Doris and Jilly Cook » beets

Pickled Beets with Fennel

dorisandjilly — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:55:16 +0000

I had no idea that so many people had such a strong aversion to beets. My beet class last weekend was somewhat under-enrolled, and I kept getting e-mails that said, more or less, “I really want to come and learn how to can, except that I can’t stand beets!” How can I convince you that beets are delicious, nutritious, and beautiful to boot? Will this post help?

Picked beets were a staple in my house as a kid growing up. My mother always goes for your basic pickled beet: nothing but white vinegar, water, and sugar. I usually do, too, but on Saturday my CSA included several heads of fennel. Fennel and beets are a natural pair, so the few dedicated beet-loving souls who attended the Saturday class left with a slightly more sophisticated product. If you don’t like fennel, no problem—just leave it out. If, on the other hand, you like a spicy pickled beet, feel free to add any of the following (but probably not all at once) to your pickling jars: peppercorns, cloves, allspice, star anise, dill heads, garlic, or strips of hot pepper.

Beets are a low-acid food, so please don’t change the proportion of vinegar to water. You can, however, use cider vinegar, so long as it’s at least 5% acidity. Finally, the purpose of the sugar is merely to counteract the tartness of the vinegar and preserve the color—it’s not really involved in the safety equation. Feel free to add more or less, depending on your taste, or to substitute brown sugar, raw sugar, or a sugar substitute. I can’t predict what making all of these kinds of changes will do to the color and texture of your beets, but so long as your acid is 5%, it’s safe for water-bath canning. Finally, be sure to wait several weeks to let the beets develop their full flavor. Then devour at leisure.

Pickled Beets with Fennel

About five pounds of beets
One long fennel frond, cut into seven pieces
7 peppercorns
3 1/2 c. distilled white vinegar (5%)
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar

1) Wash your beets, leaving the roots and 1″ of stems attached. Cook your beets your preferred way. Some options: pressure cooking, boiling, roasting, or wrapped in foil in the crock pot. Cool. If your beets are thoroughly cooked, the skins should slip right off. Leave small beets whole, but cut larger beets into bite-sized pieces (or slice, or quarter, or whatever appeals to you).

2) Make your canning solution. Combine the vinegar, water, and sugar in a small pan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, heat water for a boiling water bath, warm your jar lids, and have 7 pint jars ready.

3) Place a piece of fennel and a single peppercorn in each jar. Transfer the beets to the jars and cover with hot syrup. Remove air bubbles and add more syrup if necessary, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Adjust two-piece lids. Process in a boiling-water bath for 30 minutes.

4) After the jars have cooled and you’ve checked for seals, be sure to remove the rings. The syrup is sticky, and the rings become difficult to remove if you leave them on too long. Once you’ve opened the jars, you might want to switch to a plastic lid, as the vinegar will quickly corrode a standard canning lid.

Learn to Can Beets

dorisandjilly — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:39 +0000

Hey kids! There’s still time to sign up for the “Beets Two Ways” class on Saturday, June 26th, at 1 PM. Beets can well, but because they’re a low-acid food, you can’t just pop them in a water bath. In this introductory class, we’ll cover how to pickle beets (making them safe for water-bath canning) as well as how to pressure can them. $25 covers all materials, and you’ll leave with a jar of beets.

What: Beets Two Ways Class
Where: Doris’s house, West Philadelphia
When: Saturday, June 26, 1 PM
How to Register: Send Doris an e-mail

See you then!

Beets for Everyone!

dorisandjilly — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:57:43 +0000

Beets! They’re beautiful! They’re delicious! They’re in season! And they’re red!

It’s been a veritable beetfest over here at goat central. We’ve been shredding them, pickling them, and pressure canning them. And, very importantly, teaching other people how to do these things, too. I love a good beet salad in season—one of my favorites follows below—but if you want to eat them in January, you’ve got to think ahead. Hence, the pickles and pressure canning.

Recall that beets are a low-acid food. That means that if you want to can them in a water-bath canner, you’ve got to douse them in acid—that is, pickle them. But if you don’t like pickled foods, you can still preserve them with the help of a handy dandy pressure canner. It’s a bit tricky, but not impossible, to explain this over a blog. I’ve tried to cover the basics in this detailed post on chicken broth. Put the beets into pint jars, cover them with water, and process for 35 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. If this sounds mysterious or scary, though, consider joining me for a “beets two ways” class on Saturday, June 26th, in West Philadelphia. If you want to know what you’re getting into, check out these two great Flickr sets by two adventurous souls who tried it a couple of weeks ago. (That’s me, Doris, in the blue and green flowered apron.)

Details for Beetfest 2! Pickled and Pressure Cooked

When: Saturday, June 26th, 1 PM
Where: Doris’s house in West Philly (details upon registration)
What: Learn to pickle and pressure can beets
Why: Why not?
Cost: $25/person
How to register: Send me an e-mail at dorisandjilly@gmail.com

Beet Salad with Walnuts

Beets
A handful of walnuts
little bits of blue cheese
chopped herbs from the garden
a splash of balsamic vinegar and twice that much olive oil
salt

Cook your beets however you like: boiled, roasted, or, my new favorite, pressure cooked for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on size) at 15 pounds of pressure. Peel and cut into bite-sized pieces. Let cool, then combine with everything else. Devour.

Green Bean and Beet Salad

dorisgoat — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:55:21 +0000

Simple, improvised salads are one of the purest joys of summer. Get a few flavor combinations down, and you’re set. Mark Bittman’s recent list of ideas of 101 salads is a great place to start, but really: just toss together whatever comes in from the garden and eat what you like. Not coincidentally, things that ripen at the same time tend to go well together. This is one of our favorites.

Green Bean and Beet Salad

About 1/2 pound of blanched green beans, preferably a full-flavored variety, like Romano
About 1/2 pound of cooked beets, cut into chunks
a handful of hazelnuts, toasted
a small clump of blue cheese, crumbled
~ 2 T olive oil
~ 1 T balsamic vinegar
Good salt

Mix everything together. Serve sooner rather than later unless you don’t mind pink green beans.

Freezing Beet Greens

dorisandjilly — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:55:54 +0000

As you can see from the date on the plastic bag, this post is a bit late in the offing, but I wanted to share it in case you’re still bringing in beets by the bucketload. Young beet greens—especially from yellow beets—are just as delicious as chard and can be used pretty much interchangeably, so long as you don’t mind some extra pink stains here and there. The key to making beets last in your refrigerator is to cut the tops off, just about an inch above the roots, as soon as you bring them home. Then either cook or freeze the tops immediately, because they won’t keep.

You freeze beet greens just like you freeze turnip greens (or pretty much any kind of green, for that matter). Just clean them, cut off the stems (or keep them, if you like), blanch them in boiling water for about 1–2 minutes, then drain and chill in an ice bath. Transfer to freezer bags. Done! If you’re careful, you can cut back the beet tops several times through the growing season without affecting the size of the root. Mmmmm. More greens. Just freeze them now, and I promise—really and truly!—that you’ll love them this winter in soups, stews, and casseroles.