Cooking with beetroot

[Primrose]

I seem to have a glut of it so would be interested if anybody has some favourite recipes. Also does anybody have any hints as to how to prevent the trots which often seems to be by-product of eating it. A daily dose of Immodium seems a bit counter-productive

[alan refail]

Here's my offer
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7480

[glallotments]

Just what I need too Primrose, I've scoured the Internet but there seems few recipes for using beetroot as a vegetable most refers to chutneys and pickles.

[bottomleypots]

Hi,
Have posted this previously, Its rather nice and uses up your excess beetroot.

This is a recipe for beetroot chutney-very good at Christmas with cold meats.

3lbs beetroot
1.5 lbs of cooking apples
2 large onions
Half lb of sugar
1 pint vinegar
teaspoon of ground ginger
juice of a lemon

Boil beetroot, skin ,then chop into small cubes when cold. Cut up apple and onions and boil in the vinegar and all the other ingredients for 20 mins. Add the diced beetroot and boil for 15 mins.
Bottle when cold.

[Elsa]

We like a salad of even parts of raw grated beetroot, carrot and apple, with lemon juice and honey.
But our favourite is this salad with cooked beetroot:
100 g green lentils, cooked and cooled.
400 g beetroot, cooked, peeled and chopped.
1-2 mild onions, peeled and chopped.
1-2 apples, peeled and cored and cut into tiny bits.
Handful of parsley, chopped.
Mix with:
1 tblsp olive oil
2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 clove of garlic, crushed.
Salt & pepper
Sprinkle on top (optional):
Nuts and crumbled feta and chives.

[Primrose]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll give them a try. Meanwhile, I assume I'm OK to leave the roots in the ground, at least until the frost comes as I'm rather short of storage space in the garage. Then perhaps I'll earth them over or something. No suggestions yet on how to solve the 'laxative' problem. I suppose I could always set up in competition with Ex Lax

[glallotments]

We store our carrots under starw and environmesh in the ground over winter with great success. They remain covered through growing and storage so no build up of carrot fly etc. This year we decided to try the same thing with beetroots.

Then interestingly there was a short piece in KGs jobs for October which said carrots stored the way we did keep better and have a better flavour which seems to be born out by our experiences. The advice is to try the same thing with beetroot, turnips, swede and new potatoes sown for a late crop.

I'm not sure about potatoes though as when we had these frosted once they became rather sweet. In theory frost turns starch to sugar which is why parsnips are left to frost before pulling but I'm not sure it is desirable with potatoes.

One downside is that obviously the crops are more prone to slug attack but with our carrots this hasn't been a major problem - some are damaged but there is plenty for us too.

[Elsa]

About the 'laxative' problem, grated raw apple is supposed to help. Also serving mashed potatoes with the beetroot dish.
About the storing problem. Last winter we stored some of our celeriac and beetroot in a hole in the ground with a lot of dead leaves on top and covered with a sheet of plywood. They kept fine, better than in our usual frostfree cool storage, but the mice got into the beetroot, didn't touch the celeriac. Shall put both in finemeshed nylon potato sacs or similar this year.

[bottomleypots]

Beetroot will withstand frost ok as long as it doesnt get too cold-you will lose a few, but the main thing is not to pull them when they are still frozen, or affected by frost, I still use them in the spring when they start sprouting again .........

[Primrose]

Had a nice warm Scandinavian salad with beetroot this evening

Freshly cooked chopped beetroot
Warm chopped new potatoes
Freshly cooked chopped French beans
Chopped red onion
Chopped warm boil-in-the bag kippers (Could also use smoked trout)

All mixed together with mayonnaise and chopped dill.

[macmac]

At school in the late sixties we had mashed potato,corned beef,baked beans and diced cooked beetroot I can hear you saying yuk from hear but it's a combination that i still find appealing ...comfort food anything with mash

[Primrose]

macmac - hadn't thought of the corned beef hash option, so thanks. Think some diced beetroot could go quite well with it.

[bottomleypots]

I tend to steam my beetroot, peel them and then just dress them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and cracked black pepper.
We leave them in the fridge and just keep picking at them everytime we open the door....... very sweet and tasty.......

[Primrose]

That sounds quite a nice method of dealing with them. Will give it a try. Am loathe just to cook an preserve them in vinegar as I've never really found a way of getting rid of the sharp vinegar taste afterwards. I suppose I could always use a sweetened vinegar but the acidity is still there. Does anybody know a way round that particular problem?

[jamesrobartson]

I simply adore any recipe that contains feta cheese, i love a nice bit of feta.
Ingredients
* PARCELS
* 8 sheets cypressa fillo pastry (chilled)
* ½ tsp bart baharat spice
* 40g butter, melted
* 180g cooked fresh beetroot (not in a jar)
* 235g pack waitrose couscous salad
* 50g organic feta cheese (cubed)
* 1tsp cumin seeds
* EXTRAS
* 1 bag baby leave salad
* 1 bottle of chateau ka source blanche 2008, bekaa valley,Lebanon white wine

Method
# pre-heat oven to 200oc, gas mark 6,
# lay 2 sheets of the fillo pastry out onto a flat surface, stir the spice mix into the melted butter, brush a little of the butter over 1 sheet and place the other sheet ontop.
# cut the beetroot into small cubes and place in a bowl, add the couscous salad,feta and season with pepper, mix together,spoon a quarter of the mixture along 1 of the short ends of the pastry,
# tuck the long edges of the pastry in to enclose the beetroot mixture, then start rolling from the short end of the pastry to make a rectangular parcel just like a fat spring roll!
# brush the seam with butter to seal, then place onto a non-stick baking tray, brush the top of the pastry with a little more butter and sprinkle some cumin seeds over the top, repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 3 more parcels,place in the oven and bake for 10-15mins or until golden brown and crisp, serve with baby salad leaves and a nice glass of white wine.