Spiced Pickled Beets

My mother used to make the most divine pickled beets. Heads and shoulders above store bought  but oh so simple to make. She used to can these to make them shelf stable but I am not into the whole canning thing ... yet .... so I just make up a smaller batch, throw them into a couple large mason jars with a screw top plastic lid and throw them in the fridge ... they never last long.

I get my beets from a lovely little health food grocery store we have in Courtenay. Among other things they sell locally grown produce and I have found them to be a consistent seller of beautiful tender small baby beets. The beets I've seen in the regular chain grocery store are usually giant woody monstrosities of dubious freshness. Beets are a cool weather plant they grow best when things are cool and dry. Too much moisture and the roots develop as tough fibrous woody horrors and no amount of cooking can save them.

Whenever I go there, I buy a large bag of small beets, the volume doesn't matter really I just make up whatever I buy and when I need more ... I buy more. I just eyeball it and buy what I think will fit into a 1 litre mason jar ... then I double it ;)

The recipe is simplicity itself and I see no good reason why I'd ever buy store bought pickled beets ever again. Beets are GOOD for you, filling and surprisingly low in calories. Most of the calories in this come from the syrup but you don't actually EAT/Drink the syrup so the calories come mostly from the vegetable itself. I've never found an accurate way to measure the calories for a recipe that using a syrup/marinade that is not consumed so I generally just  track this as just plain cooked beets. I figure the small amount of extra calories from the syrup infusion of the beet is minimal at best and not worth worrying about. When having an afternoon craving attack a couple small sweet/tart beets to snack on is often enough to satisfy me until dinner. Sweet succulent and packed with nutrients.

Ingredients:

• whole baby beets
• 2 cups Cider Vinegar (buy the cheap stuff no need to get fancy here)
• 2 cups Sugar, granulated
• 2 cups Water
• 1 tsp Allspice, Ground
• 2 Tbsp Cloves, Whole (although you probably could use ground as well, I'd reduce the volume A LOT if you do however ... not sure how much but maybe only use 1 tsp as well)

Select small young beets 1" -1 1/2" in diameter. Scrub lightly (just to clean you want the skin ON) and do not remove either the stem or the root. Those will be removed later. By leaving them on at this point it helps keep the beet juice where you want it during cooking .... in the beet.

Boil until tender. I do mine about an 45 minutes to an hour then I test them with a knife ... if they aren't tender yet I keep going until they are. I am not entirely sure if it's even possible to overcook beets but it is possible to UNDER COOK them. So test them with a knife to determine doneness. You may find one or two that never seem to get tender even though the rest are done ... yeah tough fibrous woody ... I toss those ones. I hate tough beets.

Once they are tender enough for your liking drain them and put in a cold water bath to cool them enough to handle.

At this point you can trim the stems and roots. To peel I usually take a clean cloth or better yet one of those green "scotch brand"  pot scrubbing pads and gently rub all surfaces. The thin tender skin will generally just slide right off leaving a smooth surface ... no paring knife required! If the beets are small I leave them whole but generally I cut most of them in half anyway to make nice bite sized pieces .. all about the same size. Set aside while you make the syrup.

A 6 quart basket will yield 12 cups of prepared beets according to the original recipe and the syrup amounts listed above should make enough syrup for that quantity, or so the recipe says ... I've never actually bought my beets that way so I can't vouch for that. I just make the syrup and use what I need. I save any unused syrup in my garage fridge for next time. 

To make the syrup combine all the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 5 minutes.

Pack hot sterilized jars with prepared beets and pour hot syrup over to cover. Seal and store. 

NOTE: Like I said I don't bother with the sterilizing part and I don't store these at room temperature like my mother used to do I just pack a clean mason jar cover with the boiling syrup and use a plastic lid to seal. I just throw them in the fridge when done. I generally get about 2 mason jars worth with the amount of beets I buy but sometimes it's just one. It's enough. These are so easy to throw together I don't need to stock up but if beets are cheap when in season you might want to :)