Saturday, September 13, 2008

Delicious Tidbit--Pickled Beets

As fall sneaks up on us, this is the time to savor the last bits of summer - and look forward to the root vegetables to come. One of my favorites is beets; hearty, delicious, and oh-so-good for you. With so many varieties to choose from - red, golden, white, and even striped - beets create a lovely color palate in any dish.
As a kid, I never liked pickled beets - but I think that is because I never had 'real' pickled beets. One evening, a couple of years ago, I walked into my friend Katie's kitchen and was immediately hit by the smell of vinegar and the deep red of freshly pickled beets. I stared at the huge glass jar and wondered kind of magic it was.She explained the process to me, something I never learned in culinary school, and I knew I had to do it myself. And I did, with fantastic results. You should too--it's easy.



What ya' need:

-6 large beets
-2c sugar
-2c white or cider vinegar (cider is tastier)
-2c water
-3T pickling spice
-1 1/2t salt
-1T black peppercorns

What to do:
-scrub the beets and remove the greens, but don't pierce the skin
-boil the beets until the flesh is tender (when you can put a fork in, with little resistance)
-drain and cool slightly
-while beets are cooling, mix all other ingredients in a pot
-heat ingredients until salt and sugar are melted, a you see a few bubbles
-peel and slice beets, place in a glass jar
-pour hot liquid over beets
-serve immediately, or place lid on jar, refrigerate, and enjoy later

Sometimes I like to add carrots, onions, or turnips to the beets. Yum! See, it ain't that hard. And just so you know, beets contain small amounts of protein, fiber, iron, calcium, phosphorus, niacin, and vitamins A and C.

Yours in beets,


Clara

"Knowledge has sweet savory, honeyed things which precede in value all other treasures as sovereign..." - Christine de Pisan

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i love beets
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain