Thursday, November 11, 2010

PICKLED BEETS...

Lacto-Fermented Beets

Two weeks ago, at our last (sob) CSA pick-up I was fortunate enough to take home a bag of organic beets.
Now beets on their own are just OK.
But pickled beets are a horse of a different color!
I usually only buy them around the holidays as they are fairly pricey at the grocers,
but this year (my fermentation year!) I wanted to try my hand at making my own.

So...I scrubbed off my beets and roasted them in a low oven (around 300F) for 3 hours.
I then let them cool enough to peel them.
They were way too difficult to peel like this, but I did what I could.
I then went out to what remains of the garden and dug up another batch of beets.
This time I scrubbed them, then boiled them for about 1 hour (low boil) till tender.
MUCH easier to peel!
The peels just slide right off....
Following the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, I washed 8 wide mouth pint jars and put the seeds from a cardamom pod in each one.
I cut the beets into thick julienned slices and put them in the jar, pressing down firmly.
I then mixed 1 cup of water, 1 TBL sea salt, and 4 TBL of raw whey and covered the beets.
Each pint needed approximately the full 1 cup of water/salt/whey mixture.
Now they will set on the counter for 3 days then go into the already too full basement fridge to slow down the fermentation process.
By Thanksgiving they should be nice and pickled!
YIKES!
Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks from today!
How the heck did THAT happen?
And could somebody please tell me where September and October took off to this year?
Cause I don't much remember them....

xoxo,
Cindy

This entry is a part of Simple Lives Thursday
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13 comments:

Unknown said...

A total beet lover here and pickled is my favorite for sure! I've never done them this way and I'll be interested to hear a review.

Yes, Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away...YIKES, lol!

Blessings!
Gail

Faith said...

Beautiful!

I'm not surprised September and October are a blur to you, you were quite busy being the best grandma a little boy could ever wish for, to talk to His Heavenly Father about and for them to chat and laugh with together. Wonderful memories for them to share together with you.

Beets are hard to get excited about these days, but I have a feeling they will become more exciting as time goes on.

What a great info piece on them. The closest I've come to them is eating them out of a can.

~Faith

Anonymous said...

Yum!! Pickled Beets are a staple in our house. Growing up with a PA Dutch mom, we always had them for the holidays and all summer. And then when I got married, my mother-in-law introduced me to using pickled beets in my potato salad. Just mix in a small amount of diced beets and any mayo based potato salad will trun a beautiful purple/pink and it add a whole new dimention to potato salad - yummy!

Is this the first time you're making them the NT way? I've been wanting to try it but haven't yet. I've done the sauerkraut and kimchi but not the beets.

Sandy

Farmgirl Cyn said...

Yes, Sandy...this is the 1st time for the beets. I have done pickles, kimchi, apricot butter, sauerkraut, salsa and escabeche. I love the flavors of fermented foods!

Anonymous said...

Then my Dad would take the red beet juice and make it into wine...

6512 and growing said...

Nice work. I just made lacto-fermented beets with kale and carrots (uncooked). It's thick and luscious. How wonderful that you have a basement for your projects.
ps: found you through Simple Lives Thursday

Farming On Faith said...

These are one of my favorite.
Only I cheat with canned beets.

Blessings to you sweet friend!

teenagehealthfreak said...

i love beets!! sadly the ones in my garden are not doing so well.:( if i had the time to ferment more things..i would!!! i love it all!! the only things i've done this year: pickles, sourdough.and i make keifer milk too...but i really wanta try that kimichi you did a while back!! (i've just got to find the time.) maybe over thanksgiving holidays!!!

Trish said...

These look and sound delicious! I love beets too :-) blessings..Trish

Farmchick said...

LOVE pickled beets. We were just talking that I am going to have to make some next summer...ours are ALMOST gone!! YIKES!!

Come over and say hi. :)
Hope you are doing okay. I know this must be a very tough journey for you and your family to be traveling.

Barbara said...

Those sure look yummy, I love pickled beets, hugs Barbara

Pam said...

Your beets sound and look excellent! I love beets; have never pickled them but must after seeing this. I'm new here and will enjoy following your blog! Very good!

designHER Momma said...

Pickled beets remind me of my grandma. And that's a very good thing...