Never judge a book by its cover – or in this case: a vegetable by its appearance. Beetroots are not the prettiest of veggies. They are plump, dirty and make a hell of a mess when cut up. But if you get to know them, you’ll love them. You can eat them raw, cooked, steamed, boiled or roasted and preserve them by freezing, pickling, canning or fermenting them. Add to that a wonderfully unique taste and a bunch of nutrients and you have a veggie superstar! If you don’t know how to deal with an abundance of beetroots, look no further. In this post, I’ll show you two recipes for pickled beetroots so that you can enjoy their flavour and colour all winter long.
Pickled beetroots I
Yield: 5 jars of 350 ml Shelf life: up to two years
Ingredients
1,2 kg beetroots 3/4 l apple vinegar 1/8 l water 80 g sugar 1 tsp salt 4 tbsp grated horseradish 1 tbsp white peppercorns 1 tbsp caraway 5 cloves 1 bay leaf
Instructions
1. Put on an apron and always – ALWAYS – wear disposable gloves when handling beetroots. Otherwise, the stains will never come out of your clothes and your hands will have a butcherlike colour for quite some time.
2. Cut off the leaves to about 1 cm and put the beetroots onto a baking tray. Bake them in the oven at a temperature of 175 °C (350 °F) for 60 – 90 minutes, depending on their thickness. When they feel soft, they’re ready.
Put your beetroots onto a tray and bake them in the oven for about 1 – 1,5 hours.
3. In the meantime, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt and put it to a boil. Wash the horseradish, peel it and grate it.
4. Peel the cooked beetroots and chop them into squares. I do not recommend slices as they fall apart easily.
5. Layer the still-warm beetroots with the spices into jars. Fill up with the hot fluid and close the jars tightly with lids. Store the pickled beetroots in a cool and dark place.
Put on an apron and always - ALWAYS - wear disposable gloves when handling beetroots. Otherwise, the stains will never come out of your clothes and your hands will have a butcherlike colour for quite some time.
Cut off the leaves to about 1 cm and put the beetroots onto a baking tray. Bake them in the oven at a temperature of 175 °C (350 °F) for 60 - 90 minutes, depending on their thickness. When they feel soft, they're ready.
In the meantime, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt and put it to a boil. Wash the horseradish, peel it and grate it.
Peel the cooked beetroots and chop them into squares. I do not recommend slices as they fall apart easily.
Layer the still-warm beetroots with the spices into jars. Fill up with the hot fluid and close the jars tightly with lids. Store the pickled beetroots in a cool and dark place.
Pickled beetroots II
If you like it a bit milder, the following recipe will suit you! It uses apple juice in combination with vinegar which leads to a more fruity taste. As we use less vinegar, however, the shelf life is only up to one year when stored in a cool place.
Yield: 5 jars of 350 ml Shelf life: up to one year
Ingredients
1,2 kg beetroots 1 l water 3/8 l apple juice 1/8 l apple vinegar 100 g sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp black peppercorns 1 tbsp caraway
Instructions
The procedure is pretty much the same as in recipe I:
1. Cut off the leaves to about 1 cm and put the beetroots onto a baking tray. Bake them in the oven at a temperature of 175 °C (350 °F) for 60 – 90 minutes, depending on their thickness. When they feel soft, they’re ready.
2. In the meantime, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt and put it to a boil.
3. Peel the cooked beetroots and chop them into squares.
Once baked and peeled, chop the beetroots into squares
4. Layer the still warm beetroots with the spices into jars. Fill up with the hot fluid and close the jars tightly with lids. Store the pickled beetroots in a cool and dark place.
Pickled Beetroots II
This is a recipe for a milder version of pickled beetroots. The combination of apple vinegar and apple juice takes the edge off the vinegar while at the same time adding a fruity aroma to the pickles.
1. Put on an apron and always - ALWAYS - wear disposable gloves when handling beetroots. Otherwise, the stains will never come out of your clothes and your hands will have a butcherlike colour for quite some time.
Cut off the leaves to about 1 cm and put the beetroots onto a baking tray. Bake them in the oven at a temperature of 175 °C (350 °F) for 60 - 90 minutes, depending on their thickness. When they feel soft, they're ready.
In the meantime, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt and put it to a boil.
Peel the cooked beetroots and chop them into squares.
Layer the still warm beetroots with the spices into jars. Fill up with the hot fluid and close the jars tightly with lids. Store the pickled beetroots in a cool and dark place.
Pickled beetroots can be eaten with a cold supper or some sandwiches, but they also make a wonderful side dish to potatoes and herring as well as boiled beef. If you want to go a bit further you can make this tasty spread with pickled beetroots.
Sometimes, it has to be quick! Whether you don’t have the time or energy to cook or simply don’t want to spend more than five minutes in the kitchen, this quick and easy beetroot curd recipe will make a wonderful spread on bread or a dip for boiled potatoes. If you have pickled beetroots in your pantry, it’ll be done even faster.
Beetroot curd
Ingredients
150 – 200g pre-cooked or pickled beetroots 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 2 tbsp sour cream 1/2 apple 3 young herring filets 1 small onion 1/2 bunch of dill 100 g curd salt, pepper
Instructions
1. If you use precooked beetroots, chop them into squares. Mix half of them with the lemon juice and sour cream and blend them with a hand blender. If you use pickled beetroots, strain them through a colander. Mix half of them with the sour cream and blend them (leave off the lemon juice as they are already a bit sour due to the vinegar we used for pickling).
2. Cut the apple into quarters and remove its core. Chop it into small cubes and mix with the remaining beetroots and the blended mass.
3. Cut off the tails of the herring filets. Dab the filets dry and also chop them into small cubes. Peel the onion and finely dice it. Wash and dry the dill and chop its leaves.
4. Mix the curd with the beetroots and the onion to a homogenous mass. Fold in the herring and dill and season it all with salt and pepper.
You can make this spread in advance and keep it in the fridge where it can be stored for up to two days.
Beetroot curd
This quick and easy beetroot curd recipe will make a wonderful spread on bread or a dip for boiled potatoes. If you have pickled beetroots in your pantry, it'll be done even faster.
If you use precooked beetroots, chop them into squares. Mix half of them with the lemon juice and sour cream and blend them with a hand blender. If you use pickled beetroots, strain them through a colander. Mix half of them with the sour cream and blend them (leave off the lemon juice as they are already a bit sour due to the vinegar we used for pickling).
Cut the apple into quarters and remove its core. Chop it into small cubes and mix with the remaining beetroots and the blended mass.
Cut off the tails of the herring filets. Dab the filets dry and also chop them into small cubes. Peel the onion and finely dice it. Wash and dry the dill and chop its leaves.
Mix the curd with the beetroots and the onion to a homogenous mass. Fold in the herring and dill and season it all with salt and pepper.
You can make this spread in advance and keep it in the fridge where it can be stored for up to two days.
I harvested the first carrots and they smell and taste so good that usually I eat the first bunch of them raw. I love their sweet and earthy flavour, it’s delicious! However, it would be a pity to just eat them all up like that and not use them in some more elaborate recipes. One of my favourites with carrots is this easy recipe for carrot pizza.
How to make carrot pizza
Make a yeast pizza dough, put sour cream on it and coat it lavishly with carrots, herbs, onions and garlic. Top the pizza with cheese and bake it in the oven until it’s crisp and the cheese has melted. And voilà: a hearty and comforting dinner is ready to be served!
Even if you consider carrots bland, give this delicious meal a chance. The carrots taste even sweeter when cooked and the combination with sour cream, herbs, and salt makes this pizza a great dish for summer. It’s so tasty, I’m sure it’ll become your new favourite food.
Although I like it as a vegetarian dish, you could also put some bacon on it to add a smokey flavour. Either way, you’ll sure love this carrot pizza!
Recipe for Carrot Pizza
Ingredients (4 servings):
For the yeast dough
300 g flour 25 g fresh yeast or 3 g dried yeast 1 tsp salt 150 ml lukewarm water 2 tbsp olive oil
For the topping
450 g carrots 2 onions 1 clove of garlic 2 tbsp fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme 200 g sour cream 4 tbsp olive oil salt pepper grated cheese (parmesan, mozzarella or emmentaler)
Instructions
1) Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix it with the flour, salt, and oil until it forms a smooth dough. Cover it and allow it to rise for 30 minutes.
2) In the meantime, clean the carrots, peel them, and cut them into thin slices. Peel the onions and cut them into slices, as well. Peel the garlic and dice it. Put some thyme aside for a garnish and chop the rest.
3) Mix garlic, carrots, onions, and chopped thyme with 2 tbsp oil and season it with salt and pepper.
4) Heat the oven to 250 degrees (fan: 230 degrees).
5) Roll out the dough and coat it with sour cream. Distribute the carrot mix evenly on the pizza and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Bake it in the preheated oven for approx. 20 minutes. Garnish with the thyme and freshly ground pepper.
Carrot pizza
This carrot pizza makes for a hearty and comforting dinner.Even if you consider carrots bland, give this delicious meal a chance. The carrots taste even sweeter when cooked and the combination with sour cream, herbs, and salt makes this pizza a great dish for summer. It's so tasty, I'm sure it'll become your new favourite food.Although I like it as a vegetarian dish, you could also put some bacon on it to add a smokey flavour. Either way, you'll sure love this carrot pizza!
Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix it with the flour, salt, and oil until it forms a smooth dough. Cover it and allow it to rise for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, clean the carrots, peel them, and cut them into thin slices. Peel the onions and cut them into slices, as well. Peel the garlic and dice it. Put some thyme aside for a garnish and chop the rest.
Mix garlic, carrots, onions, and chopped thyme with 2 tbsp oil and season it with salt and pepper.
Heat the oven to 250°C / 480°F (fan: 230°C / 445°F).
Roll out the dough and coat it with sour cream. Distribute the carrot mix evenly on the pizza and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Bake it in the preheated oven for approx. 20 minutes. Garnish with the thyme and freshly ground pepper.
What would cooking be without herbs? They not only are beneficial for our health but also add flavour to practically any dish. To make sure that we can use herbs all year round, we have to preserve them during summer. Drying is the most common practice to preserve herbs; as usual there is more than one way to do it. In this post I show you three different ways how to dry herbs.
Preparation
I know that many people tell you not to wash your herbs before drying them because that would enhance the risk of mildewing. But that’s only true if you don’t dab the herbs dry properly after washing or even bundle the stems together while they are still wet. I always wash my herbs before drying them because no matter where they grow, they’ll always be dirty or contain the occasional insect. After washing, shake the herbs out over your sink, then lay them out on a clean towel and cover them with a second towel. Now, gently squeeze out the remaining water and move the herbs over to a third (dry!) towel where you let them pre-dry for a few hours.
Now they are washed, your herbs are ready for being dried. Let’s start with
Air-drying
With this classic way of drying herbs, you bind the herbs into a bunch with a diameter of about 2 – 3 cm /1 inch. Hang it upside down at a temperate place with proper air circulation but without direct sunlight. Alternatively, you can put the herbs onto drying racks. Let them dry for about one week, depending on the herb. If you’re not sure whether they are dry enough for storage, you better leave them for one or two days longer. Otherwise, the herbs will develop mildew.
Dehydrating
You can dry herbs in a dehydrator. This is especially great if your dehydrator has mesh inserts that keep the leaves from falling through. Dry the herbs in your dehydrator according to the manual for about two to four hours.
Oven-drying
If you (like me) don’t have a dehydrator, you can also dry herbs in your oven. For that purpose, cover your trays with baking paper or silicone mats, put the clean herbs on them and let them dry at about 50 °C /120 °F. Stick a wooden spoon into your oven door to let the moisture evaporate. Dry the herbs until they are crisp to the touch and remove easily from the stems.
Storage of dried herbs
Dried herbs are best stored in clean glass jars or airtight plastic containers. You may also use brown-glass jars to keep out the light.
When your herbs are completely dry, put them onto a piece of baking parchment and strip the leaves from the stems. Dispose of the stems, slightly fold the baking paper in half so that a crease forms and let the dried herbal leaves glide into your container. I usually, store the whole leaves (well, as whole as they stay when removing them from the stems) and crumble them when I use them. That way they maintain more flavour.
Store the jars or plastic containers in a dark and dry place for about one year.
Herbs are often unremarkable to look at, but man, what would we do without their flavour? Can you imagine a tomato sauce without thyme, rosemary and basil? Or a roast without a bouquet garni? What about pesto and herb butter for a barbecue? Yet, herbs not only flatter our tongues but are also beneficiary to our health. Think of chamomile tea that we drink when we have an upset stomach. Unfortunately, most herbs are only available during the summer months. Some aren’t even winterhardy. To use herbs all year round, we must find a way to preserve them. Drying is the most common method but there are many more. I’ll show you six great ways to preserve herbs.
When to harvest herbs
No matter what herb you want to use, the amount of essential oils must be high when harvested. There are some tips you might want to observe to make sure that you harvest your herbs at the best possible time:
The best time of day to harvest herbs is the late morning. The dew has dried off and it’s not yet so hot that the essential oils evaporate.
Most herbs are best harvested before they burst into bloom. Herbs like chive and mint, for example, lose taste as soon as they’re blooming.
Cut your herbs at the stems where they are still green and haven’t lignified yet. That way, they can continue to grow and you can have a second (or even third) harvest.
Drying
You can practically dry every herb. Just cut the stems off as described above. I know that many people tell you not to wash your herbs before drying them because that would enhance the risk of mildewing. But that’s only true if you don’t dry the herbs properly after washing or even bundling the stems together while they are still wet. I always wash my herbs before drying them because no matter where they grow, they’ll always be dirty or contain the occasional insect. After washing, shake the herbs, lay them on a clean towel and cover them with a second towel. Now, gently squeeze out the remaining water and move the herbs over to a third (dry!) towel where you let them pre-dry for a few hours.
Some herbs are suitable for freezing. Depending on the herb you want to preserve that way, however, there are different methods.
Freezing chopped herbs
This is a great way to preserve herbs, especially parsley, chive, borage, chervil and great burnet. Chop the herbs, press them tightly into an airtight plastic container and put them into the freezer. When you want to add some frozen herbs to your soups or sauces, remove the amount you need with a spoon or a fork and put the rest back into the freezer.
Freezing in water
This is a lovely way to preserve herbal flowers, for example, borage, chamomille or elderflowers. Put the freshly plucked flowers into an ice cube form, fill it up with water and put it into the freezer. Flower ice cubes are charming in drinks.
In the same way, you can also freeze herbs like mint or melissa and pimp your water or iced tea with it.
Freezing in oil
When you freeze herbs in oil, you can add them directly from the freezer into a sauce. For this method, I recommend a mixture of Italian herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and marjoram. Chop the herbs, put them into an ice cube form and fill it up with olive oil. Put the form into the freezer and remove one to two ice cubes for spicing up a tomato sauce meat sauce.
Freezing herb butter
This is an easy one: finely chop ½ cup of herbs and mix it with one teaspoon of salt and 200 g (1 cup) of butter. Roll the butter into a “sausage” with 2 – 3 cm /1 inch in diameter and put it into the freezer. Alternatively, you can put the roll into the fridge first. When it has cooled enough to set, cut the roll into slices (about 1 cm / 1/3 inch) and freeze them in a freezing bag. Either put the frozen herb butter slices onto grilled meat or corn or thaw the whole roll before serving it to a barbecue.
Herbs in oil
You can infuse oil with herbs to flavour salads, sauces, stews or vegetables. The basic method is to put 2 – 3 stems of clean fresh or dried herbs into a ½ litre bottle and fill it up with good olive oil. Either use one herb or a mixture of different herbs. Make sure that the herbs are covered with oil, otherwise they will become mouldy. You can also use sunflower oil but it has a shorter shelf life than olive oil and becomes rancid sooner. Let the oil infuse for about four weeks and afterwards, remove the herbs. Infused oil can be stored for 6 months up to one year.
Try out oven potatoes with rosemary oil or add thyme-infused oil to a fish steak.
Herbs in vinegar
Like oil, you can also infuse vinegar with herbs to add new flavours to your salad. Best vinegars used for infusing are wine and apple vinegar. Put 3 – 5 stems of clean fresh or dried herbs into a ½ litre bottle and fill it up with the vinegar of your choice. Again, you can either use just one herb to infuse the vinegar or an herbal mixture like herbs de Provence. Let the vinegar infuse for 4 – 6 weeks, then remove the herbs. Infused vinegar has a shelf life of up to one year.
Herb-infused vinegar and oil make great gifts!
Herbal salt
To make herbal salt, chop fresh, clean herbs into fine pieces and layer them alternatingly with salt into a glass jar. Lay the lid loosely onto the jar, don’t close it tightly. Let the mixture sit for 1 – 2 weeks and spread the salt-herb mix onto a baking tray. Dry the salt at a low temperature in the oven. When the salt has cooled down, put it into the blender and blend it until it’s homogenous. Fill the salt back into the glass jar and close the lid tightly. Stored in a dry place, the salt will last practically indefinitely.
Pesto
We all know the pesto “Genovese”, the famous mixture of basil, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan that we love to add to pasta. But did you know that you can make pesto with many other herbs, too? Try out wild garlic, for example. It’ll add a wonderful taste to your dish. Or use a mixture of Italian herbs like rosemary, oregano, thyme and sage for our pesto. Even wild herbs like dandelion and goutweed can be processed into a great pesto.
Unfortunately, the shelf life of pesto isn’t very long. You can store it in a closed jar in the fridge for 3 – 4 weeks. Once it has been opened, it’ll only last for 3 – 4 days. But with all the fresh herbs from spring to autumn, we can always make fresh pesto whenever we like.
