Recipe:Pickled Beets
The other night at Lora's birthday party, I met a couple of new people. This is how the introductions went:
Lora: Kevin has a canning blog.
New Person: [puzzled look]
Kevin: It's about home canning—jams and pickles and that kind of thing.
New Person: [look of recognition] Oh! I remember...[followed by a story about childhood memories of someone who used to can.]
I've had dozens of similar introductions in recent months—although someone once mis-heard and thought I had a tanning blog—and it's striking how often that line "I remember..." comes up. "I remember my mother used to make jam" or "I remember Mrs. So-and-so's pickles" or, from an actual conversation at Lora's party, "I remember going down into my grandmother's cold winter basement to get a jar of something." Sometimes it seems that everyone I meet has a story about home-canned food, and hearing the shared recollections is like thumbing through a family album of food memories.
The most fascinating canning conversation I've had recently was with a man originally from the Eastern Establishment—a handsome older WASP type—introduced to me by a mutual friend. We were all at the house of an internationally prominent art collector and the decor included perhaps $50 million worth of Contemporary Art masterpieces. But as soon as Mr. WASP heard about SAVING THE SEASON, he couldn't tell me enough about the GREEN TOMATO PICKLES his family used to buy every summer from a little old lady who donated them to their church bake-sale. "It's the only thing to eat with roast beef," he said. Believe it or not, I now have in hand a photocopy of the actual recipe used by that little old lady to make her church-sale pickles, and I'll share it with you sometime.
But today's topic is beets, because that is what I remember. Gran always put them up, and throughout my childhood, everybody seemed to eat "picklebeets" by the bushel except for a squeamish few who wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. I have loved them for as long as I can remember, in part because I have a taste for vinegar, but then not everyone does. Beets need vinegar because of their earthy qualities, which includes a vegetal sweetness that can sometimes catch unpleasantly in the back of the throat. Their texture is odd but appealing.The smooth, glossy surface of a pickled beet seems to promise crunch, but instead the beet cleaves into neat chunks between the teeth.
And so red! Beets stain everything they touch. I remember that my dad, who can spin a funny story, once told about eating a whole pint of beets at dinner one night. The next morning he was terrified by the bloody red color he noticed during his morning ablutions. "I thought, my god, I better get to the hospital," he said. Then he remembered having eaten beets the night before. (I once ate so many fresh beets with sour cream and chervil that I peed pink.) There's nothing to fear from the color, naturally, and in fact beets come packed with an intense dose of antioxidants. They are about the healthiest thing you can eat.
A couple of weeks of ago, my friend Scotty wanted to make some jam together, so we went to the Hollywood Farmers market for fruit. We wound up with beets as well. They are a cool-weather crop, meaning that there are two annual harvests—once in spring and again in fall. The new crop was so pretty, ABOVE, that I couldn't resist. Although I put up six quarts of traditionally spiced pickled beets this spring, I've been wanting to test some new ideas.
I did flavor experiments, just fooling around with various notions that included beets and pomegranates. (The poms didn't add much.) Below are two new recipes that I like, as well as a Greenvally version of traditional spiced pickled beets, the old-timey picnic favorite.
The first recipe was inspired by the beets put up by my maternal grandfather Jack's sister. She uses nothing bit straight apple cider vinegar, but after some tests, I think a little fresh ginger and salt helps. Then my Indian friend Vishwa wrote to me to say his mother's secret to pickled beets is star anise. I liked that idea and initially experimented with adding star anise to the familiar pickling-spice mix of clove, cinnamon and all spice. Then I decided to use just star anise and to replace the more traditional cider vinegar with red wine vinegar. I like the results a lot. That recipe is below, as well. For extra credit, you could try an idea I haven't tested yet: beets in white wine vinegar flavored with tarragon. Let me know how it turns out.
BEETS WITH STAR ANISE
(yields 4 pints)
8 bunches small beets
2 cups red wine vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
one whole star anise pod
1 Prepare the beets for cooking by cutting off the leaves about an inch above the root. (Save the smaller leaves to sautee with garlic and dried red pepper—delicious!) Leave the root intact.
2 Place beets in a large kettle, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until just tender enough to pierce with a fork, 15-30 minutes depending on size. (I'm sure you could bake them in foil instead, although I haven't ever tried that.)
3 While the beets are cooking, combine all other ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce to the barest simmer for 10 minutes.
4 When the beets are cooked through, plunge them in a basin of ice water until cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins and trim the tail and crown of each beet.
5 Pack beets snugly into prepared jars. If small enough, you can leave them whole. Otherwise halve or quarter them to fit. Return the hot vinegar syrup to a boil, then pour into the jars, leaving 1/2" head space. Agitate gently to release any air pockets, seal jars and process in a boiling-water bath for 30 minutes for pint jars.
BEETS IN CIDER VINEGAR
The same as above, except make a vinegar syrup from:
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger cut into fine strips
TRADITIONAL SPICED BEETS
The same as above, except make a vinegar syrup from:
2 cups cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3" cinnamon stick
5 cloves
5 all-spice berries
1/2 star anise pod
Reader Comments (7)
Imagine, if you did indeed having a TANNING blog, how differently this recollection would have ended: "...I remember going down into my grandmother's cold winter basement to get a..." Oh, so dreadful!
There are few things I miss about a certain ex of mine; however, my heart and belly still pine for the beets his mother gave me every autumn. I suspect her recipe was similar to the one you've posted here--though, she threw in handfuls of coarsely chopped ginger root for extra bite.
I like beets and did can mine in the spring. I'm having some for the holidays.
I'm creating my own "I remember when" with my niece I'm teaching her all I know since her mom isn't wild about cooking. A lot like my mom....she didn't either.
Great site!
Have you ever used balsamic vinegar to make pickled beets? I love fresh beets in lots of balsamic vinegar with salt & pepper. Just wondering if it would work?
Hi Faye -- thanks for you comment -- no i've never tried balsamic vinegar but it's an interesting idea -- there's no reason it wouldn't work although it could get a little spendy given the price of balsamic vinegar -- i wonder, though, would the syrup be too rich, too sweet? i guess i'd experiment with using a mix of balsamic and red wine vinegar -- and then adjust the sugar to taste. do you want to try it and let me know how it turns out? right now i've got a kitchen full of peppers and apples and other things i have to get to asap -- can on! best, kevin
Hi Kevin,
I was wondering if it makes a difference what type of apple cider vinegar is used. I have the raw unfiltered type. Will that work?
Hi Stephanie --
So sorry that it's taken me forever to reply -- I've been buried in writing my book -- but the manuscript is finally done, hooray.
I also like that raw, unfiltered cider vinegar. but here's the key thing about vinegars in general: make sure that the vinegar you use is 5% acidity or higher (all commercial vinegars will be marked somewhere on the label). homemade vinegars may not have enough acidity to be safe for canning purposes. beyond that, which kind of vinegar you use or which brand is just a matter of personal preference.
best
kevin
Balsamic vinegar and beets; great. You can in a hurry just pour it in to cover the cooked quartered beets. To serve add salt/pepper if you like. Save the vinegar in the jar for next year. That's what I do. ANOTHER THING: I add 10 - 12 fresh raspberries to each of 2 or 3 bottles of white wine vinegar... you can use one right away, and get to the others later. Delicious and you are making your own!
When lemons are inexpensive, cut into quarters and press into a jar, add rock salt and more lemon juice to cover. Wait a few weeks, then BOOM you have preserved lemons, THEN dins at your place is GREAT! Elizabeth.