I asked my friend Paul how he likes his beets and he said his favorite way to eat beets is when they are pickled. He said that if I pickled some beets he would eat them gratefully. I'm taking Paul on his word and next Wednesday when we meet for dinner he is getting a gift of two bell jars of pickled beets. I got the recipe off of food network and it is by Alton Brown.
Pickled Beets
Roasted Beets, recipe follows
1 large red onion, frenched
1 cup tarragon wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
Roasted Beets
3 medium to large beets
2 gloves garlic
1 green onion sliced in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place all of the roasted beets ingredients in a foil pouch and roast for 30-45 minutes or until a knife can insert into the beet with a small amount of resistance. It should feel a little less done than a baked potato. Alton said you can rub the beet in a towel and the peel should come right off. LIAR!!!! Not so for me AND I ruined a towel with beet juice stains trying it. I had to let them cool and then peel them. Then slice the beets thinly.
Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, and water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Layer the red onion and sliced beets in 2 bell jars. Distribute the liquid between the jars. Seal the jars and refrigerate and allow the beets to sit for at least 3 days. Alton says the beets will keep in the refrigerator for a month and the juice can be used in marinades, mixed into mayo for a dipping sauce, or made into salad dressings. I'll be sure to let Paul know of all of these useful functions for his pickled beets. I will admit though that the beets are very pretty.
Dinner tonight!
While I was pickling the beets I also had the thought that it would be a good day to try some slow cooked southern style greens. I read that the kohlrabi greens were much like collard greens and can be cooked in the same way so I bought a ham hock and decided to give it a go.
Southern Style Kohlrabi Greens
1 large bunch kohlrabi greens
3 quarts water
a couple big pinches of salt
a big pinch of red pepper flake
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 medium to large ham hock
Bring water to a boil and add the ham hock, salt, red pepper flake and garlic powder. Reduce to a heavy simmer for 1 hour. Remove the ribs of the greens and roughly chop. Add the greens and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour stirring occasionally. To serve remove the ham hock and pull the greens out with a slotted spoon so most of the liquid remains in the pot. I ate this with a pinch of salt and some green Tabasco sauce.
We served this with simple garlic steak.
Simple Garlic Steak
2 cheap steaks- like eye of round or scotch tender
1 teaspoon butter cut into four pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to season the steaks
Season the steaks with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a skillet over high heat and if you've had the time, hopefully you've let the steaks come to room temperature. Drop two of the pieces of butter in the pan and let the butter get a little brown and drop the steaks in. Turn when the bottom side has a nice crust forming. Place the two remaining pieces of butter on the steaks along with the garlic. The steam and heat from the steak, along with the melting butter, cooks the garlic just a little bit. Remove steaks when the second side is cooked as well.
The Results: The steak was delish and the greens were wonderful as well. I've never cooked southern greens before so I was rather proud of myself. It was really easy and made me feel soulful, like I should start singing Billie Holiday or something. It was an A meal.
I have no idea how the pickled beets are going to turn out. I will let you know Wednesday!
The Breakdown: I used my beets, one green onion, and the kohlrabi greens from my CSA. The rosemary was from my herb garden. I purchased the tarragon wine vinegar, red onion, steaks, and ham hock from the grocery store. Everything else I already had on hand. Boo and hiss for getting meat from the grocery but the market is tomorrow and I'll stock up then. I give myself a B- for this meal because I got meat from the grocery.
I only have half of my swiss chard left, the beet greens, and a single green onion. I'm. Almost. There!
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