The first food Jane ever fixed for me (when we were 15) was a hamburger - with an egg and sliced, pickled beetroot (plus the usual salad stuff). In Australia, you can't buy a real hamburger that doesn't have beetroot (Peter).
Pickled Beets
Ingredients10 to 15 medium sized beets
3 cups white sugar 3 pints apple cider vinegar (~5% acidity) 3 cups beet water 1/4 cup cloves 2 tablespoons kosher salt (i.e. no added iodine) Equipment Mandolin vegetable slicer (optional) Sterilized jars and tops (either old jam jars or Ball pickling jars). |
Method1. Sterilize jars and tops by running them through a hot cycle of the dishwasher. Air dry.
2. Cut off green tops and the beet's rat tail. Wash and scrub beets. 3. Fill a large pot with (filtered) water, add the beets, and bring to the boil (my mother always said that root vegetables are always added to the water cold). Boil for about 15 minutes or until tender. 4. Remove and cool the beets. Save 3 cups of the beet water. 5. Slough off the outer skins. Slice the beets using a sharp knife or your mandolin - crinkle cut - slicer. 6. Fill your sterilized jars with the sliced beets leaving as little space as you can. 
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6. Into your pot now pour in the apple cider vinegar and the beet water, tip in the sugar and add the cloves and the salt and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil.
8. Remove from the heat and carefully ladle into your jars filling to about 1/4 inch from the top. Then seal snugly. 
9. Allow jars to cool then place jars in fridge.
Note: You can boil the jars in your home canning kit for 10 minutes or so which will allow you to store in the cupboard (it's a better sterilizing regime). If you are planning on doing this then cook the beets a little less to compensate for the extra cooking that occurs with the preserving boil. |