beetroot advice

[old tree man]

This year jane and i had a fantastic crop of beets including the lovely striped variety, now we love roasted beets but never had much success pickling them we seem to use the wrong vinegar does anyone know the best type of vinegar to use, we are looking for a vinegar that is not as overpowering as malt vinegar any advice would be truly welcome
thanks russ

[grahamhobbs]

We love balsamic vinegar with roasted beetroot, but would be too strong for pickling, but perhaps mixed with white vinegar you might get the right balance.
Never tried red wine vinegar but can imagine it working

[spitfire]

plain old white vinegar with a sprig of dill weed would be what i would use

[snapdragon]

My mother in law used to make up a 'red' jelly with white vinegar and pot up the sliced beets in that
For pickling I'd use distilled (white) vinegar, although I guess red wine or cider vinegar would be good too

[Splottlings]

A slight deviation from the thread but if you've a glut of beetroot this is a beautiful recipe and for an extra wintery kick add a pinch of chilli to the mix before you pop it in the oven.

Chocolate beetroot brownies
Ingredients
250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
250g/10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
250g/10oz caster sugar
3 free-range eggs
150g self-raising flour (we used wholemeal self-raising)
250g beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20 x 30 x 3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.

2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot - be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!!

[old tree man]

thanks for that what a great recipie

[gdb]

the only way to have beetroot is this 'un. as cooked at a little local resto in rural france.

boil in skin.
peel when soft.
chop up really really really small.
pop them in a container with a lot of olive oil and chopped garlic.
shake it all up. and then shake it up a bit more.
leave to cool.
then pop it in the fridge.
eat next day.
preferably with lots of red wine and bread.


other than that, the vinegar, no, i always had the same problem, whichever i used didnt seem quite right somehow. sorry cant be more help.

[Millymollymandy]

I haven't got enough left to make those brownies, what a shame as it sounds really nice. It appeals to me more than chocolate beetroot cake!

I've never pickled beetroot but eat it dressed in olive oil and either cider or tarragon vinegar.

[happy place]

when i pickle my beetroot i use malt vinigar then add some sugar too the jar to tone down the vinigar sorry cant give quantity as depends on size off jar and i dont tend to measure just chuck some in

[MKG]

Boil and then skin beetroot (a couple of pounds should do it). Get your mitts on a blackcurrant jelly from the supermarket and make it up with only HALF the amount of liquid the pack states, but make that amount from half water and half mild vinegar. (I hope that's clear ). Chop the beetroot - I use cubes of about 1 cm. Put the beetroot in a bowl and pour the jelly on top. Allow to set.

Bloody delicious.

Mike

[indy]

Probably wouldn't work for some but being a little brassic this year I tried the sainsbugs cheap vinegar 5% acidity only and it has made lovely pickled beetroot, well it doesn't rattle my teeth

[Minnesota]

Here is a great recipe for pickled Beets.

RED WINE PICKLED BEETS
2lbs beets (makes about 2 qts.)
Cook 20 minutes, put in cold water, then peel. Peels should slip off easily. Cut into slices or chunks. Fill jars. For each quart, I put in 1 cinnamon stick, 6 cloves, and 12 allspice. For pints, I still do the cinnamon stick, but cut the other spices in half.

Brine:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. pickling salt
Boil 8 minutes. Pour over the beets to fill up to 1/2 inch from top. Process 30 minutes. While processing, have a glass of that red wine yourself :) Enjoy!

I apologize for not converting to Metric