Melon is a tasty and healthy fruit that contains many useful substances in its pulp. The composition of melons include: pectins; useful sugars; squirrels; organic acids; mineral salts.
Did you know? In addition, melon contains a lot of potassium, magnesium, iron and silicon.
It is proved that the melon has a rejuvenating effect on the body. Many are happy to cook melon jam, honey, candied fruits and even compote.
Melon freeze
Melon has a special, warm and fresh aroma, so sweet and not cloying, which can only smell sunny summer days. Melon - not the best berry to freeze. But if you are madly in love with this delicacy, then small difficulties should not hinder you.
Important! For the preparation of melons for the winter you need to use only ripe and sweet fruit. Otherwise, frozen melon will be bitter.
The following varieties are best suited for these purposes: “Kolkhoznitsa”, “Krymka”, “Persian”, and “Cantalupa”.
To freeze the melon, first you need to wash it well under warm water, peel and peel and cut into small squares. If you put the received small squares in a package and send it to the freezer, then all your melon will freeze like a solid piece. In the future, this will bring a lot of inconvenience when you need to separate the required amount of melon. It is best to freeze each piece separately. To do this, you will need dressing, food film and the melon itself. Cover it with a film, put one layer of melon on it and send it to freeze. When all the pieces are frozen, feel free to pour them into one package or a special container and send it to storage. That's it, the melon is ready for winter.
Important! After defrosting, the melon will lose its former shape, therefore it is better to use it in the preparation of beverages or ice cream..
One way to store a frozen melon is to fill it with syrup. Cold sugar syrup is poured into a container with melon and sent to the freezer. Melon in sugar syrup allows you to preserve the consistency and shape after defrosting, although its taste changes slightly.
Melon honey
Surprisingly, but you can make a wonderful melon honey honey To do this, wash the melon, remove the seeds and skin. After that, the pulp need to squeeze the juice, strain it and simmer the berry over low heat. If her flesh is too dense and it is difficult for you to squeeze out the juice, then you need to boil this melon for about one hour. Then squeeze the juice, strain it and boil until done. The finished honey from a melon is similar in texture to a thick sour cream of light brown color with a golden hue. This honey contains more than 60% sugar.
Did you know? If you add milk to the finished melon honey and continue to boil it, you will get a sweetness that resembles an iris.
Melon with sugar
Another very simple winter melon cooking recipe that will retain all its beneficial properties and flavor, - melon with sugar. For cooking, you will need to peel the melon and clean the core. Peel must be minced or whipped with a blender. Then cut the melon into slices, mix it with mixed peel and sugar. Arrange the mixture in jars, cover them with parchment or gauze and put in a cool place. Such a delicacy can be used at any time, just remove the candied crust and enjoy the taste of summer.
Melon compote
Melon compotes are simple to prepare, they are rich in vitamins, they quench thirst well and give pleasant memories of summer days. There are many recipes for such compote, they are prepared both from melon and with the addition of sour fruits. But we will consider the recipe for a classic compote of one melon.
Ripe melon with elastic pulp is ideal for making a drink. If you do not have such a melon - it does not matter, the compote will still be tasty and useful.
So, take a pound of fresh melon, two glasses of water and half a cup of sugar. Peel the melon from the peel and seed, cut into pieces, sprinkle with sugar and refrigerate for 3 hours. Bring the water to a boil and transfer the melon into it, which by this time has already started up the juice. Cook for a few minutes over low heat. After that, let the compote cool and spill it into sterile cans, seal it. Put the cans with melon compote in a dark cool place. When you want to feel the aroma of summer, open one of the jars and enjoy the delicate taste of melon compote.
How to Marinate Melon
Marinated melon is considered a delicacy and gourmet meal. In the old days, marinated melon was served as a side dish to meat dishes.
To marinate a melon, you need the following ingredients:
- 0.5 kg melon;
- 250 g of water;
- 150 g 9% vinegar;
- 10 g of salt;
- half a teaspoon of cinnamon;
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- a few cloves.
To start, prepare the marinade. Mix water, cinnamon, honey, salt and cloves, bring the mixture to a boil, add vinegar, boil a few more minutes, remove from heat. While the marinade is cooling, wash and clean the melon from the seeds, cut it into cubes and place tightly in sterile jars. Fill the melon with cold marinade, cover the jars with metal lids and pasteurize for 20 minutes. After that, roll up the lids, turn the jars upside down and wrap. After a day you can remove the banks in the pantry or cellar.
Melon Jam Recipes
Melon jam is not only an incredibly tasty delicacy, but also very healthy. The benefits of melon jam is a rich chemical composition that is contained in the pulp of the berries. Since in the process of cooking the useful properties of the melon are reduced, it is necessary to cook it with minimal heat treatment and not to delay this process for a long time.
We offer classic Melon jam recipe. At the exit, you get a dessert with a delicate aroma and refined taste. To prepare you will need:
- 1 kg of melon;
- 1.5 glasses of water;
- 1 kg of sugar;
- 1 lemon or 3 g of citric acid;
- 5 g of vanilla.
First, cut the peeled melon and peeled melon into pieces. Blanch them for 5 minutes. After that, put the melon in a colander to drain excess liquid. While the melon leaves the liquid, prepare a syrup of sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Fill the melon with the resulting syrup and leave to infuse for at least 6 hours. After that, boil the mixture on low heat for 15 minutes. Let the jam cool, place it in cans, close well and put in a cool place.
The following recipe is melon jam with lemon. This jam can be called a real culinary masterpiece. To prepare you will need:
- 1 kg of melon;
- 0.7 kg of sugar;
- 2 medium lemons.
Another interesting Recipe for melon jam with the addition of bananas. The taste is quite original, but it takes several days to prepare. You will need:
- 1.5 kg melon pulp;
- 1 kg of bananas;
- 4 lemons;
- 1.5 kg of sugar;
- vodka or liquor.
Cut the melon into pieces and add sugar to it. Leave to infuse overnight. Then add the juice from one lemon and cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Cut the remaining lemons into thin slices along with the peel. Peel the bananas and slice them. 
To make delicious jam from melons and bananas, add them with lemons to the already boiled delicacy and cook over low heat until all the fruits are mashed and the mass begins to thicken. Pour the hot jam over the jars, dip the paper circles in alcohol and lay on top, roll up the lids.
Indescribable taste has melon jam and pumpkin. And its benefits are obvious, because both melon and pumpkin contain a lot of useful substances.
For cooking you will need:
- 1 kg of pumpkin and melon pulp;
- 1.5 kg of sugar;
- 300 g of water
- one lemon.
