In addition to tea, there are a lot of other various drinks that are very popular with people. Some of the most common and useful are compotes, kissels and fruit drinks.
Compotes are infusions or decoctions of fruits and berries. To preserve as many vitamins and minerals as possible, it is better to insist compotes. But boiled compotes are also tasty and loved by many.
Compote of fresh apples or pears
Required: 500 grams of apples or pears, ¾ cup of granulated sugar and 0.5 liters of water.
First you need to peel the fruit and cut each into cubes or slices (removing rot, damage and core). After that, put the cooked apples or pears in a saucepan in which the water is already boiling and sugar is dissolved. Boil 3-4 minutes. Then you need a pan with boiling compote, remove from the stove and put to infuse for half an hour. It is recommended to add citric acid or citric juice to non -acidic fruits to taste.
Dried fruits compote
To prepare compote you will need: 200-300 grams of dried fruits, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 liter of water, and zest or vanilla – to taste.
Dry fruits must be thoroughly washed. Then, select pears and apples (since they require more cooking than other dried fruits), pour them with water and cook them over low heat for 15-20 minutes. After that, you need to add granulated sugar, zest or vanilla, and also put the remaining dried fruits along with apples and pears. Cook for another 5-6 minutes. Ready compote should be infused for 20-30 minutes.
Kissel
There are a lot of kissels, they can be liquid and thick. For the preparation of jelly, fresh fruits, homemade jams, jams, juices, milk, oatmeal, and fresh berries are used … It is better to eat jelly chilled.
Thick jelly can be used for sweet fruit soups – as a base, as a gravy for rice and semolina cutlets, for cereal casseroles. You can also serve cream or milk to the table with thick jelly.
So that a crust does not form on the surface of the jelly (as is usually the case), you need to sprinkle the surface of the jelly, immediately after cooking, with a thin layer of powdered sugar or granulated sugar.
Cooking jelly. Starch gives jelly stickiness. It should first be diluted in cold water, mixing thoroughly (a cloudy suspension should be obtained). To obtain the required stickiness of jelly, it is necessary to carefully pour diluted starch into boiling water, while constantly stirring the water in the pan with a spoon (the more starch, the more stickiness). Then juice or something else is added to this liquid (there are a lot of options) and the result is jelly, which everyone is used to seeing on their table.
An example of the preparation of one of the jelly – cranberry.
To prepare it, you will need: 1 cup cranberry, 3 glasses of water, 0.5 cups of sugar, starch (for liquid – 1 tablespoon, for thick – 2 tablespoons).
Cranberries must first be sorted and washed, then mashed with a spoon or pestle. Squeeze juice out of crushed cranberries through a strainer or gauze. Then pour pomace with hot water, boil them and strain. In the broth brought to a boil, you need to add granulated sugar, and dissolve it. But before the broth comes to a boil, starch should be prepared (see above). During the boil, the starch should be shaken in a thin stream and poured into the broth, constantly stirring the broth with a spoon. After all the procedures, the jelly should be left on the stove (on low heat) until it boils. After waiting for the start of boiling – the jelly must be quickly removed from the heat, left to cool and then pour the squeezed cranberry juice into it. To stir thoroughly.
Kissels are prepared in the same way from any other berries and juices.
Morses
Morses are very easy to prepare. For example, cranberry. You will need 1 glass of cranberries, 3 glasses of water and granulated sugar – to taste.
You can throw out the pomace and throw it away (if there are enough cranberries), or you can boil it directly in gauze and then squeeze.
Pour squeezed juice into boiled water, then dissolve sugar to taste, mix everything thoroughly. Morse ready. Serve cold.