Friday, October 19, 2012

Pickled Beets

The beets are beginning to require attention again this year. We don't grow beets ourselves, but my parents have them in their garden and they have already given us two big grocery bags full of them. This was on top of the half dozen baggies of frozen beets we had from last year. I decided that we needed to do something more with them than just freezing them, as we were very slow to eat the frozen ones (though John does make a very mean and yummy borscht - see Beets and Borscht and Biscuits). So I decided to try pickling them.

And, I must be honest, it was a very easy process. The most time consuming part is letting the beets boil long enough so that they are tender. Then you put them in cold water and their skins just slide right off. This took about half an hour. I also had to deal with the frozen beets that had already been de-skinned. I put them in the oven to defrost (they were a slightly different texture than the fresh beets and so the verdict is still out on how well they will take to the pickling process).

Once they were de-skinned, I chopped them up into slices and chunks.
Lots of beets.

Chopping beets does make your fingers purple...
After they were chopped up, we packed them into the jars. Then poured the following simmered brine over them:
2 c. water
2 c. vinegar
2 c. sugar
1 t. cloves
1 t. allspice
1 T. cinnamon

We then put the jars in a water bath for 20 minutes and voila - pickled, canned beets!

It was a pretty easy recipe. We haven't yet tried the beets, but I'm optimistic. And, if I don't like them, my mom was very excited about them so we'll give them to her!

3 comments:

Karen said...

This post takes me back down memory lane. My mother always canned beets every year and I'd always leave the house because for some reason, I can't stand the smell of them boiling. (I am weird.) And I've never actually tasted one, either. But that deep maroon color, oh, if I could reproduce that in glass, how beautiful.

I'm sure I'm missing out and one day I will indeed give them a taste test. Your recipe sounds delicious!

Anonymous said...

My mom did the same. But she was the only one that liked them. I do like beets, just like them hot and buttery.

Rosemary said...

Looks like we're all going to be eating beets this fall, good thing they're so good for us :) They do look extra special in a glass jar!