Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi there,

It looks like I'm going to have a bit of a glut of beetroot soon - which is brilliant. It set me wondering about how to preserve them though. Is it fairly easy to pickle them? Can they be frozen? Are there any clever ways of preserving them?

Also, I notice the stems look nice and juicy, although maybe a bit chunky for use in a salad. I wondered if the stems have any uses?

Any ideas or suggestion would be appreciated!

Thanks
Rob

Yes, they freeze wonderfully. Steam for 40 mins, until fork tender, drain, and freeze.

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The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. -John Ruskin

http://wormsflowers.blogspot.com/

Beetroot Chutney - makes 2 medium sized jars

300g cooked beetroot, diced (scrub and boil whole roots for about 3/4 hr depending on size - cool, peel, chop. Do not answer door unless you want your visitor to think you are Sweeney Todd)
150g onions - peeled and diced
150g cooking apples, peeled and diced
40g demerara sugar
1/4 tsp ginger
80ml vinegar (malt vinegar, or whatever else you've got)
1 tsp salt

Bubble all ingredients up in a big pan - stirring to dissolve sugar.
Simmer for 3/4 hour - stir occassionally
put in steralised jars. Using a jam funnel makes this job infinitely less messy that it would be otherwise.
Mature for 1 month

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sat 04/10/2008......sorry, Keats......

Deffo use Hazel's recipe - I have been priviledged to sample her beetroot chutney and it is heavenly!!

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Yeah, it sounds delicious.

I'd never heard of beetroot chutney before either - I'm learning heaps here. I'll probably try that recipe at the weekend. I'll report back!

Cheers Hazel!

Rob

Beetroot can be left in the ground till you're ready for them, they're hardy. However Hazel's chutney recipe sounds lovely. You can also freeze, and pickling is a doddle. Cook beetroot till just tender, pack into clean sterile jars and cover with spiced vinegar.

Pickling is very easy also. Cook the beetroot (I usually roast them in foil in the oven and then the skins slip off really easily). Slice and pack in a jar and add hot pickling vinegar - can buy or make your own to your own taste.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Cook beetroots & pickle - add a few chillies to the jar. Gives it a real kick.

Not sure if you'd class it as preserving but beetroot choc fudge cake is yum!(got the recipe of that "cook yourself thin"prog.)

250g dark choc, 3med eggs, 250glight muscovado sugar, 1 van pod seeds(I use extract~cheaper!) 2tblsp maple syrup, 2tblsp clear honey, 40g s.r flour,
40g plain flour, 1/4tsp bicarb of soda, 1/4tsp salt, 25g cocoa powder, 50g ground almonds, 250g raw beetroot(peeled&finely grated), 100mlstrong black coffee,
30ml sunflower oil.

preheat oven to 160oc/gas 2,grease the bottom of a round 20cm diameterx8cm high loose bottom tin.
melt choc.
in large bowl whisk the eggs with the sugar vanilla syrup&honeyfor 3 mins until pale & fluffy.fold in the flours,bicarb,salt,cocoa&almonds.
Dab the beetroot with kitchen towel to remove excess moisture
fold beetroot,cooled choc,coffee&oil into the mix
pour into prepared tin&cook in centre of oven for 1hr30min.then cover the cake with foil&bake for further 30mins.leave to cool on wire rack.
Optional topping;150g dark choc, 3tblspstrong black coffee, 1tsp vanilla, 3tblsp clear honey;~Melt chocolate,add coffee & vanilla,mix in honey & set aside to cool for 15mins before icing.
seems a bit of a "faf" cake but well worth it!!
BTW ~will be trying Hazels chutney,souns good!

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the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

Beetroot can be stored in a 'clamp' like any other root vegetable (if the soil is well drained it is easier to leave then there, but if you have to worry about clay, a traditional clamp is the answer). That way they will keep for the whole winter, and some of the spring (until it gets too warm).

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Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

i can highly recommend this cake
Beetroot cake conundrum
made it last year several times and will be doing again this year

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The love of gardening is a seed once sown never dies ...

Cheers for all the ideas, folks. I've gone from worrying about a glut to worrying whether I'll have enough to try out all your ideas!

Thanks again
Rob

Don't forget that you need to leave pickle for a month or two before you eat it to improve the flavour.

__________________

Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

You can also juice beetroot if you have a glut...add one to some basic carrot & apple in your juicer. Not too much at once, as it tastes quite "earthy".

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

And if you do drink a lot don't panic the next time you go to the loo!!!!!!!

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Yes! I found that one out the hard way!

Rob

Have just spent a couple of hours with my daughter making 'Hazels finest beetroot chutney '. How annoying to have to wait a few months now!!

Thanks for the recipe though.

Wren

I used this recipe yesterday used 1 large jar to mature for a month and a small jar to keep in the fridge for use now. It tastes great.

Thanks for the recipe Hazel

Hi Hazel,

Just got my first batch of your beetroot chutney bubbling away on the cooker. If it tastes even half as nice as it smells then I'm going to be very happy! Thanks very much!

Rob