Being Adventurous and Trying New Things - Golden Beet Butter

I love trying new things and doing new things with some of my favorite foods. One of my favorite foods is beets. Yes I know, not everyone loves them, but then most folks only know of them out of a can. Blech.

Fresh beets are different, very different! There are many varieties and many ways to prepare them. And I love them all. But once upon a time I wasn't a beet lover. My palate changed as I grew older and had a friend have me try his borscht. Well, that little bowl of beautiful red borscht changed my outlook on beets forever. And it seems I can't get enough of them sometimes.

You'd be surprised how many foods you probably eat daily that has beets in them, V8 is one of the ones that comes to mind.

However, aside from my nattering on about beets, I tried something new today. I made a recipe that I found on Pinterest, but changed it a bit for myself and whatever my creative mind decided I wanted it to be.

And yes, you can can it if you'd like or make some for yourself, (yeah after you taste it you may not want to share it) or for a party. I think it'd be fab with goat cheese, or plain on a cracker or piece of crusty french bread, or as the nutella commercial notes, "SPOONS!"

This is before I canned it....

Then I tasted it, and thought I'd found nirvana! I really did moan, it was silky and delicious! I think the color from the gold beets is gorgeous, (imagine using the red or candy cane beets!) and was simple to make! However, I will note, if you make enough to can (3 x the amounts and you'd get 7 half pints and little more), don't forget the maple syrup. Though if I'd thought of it earlier, I would have used the beet syrup I made after boiling the beets from the water in lieu of maple syrup. Maple can be pretty strong flavored, and gold beets have a delicate sweet flavor on their own.

Ok, here goes....

Golden Beet Butter

4 good sized golden beets, scrubbed and trimmed slightly
2 cups lightly roasted macadamia nuts, chopped
4 Tbl grapeseed oil
4 Tbl maple syrup (or use the beet syrup you make with the water)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

Boil the beets with just enough water to cover them, until they are fork tender, 30-45 mins approximately. Using a slotted spoon remove them from the pot and put them into cold water. Let them cool until you can easily handle them. While you wait, strain the water and measure the amount and put into another sauce pot. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar to the water and bring to a boil then simmer to make a simple syrup.
Peel your beets and chop them.
In your food processor, process the macadamia nuts and grapeseed oil until smooth and buttery. Add the beets and keep processing until smooth scraping down the sides as needed. Add the salt, vanilla and drizzle in the syrup.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge if you're going to serve it right away.

If you plan to can it, fill, hot sterile half pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Seal with hot lids and process in the pressure canner for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release on it's own, when the pressure has gone down, remove the jars from the canner and let cool on a towel.

Please note again, if you're canning it, you do need to use the syrup, but the syrup can be omitted if you're going to use it at your party or snack on it.

And yes, beet syrup is beautiful, use it in your iced tea, to flavor water or even flavor baked goods too! This is my syrup.... I LOVE the color and it smelled so wonderful!

Waste not, want not. And preserving the summer bounty

As many of you have figured out, I've been very busy during my weekends picking fruit and vegetables and preserving them a lot. I think today is the first day I've sat down to share some recipes with you on canning.

As you can see, I've been busy!

And this picture does not even include the 5 batches of wine or liquor I've done! Nor the 39+ canned items I've shared with family and my elderly neighbors. And those binders have many of my recipes in them.

I've pickled veggies and crabapples, I've made fruit butters, jams, jellies, barbecue sauces, salsa, tomato sauces and crushed tomatoes and even canned tuna (first time ever) and pickled Kelp! And I'm not done yet. Things to do yet for me will be elder berries, quince, and persimmons. I may even can some salmon when I can get some.

It's a lot of work, but also very rewarding and I've been very blessed to have met some wonderful people during all this. And why would you turn down the chance to pick fresh fruit for free and enjoy that taste of summer during the winter months?

I thought I would share a couple recipes, one I have done several times before and is one of my favorites which allows you to use everything in the process, and another new one that I had a request to share. And I'll share another tip or two. ;)

First is the requested recipe I found the original from Rachel Ray, modified a little and canned it instead of refrigerating it. :) And thanks to Ray Cook who is a master canner for telling me how to can it! And yes, that is pickled asparagus behind these lovely little jars.

Caramelized Onion & Thyme Jam

2 Large sweet onions (or like me, 1 HUGE walla walla onion) Chopped into 1 inch chunks
2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl of butter
3 Tbl balsamic vinegar
2 Tbl organic cane sugar (I used raw so it had a little of the molasses left in it)
1 Bay leaf
1 Tbl fresh or dry thyme leaves
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
3 half pint jars with lids and rings

In a large heavy sauce pot, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are becoming tender. Remove the lid, and increase the heat to medium-high and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions become caramelized and nice and golden. Season with sea salt and pepper.

While it's cooking, heat your water in your water bath canner and sterilize the jars and lids.

Spoon the mixture into the hot jars and seal. Place into the water bath and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars when done to a towel to cool.

That's it. It smelled heavenly, and yes, I did a taste test.... Oh My Goodness! It's very good! I can see munching on it over all kinds of things.

Now.... I don't have a picture to share of the beets right now, didn't think to get any.... Oh well hey?

Spiced Pickled Beets

4 lbs of beets, scrubbed, greens trimmed leaving a bit of the top, and tap root trimmed but not fully removed
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp or 12 cloves
2 tsp kosher salt

Boil beets with just enough water to cover, cover the pot reduce heat and simmer until very tender, about 25-35 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the beets and put in cold or ice water to stop cooking and be able to remove the skins.

NOTE: Keep the water you boiled the beets in! I'll tell you why at the end!

When the beets are cool, peel and remove the top and slice them. Set them aside

Have your water bath canner  with hot water and Sterilize your jars and lids.

In a separate stock pot, place the sugar, water, and vinegar in. Make a spice bag with cheese cloth and add the spices to it. Place the spice bag in the pot with the vinegar solution and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the spice bag.

Pack your sliced beets into the hot pint jars leaving about 1/2 inch head space. Ladle in the hot vinegar solution over the beets, remove any bubbles from the sides of the jars with a knife or fork handle and wipe the rims and seal. Process in hot bath for 15 minutes, adjusting time as needed for altitudes. Cool jars on a towel.

NOW, I know you're asking, what about the water we save from boiling the beets in? Well you can do several things with it, but first you need to strain it through several layers of cheesecloth or 2 layers of flour sacking like I have.

You can make a syrup with it, freeze it for soups, OR you can make beet root wine with it. Which is what I do, like this....

Beetroot Wine

1 gallon of beet water (from canning recipe above)
4 lbs of sugar
juice of 3 lemons (no seeds please)
8 cloves

Add the sugar and lemon juice to the beet water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cloves and cover and let ferment and a warm place out of the light for 3 weeks. (I use  simple gallon jars with an airlock in the lid)
After 3 weeks, skim, strain the wine through at least 2 layers of flour sack cloth or get a strainer bag like a jelly bag, and bottle it.

Wine can be that simple. And this is a delicious wine and depending on the type of beets you processed you can have a lovely golden color or a fabulous ruby color wine. And it's ready to enjoy after aging a couple of months in the bottle. Something to enjoy for the holidays. Of course if you want a deeper flavor or color, cook several more pounds of beets in the water and put some of those wonderful veggies in the freezer!

A few other tips to make the most of your summer harvest. If you're putting up tomatoes and you need to skin them, save those skins, dehydrate them and when dried, crush them or pulverize them for tomato flakes or powder for soups and stews. If you want to try pickled kelp, save the fronds and air dry them outside for kelp flakes for soups. I am sure there are many other tips out there, but these were the ones I could think of at the moment.

If there is a recipe you want to know about, be sure to let me know, I'll share what I've got or done.