even in the heat, and the soup does not turn sour.
Healers of the East impregnated bandages on purulent wounds with berry juice, and treated medical instruments with resins.
The Greeks considered juniper branches as a symbol of eternal life.
Scandinavians, Finns, Mordovians and residents of the territory of modern Ukraine fumigated their homes with juniper branches to protect them from the invasion of evil spirits.
Protective amulets were made from juniper, hoping that they would protect against the evil eye, cholera and fever.
In the eighteenth century, it was already established that in the composition of the juniper - wood, needles and pulp of berries - a huge amount of phytoncides, therefore, they have a cleansing effect (now they would say antiseptic).
What to cook from juniper berries - watch the video:
To clear the air of a million-strong metropolis from viruses and bacteria that saturate the air, it is enough to plant 1 hectare with a tree juniper. Unfortunately, this is not possible. The plant is quite whimsical and requires careful care for the first 2 years after planting. Therefore, plantings near cities are still filled with linden and birch trees.
