DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use one of the
Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been years since I
pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she hates b**ts. VBG

Also the fig crop is starting to come in. Since we put bird netting over
the tree we are likely to get a lot of figs. Have fig preserves and fig
jam in mind at the moment.

Getting ready to fire up the gas grill and roast some Anaheim chiles to
use for chiles relleno this evening.

Put my large roasting pan in the oven yesterday and cooked two large
pork butt roasts for about 4 hours at 350F. then pulled the meat with
two forks ala Barb's method. Meat is in three large vacuum bags in the
freezer. Our daughter is renting a beach cabin at Crystal Beach, TX for
a week and we and our multitudinous descendants will descent upon them.
We're taking the pork with BBQ sauce for sammiches, a large spiral cut
honey cured ham, 6 lbs of hamburger meat and some chickens for grilling
or smoking. Seems the cabin comes with a grill and a smoker. First
vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking forward to it.
Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green beans,
blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too. Thinking
about having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants. Trying to
come up with a catchy logo for them.

George

"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use one of the
Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been years since I
pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she hates b**ts. VBG

Also the fig crop is starting to come in. Since we put bird netting over
the tree we are likely to get a lot of figs. Have fig preserves and fig
jam in mind at the moment.

Shade of remembrance....MeMaw's Strawberry Fig Preserves MMmmmmmmm!


Getting ready to fire up the gas grill and roast some Anaheim chiles to
use for chiles relleno this evening.

Put my large roasting pan in the oven yesterday and cooked two large
pork butt roasts for about 4 hours at 350F. then pulled the meat with
two forks ala Barb's method. Meat is in three large vacuum bags in the
freezer. Our daughter is renting a beach cabin at Crystal Beach, TX for
a week and we and our multitudinous descendants will descent upon them.
We're taking the pork with BBQ sauce for sammiches, a large spiral cut
honey cured ham, 6 lbs of hamburger meat and some chickens for grilling
or smoking. Seems the cabin comes with a grill and a smoker. First
vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking forward to it.
Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green beans,
blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too.

Sounds like a great time....I could be a long-lost nephew or something, you
knon on Aunt Barb's side o' de family?

Thinking
about having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants. Trying to
come up with a catchy logo for them.

"....and DO call me Shirley!"


George


KW

"KW" keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet wrote in message
...

"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use one of the
Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been years since I
pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she hates b**ts. VBG

Oh, and I'm no help on the beets shiver....I definately hail from Barb's
lineage on that one!

KW

"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
... First vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking forward
to it. Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green beans,
blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too. Thinking about
having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants. Trying to come up
with a catchy logo for them.

George

Sounds like a real fine time.
A good bread & butter recipe might pair well with the b**ts, they can take
the strong flavors. I prefer the red wine version from Joy of Pickling. My
sis just peels & soaks raw beet strips in a vinegar solution in the fridge,
whatever spices or herbs are available. Lots of dill is nice with beets, or
cinnamon & clove.
"I Shirley like my family!"
"Some of Anne & George's genes"
"Can you tell we're family?"

Edrena

"The Joneses" wrote in message
t...
"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
... First vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking
forward to it. Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green
beans, blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too.
Thinking about having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants.
Trying to come up with a catchy logo for them.

George

Sounds like a real fine time.
A good bread & butter recipe might pair well with the b**ts, they can take
the strong flavors. I prefer the red wine version from Joy of Pickling. My
sis just peels & soaks raw beet strips in a vinegar solution in the
fridge, whatever spices or herbs are available. Lots of dill is nice with
beets, or cinnamon & clove.


"I Shirley like my family!"

this one's the best!!


"Some of Anne & George's genes"
"Can you tell we're family?"

Edrena



I'll second the red wine version - I could eat them like popcorn they're so
good!

Kathi

"The Cook" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:48:06 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:

DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use one of the
Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been years since I
pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she hates b**ts. VBG

Also the fig crop is starting to come in. Since we put bird netting over
the tree we are likely to get a lot of figs. Have fig preserves and fig
jam in mind at the moment.

Getting ready to fire up the gas grill and roast some Anaheim chiles to
use for chiles relleno this evening.

Put my large roasting pan in the oven yesterday and cooked two large
pork butt roasts for about 4 hours at 350F. then pulled the meat with
two forks ala Barb's method. Meat is in three large vacuum bags in the
freezer. Our daughter is renting a beach cabin at Crystal Beach, TX for
a week and we and our multitudinous descendants will descent upon them.
We're taking the pork with BBQ sauce for sammiches, a large spiral cut
honey cured ham, 6 lbs of hamburger meat and some chickens for grilling
or smoking. Seems the cabin comes with a grill and a smoker. First
vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking forward to it.
Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green beans,
blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too. Thinking
about having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants. Trying to
come up with a catchy logo for them.

George


Here are the ingredients from the recipe that Edrena posted last year
for pickled beets with red wine. I am not including the instructions
since they are pretty straight forward.

6 pounds beets, with rootlets and 2 inches of tops
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 4 inch cinnamon sticks, broken
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced thin
3 cups sugar
2 cups red wine
3 cups red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt

Simmer the syrup for 10 minutes.
Leave 1/2 inch head space
Process 30 minutes in BWB

Makes about 7 pints.


For a very special treat, I slice the beets, then use a cookie cutter to cut
into fanciful shapes, then can as usual. My favorite shapes are stars, moons
& hearts. Very simple shapes without a lot of edges to get broken. This will
require at least 50% more beets. But the cook gets to eat up the scraps! Or
serve with a sprinkle of butter & dill & sour cream for supper (I haveta use
all diet stuff these days, but the diet stuff gets better every year). Or
use plain in salad or sprinkle over green beaners. If you can't stand beets
they are good for the dog.
Edrena

George Shirley wrote:
DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them,

I like doing that for salads (say greens with roasted beets, blue cheese
and toasted walnuts), or for a picnic
http://bitsyskitchen.com/german47.html or as part of a roasted root
veggie side dish.... my twisted friend up the street calls them
"sun-dried beets."

B/

KW wrote:
"KW" keith_warrennospamatallteldotnet wrote in message
...

"George Shirley" wrote in message
...
DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow
roast them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use
one of the Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been
years since I pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she
hates b**ts. VBG

Oh, and I'm no help on the beets shiver....I definately hail from
Barb's lineage on that one!

Oh the other hand.. I *love* beetroot)

Bring on the recipes please)

The Cook wrote:

6 pounds beets, with rootlets and 2 inches of tops

Around here, fresh beets are $$ for some reason. I rarely use them
because of that; usually I buy the small canned whole ones.

Process 30 minutes in BWB

The canned ones are already cooked, I imagine that's why the longer
period in the BWB. Would you think an ordinary 10 minutes would do
here, and then let sit for a couple weeks to let the brine get through
the dense root?

B/

George,
We have made our first batch of pickled beets this year will make more later
when the others are ready.

We used the newest Ball Book for the rcipe on page 53.
Our variety of beets are Chiggia which are pinkish color with white circles
all the way thru. They are very sweet.

Then we had orange colored beets and finally long cylindrical shaped deep
red beets.

Since my husband has CKD and also is diabetic I did not use salt and instead
of sugar I used granular SPLENDA in the bag.

I tell you I did not miss the salt at all and the Splenda tasted good in the
recipe. I think the slight changes I made are okay and won't pose a hazard
in the way of safety because of the acid of the vinegar.

I also keep all our canned goods in our dark cook basement that is now 68
degrees.

I love these pickled beets and the Ball Book recipe is a boiling water bath
recipe. But if you just "can" the beets without them being pickled they
must be pressure canned.

George I really enjoy your posts and find this NG most interesting and
intelligent.

ann

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:48:06 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:

DW picked the last of the beets today. I am getting ready to slow roast
them, then peel and slice, and then pickle them. Plan to use one of the
Ball Book recipes. Any advice from this group, it's been years since I
pickled beets? No advice from Barb please, I know she hates b**ts. VBG

Also the fig crop is starting to come in. Since we put bird netting over
the tree we are likely to get a lot of figs. Have fig preserves and fig
jam in mind at the moment.

Getting ready to fire up the gas grill and roast some Anaheim chiles to
use for chiles relleno this evening.

Put my large roasting pan in the oven yesterday and cooked two large
pork butt roasts for about 4 hours at 350F. then pulled the meat with
two forks ala Barb's method. Meat is in three large vacuum bags in the
freezer. Our daughter is renting a beach cabin at Crystal Beach, TX for
a week and we and our multitudinous descendants will descent upon them.
We're taking the pork with BBQ sauce for sammiches, a large spiral cut
honey cured ham, 6 lbs of hamburger meat and some chickens for grilling
or smoking. Seems the cabin comes with a grill and a smoker. First
vacation for us in about fourteen years so we're looking forward to it.
Of course we will take a case or two of home canned green beans,
blackeyed peas, jellies, jams, pear sauce, etc with us too. Thinking
about having some tee shirts made for us and the descendants. Trying to
come up with a catchy logo for them.

George


Here are the ingredients from the recipe that Edrena posted last year
for pickled beets with red wine. I am not including the instructions
since they are pretty straight forward.

6 pounds beets, with rootlets and 2 inches of tops
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 4 inch cinnamon sticks, broken
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced thin
3 cups sugar
2 cups red wine
3 cups red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt

Simmer the syrup for 10 minutes.
Leave 1/2 inch head space
Process 30 minutes in BWB

Makes about 7 pints.


--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

D.L. wrote:
George,
We have made our first batch of pickled beets this year will make more later
when the others are ready.

We used the newest Ball Book for the rcipe on page 53.
Our variety of beets are Chiggia which are pinkish color with white circles
all the way thru. They are very sweet.

Then we had orange colored beets and finally long cylindrical shaped deep
red beets.

Since my husband has CKD and also is diabetic I did not use salt and instead
of sugar I used granular SPLENDA in the bag.

I tell you I did not miss the salt at all and the Splenda tasted good in the
recipe. I think the slight changes I made are okay and won't pose a hazard
in the way of safety because of the acid of the vinegar.

I also keep all our canned goods in our dark cook basement that is now 68
degrees.

I love these pickled beets and the Ball Book recipe is a boiling water bath
recipe. But if you just "can" the beets without them being pickled they
must be pressure canned.

George I really enjoy your posts and find this NG most interesting and
intelligent.

ann


Your husband and I have something in common, I'm also diabetic. The
beets I put up today were done with Splenda also and I never add salt.
The vinegar is generally enough to preserve them as they become acidic.
I am aware about canning beets through a pressure canner but we don't
grow enough of them to can any on a normal basis. I actually prefer them
pickled while wife likes them cooked with butter. We comprimised, she
ate most of this years crop the way she likes them and I put up 4 pints
of pickled beets with red onions and a slice of ginger root in each jar.
I'll let everyone know how they taste in about ten days. Oh yeah, the
pickle juice had three tablespoons of pickling spice in it, in a muslin bag.

George

In article ,
"The Joneses" wrote:

(Susan and Jorge snipped)

For a very special treat, I slice the beets, then use a cookie cutter to cut
into fanciful shapes, then can as usual.

How big is this cookie cutter? Canape cutter thang (wee) or what? I'm
thinking about doing fancy-type ones for this year's State Fair.

(BTW, I found out that my jar *actually placed* in the competition last
year! LOL!!! They put ribbons to fourth place; mine was fifth. The
intake folks got a giggle when I told them I had no idea what they
tasted like because I never tasted them.)

My favorite shapes are stars, moons
& hearts. Very simple shapes without a lot of edges to get broken.

Hmmm. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, I could prolly cut
diamonds from the slices without a cutter. Last year I think I used
smallish beets and cut them into wedges. *I* thought it was cool.

This will require at least 50% more beets.

Gack! I'm glad to know it though.

Has anyone here ever cooked the blech---I mean the beets--in a pressure
cooker? That'd cut down on the kitchen stink.

But the cook gets to eat up the scraps! Or serve with a sprinkle of
butter & dill & sour cream for supper (I haveta use all diet stuff
these days, but the diet stuff gets better every year). Or use plain
in salad or sprinkle over green beaners. If you can't stand beets they
are good for the dog.

Like I'd do that to a beloved pet. And if I don't have a dog? Never
mind. I had any number of people (friends/family) tell me they'd be
glad to take them off my hands when the Fair was over. Yech!

Market day this morning and tomorrow -- I may see what's out there. (I
oughtta have my head examined.) It's a fantabulous day for this kind of
kitchen work. Gorgemous.

Edrena

Here's Sister Edrena's (follower of Saint Vinaigrette) offering again,
all neat and tidy for importing to your favorite recipe application. '-)

{ Exported from MasterCook Mac }

Pickled Beets with Red Wine [Makes about 7 pints]

Recipe By: Edrena Jones, July 2006, r.f.preserving
Serving Size: 7
Preparation Time: 0:00
Categories: Canning, Preserves, Etc.

Amount Measure Ingredient Preparation Method
6 lbs beets with rootlets and 2
inches of tops
1 teaspoon whole cloves
Two 4-inch cinnamon sticks broken
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger sliced thin
3 cups sugar
2 cups red wine [I use cabernet sauvignon]
3 cups red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon pickling salt

Scrub the beets. Put them into a large pot, and cover
them with boiling water. Return the water to a boil, and
boil the beets 15 to 35 minutes, depending on their size,
until they are just tender.

Drain the beets, and cover them with cold water. When
they are cool, trim them and slip off their skins. If they
are large, halve or quarter them--or, if you prefer, slice
all the beets into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.

Tie the cloves, cinnamon, and ginger in a spice bag or
scrap of cheesecloth. Put the spice bag, sugar, wine, vinegar,
and salt into a nonreactive pot. Bring the contents to a
boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Simmer the
syrup, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

While the syrup simmers, pack the beets into pint mason
jars. If you've sliced the beets, pack the slices loosely. [! E.]
Pour the hot syrup over the beets, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Close the jars with hot two-piece caps.

Process the jars for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath.
[Mind the altitude adjustments-E.]

Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place for at
least 3 weeks before eating the beets.

[The part of the beet just under the greens is the part that
can taste like dirt. If the beets are big, be ruthless about
trimming this away. Then eat it, cook's treat!]



[Note: I boiled the beets to tender stage and even after BWB
for 40' at my altitude, the slices still had nice texture, but
I'd go maybe for a little tiny bit less initial boiling next
time. Wayne Boatwright roasts his beets instead of boiling-E]
[You can make these sugar free by using 1+ cups Splenda to
taste and 1+ teaspoons salt to taste. Do the Splenda first.
with the wine/vinegar, then the salt. This is a bit of a
balancing act because while the Splenda is great, it's not
sugar. Do the sugar if you can.]

[I always make a few special jars, slice cooked beets, than
cookie cutter shaped to stars & moons, etc. I make regular
batch in chunks with an apple corer dealy, and keep all the
circular pieces for special jars as above]

From _Joy of Pickling_ by Linda Ziedrich, c.1998,
The Harvard Common Press

Edrena Jones post to rec.food.preserving 7-12-2006

‹‹‹‹‹
Notes: Even people who usually scorn beets may like these.
Barb's comment: Don't hold your breath.
_____

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

On Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:02:41 GMT, "The Joneses"
wrote:

For a very special treat, I slice the beets, then use a cookie cutter to cut
into fanciful shapes, then can as usual. My favorite shapes are stars, moons
& hearts. Very simple shapes without a lot of edges to get broken. This will
require at least 50% more beets. But the cook gets to eat up the scraps! Or
serve with a sprinkle of butter & dill & sour cream for supper (I haveta use
all diet stuff these days, but the diet stuff gets better every year). Or
use plain in salad or sprinkle over green beaners. If you can't stand beets
they are good for the dog.
Edrena


This got me started thinking about pickled beets and when I saw some
nice beets at the farmers market today I bought them for the pickles
with red wine. I made hamburger dill pickles yesterday. I have a
bunch sliced for Kosher Dills I am going to start soon. If there are
any left I will make bread and butter or some 2 day sweet pickles.
Also picked 5 or 6 more cukes this morning.

I also bought some Lodi apples this morning. May make some jelly. Or
maybe apple butter. I need to figure out why some of my jellies turn
dark at the top. All suggestions appreciated.

Time to get to work.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On cooking beets in the pressure cooker -- I used to do that all the
time. I'd gather a basket full, cut off the greens, rinse the dirt
off, and in they go almost to the top of the largest canner they make.
Don't remember the time or pressure, but it was far cheaper on
electricity than cooking them in a kettle in several batches for as
long as it would take. Worked great.


On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:52:30 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
wrote:

In article ,
"The Joneses" wrote:



Has anyone here ever cooked the blech---I mean the beets--in a pressure
cooker? That'd cut down on the kitchen stink.