Preserving Experiment #5

Beets.

Prior to this year, I had never eaten one in my life.

I do have a cousin who loves beets.  He talks about them a lot - almost inappropriately so - on Facebook.

They are scary looking.

They look like weird, brightly colored potatoes.  They are dirty.  I expected them to taste dirty.  Not entirely sure why I thought that would be a bad thing... after all I do love potatoes and mushrooms, and I prefer my red wine to taste a little bit like dirt.

They have probably become the favorite vegetable in our house - both the root and the greens.  It's kind of shocking.

Doing some quick research on the interwebs, I learned the following about beets.  Very little of this is from scholarly sources, and if I were grading this from one of my students, it would totally get an F:

Supposedly, the eating of beets can prevent or reverse the following ailments:

• Acidosis, which leads to acid reflux
• Cancer
• Anemia
• Athersclerosis, which is a hardening of the arteries
• Vericose ceins
• High blood pressure
• Constipation
• Liver Problems
• Kidney and gall bladder diseases
• Gout

My husband has acid reflux, and I have anemia (and all the women in my family have vericose veins).  Also my body apparently really enjoys getting kidney stones, so I'm pretty excited that I can magically cure these things just by eating beets!  Okay, I don't think it works quite that way, but never-the-less it's good to know that something I like is good for me.

I don't have kids, but I feel like beets would be a good thing to try to feed your kids - as long as they don't know what they are or get to see them ahead of time!  The fact that they are sweet and brightly colored makes me think you could trick a kid into thinking they're candy or something.  Another good thing about beets is that, after you cut them up, it looks like you killed someone in your kitchen - which is always fun.

Apparently the growing season for beets is June through October, so we're just about done.  I wouldn't want to be without this magical vegetable for a full winter, so I'm glad I got this done in time!  I also thought this was my prettiest canning batch yet, and it made me sad to put the finished jars down in the basement where visitors can't admire them.  Next house: display shelf for canning!

I haven't tried these yet, since all the jars closed properly and I still have fresh beets to eat.  I will report back as soon as I do!

Pickled Beets
From the Art of Preserving

• 1 pound beets (L)
• 1 white onion, sliced (L)
• 1 cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
• 1/4 cup honey (L)
• 1 tbsp cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp whole cloves
• pinch of salt

Have ready hot, sterilized jars and their lids.

Put the beets (whole.  Leave a little bit of stem so all the skin is intact and covering all the beet.  This helps keep the nutrients in) into a large saucepan (if using different colored beets, put each color into their own sauce pan) and add water to cover by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially and simmer until the beets are tender, 25-30 minutes.  Drain the beets, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid.

When the cooked beets are cool enough to handle, peel them (once the beets are cool, the skins slide right off - almost like the tomato skins, but not quite as easy)  and then cut into slices 1/4 inch thick.  Divide the beet slices and the onion slices among the jars.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the reserved cooking liquid, vinegar, honey, cardamom, cloves and salt.  Bring just to a boil, then ladle the hot mixture into the jars, evenly distributing the spices and leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Remove any air bubbles.  Wipe the rims clean and seal tightly with the lids.

Process the jars for 7 minutes in a boiling water bath.  Let the jars stand undisturbed for 24 hours, then set them aside for one week for the flavors to develop.

The jars can be stored in a cool dark place for up to 3 months (so I have to eat them all by Christmas!)

The recipe said this made 4 pints.  I only got two.  I ended up making three different batches, and stored them in half pint and 4 oz jelly jars.  I figure how many pickled beets do I really need at once?

I have to image that these beets would go great in this recipe.  I actually made this salad with fresh, grilled beets, but the pickled beets would go well too.  Cut out the tomatoes, and this could be a great winter salad when all I can get my hands on is greens.

Smoked Salmon and Beet Salad
(this recipe is for one salad)

• 1 or 2 large handfuls of mixed greens, washed (L)
• 1 tomato, quartered and cut into slices (optional) (L)
• 1 small or 1/2 large beet - steamed, grilled, boiled, or pickled, sliced into bite size pieces (L)
• 4 oz smoked salmon (L-ish.  Okay, this is smoked by Rushing Waters fishery, but not grown there)
• 1 oz goat cheese - I used a honey goat cheese (L)
• 2-3 tbsp Honey Basil Vinaigrette, or to taste 

Put greens in a bowl.  Top greens with other stuff.  Cheese can be crumbled or left in one chunk for presentation purposes as I did in the picture.

Honey Basil Vinaigrette (from this post, except modified to be basil instead of thyme!)
Makes about 1 cup

• 3 tbsp minced shallots (L)
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
• 1/2 cup raw honey (L)
• 2 tsp fresh basil (L*), minced
• 1 clove garlic (L), minced
• 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Spring is Springing... But It's Not Quite Sprung

There are a few signs that winter is over and spring is finally venturing into Wisconsin.  Not the temperature, exactly.  It's hardly peeked above 60.  Right now, for example, the high today was 54 degrees.  The average temperature for today is 64.  I know I shouldn't expect to go swimming outside, but I'd at least like to pack up my winter coats!  Usually, I get to bring my mom Lilies of the Vally for Mother's Day, but they're hardly poking out of the ground.

There are signs of life, however:

Robin's Egg

Kohlrabi starting to come up

Daffodils in my front yard

Actually, I almost have enough rhubarb to make something!

Radishes

Peas

Chives (and peas in the pot)

Strawberries

Wheat Grass

But, the most exciting signs of spring are taking place outside of my garden!  This Saturday was the start of the West Allis Farmer's Market, which, in my experience, is the biggest farmer's market in the area.  I won't say it's the best - because I certainly don't want to start a fight, and biggest doesn't always mean best, but it is definitely the biggest that I have been to.  They also seem to have the most plants, so that is where I tend to go to purchase plants for my garden.  What I have above were all started from seeds, or perennials. 

But this week, they had the most exciting thing in the history of ever:

TOMATOES!!!!!

I swear, there is salad under those tomatoes!

OMG: TOMATOES. And Cucumbers.  Yes, okay they're hot house grown.  But they were still much tastier than anything in the grocery store, and I have been feeling tomato deprived.  I asked the farmer how he could possibly have tomatoes and he answered: "Because I'm Magic!"  While I can rationally understand why a hot house is not magic, I am still going to believe that answer, because everything about growing food seems just a little magical to me.

I made a salad with ranch dressing.  It was awesome.

This weekend was also mother's day.  Jeff's family came over, and I made them brunch.  It was actually very hectic, because the eggs just would not get cooked, so I have no pictures.  But, I did have some very successful dishes, and I wanted to share those.

These recipes all serve 8 with leftovers

Make Ahead French Toast with Pears
This recipe was modified from one I found, in which you were supposed to cook down some apples with seasonings.  That's great if I had apples and/or time to cook them, but there has to be an easier way.  I went to Outpost and found a jar of canned pears from a local orchard, and substituted those.  Really, I am sure you could use any fruit.  I expect to be canning fruit myself this summer, so this could become a regular meal at my house next winter.

• 1 pint jar canned pears (L)
• 1 French baguette, sliced into 3/4 inch thick slices (L)
• 4 large eggs (L)
• 1 1/4 cups milk, half and half, cream, or some combination.  I actually used mostly buttermilk, because I had it for the ranch (L)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Freshly ground nutmeg
• Freshly ground cinnamon
• Butter

Butter the bottom and sides of a 8x10 (or whatever large size you have) cake pan.  Lay pears in a single layer on the bottom of the pan, squeezing as tightly together as possible.  Lay overlapping slices of bread on top of pears.  Combine all other ingredients, and pour over the bread and pears.  Cover in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator overnight. 

When ready to bake, remove plastic wrap and allow dish to warm while pre-heating oven to 375 degrees.  Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes, or until bread is golden and custard is firm.  Allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

You could try to flip this, but I actually thought the bottoms of the bread were pretty, golden, and toasted, and I had no idea if it would look good if I did try to flip it, so I served it right out of the cake pan.  I had syrup, but hardly any of it got used.


Smoked Salmon and Spinach Egg Bake
 The recipe I modified for this said it would take 45 minutes.  I used 8 whole eggs and 8 egg whites, as opposed to the recommended 6/6, so I upped that to an hour.  It took about an hour and a half!! 

• 8 whole eggs (L)
• 8 egg whites (L)
• 1 cup club soda
• 1 cup milk, cream, or half and half (L)
• 4 large handfuls spinach, washed and roughly chopped (L)
• 3-4 scallions, white and tender green parts chopped (L)
• 1/2 garlic head, chopped (L)
• 1 cup cheese (I used 1/2 Carr Valley Snow White Goat Cheddar (L) and 1/2 Parmesan (L))
• Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeng
• 1 smoked salmon fillet (L)
• Butter

Whisk together eggs, club soda, and milk.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.  Stir in cheese, spinach, onions, and garlic.  Add in salmon and stir gently to combine.

Butter the sides and bottom of an 8 x 10 baking dish (I'm just realizing that I used the 8X10 on the french toast, so the dish I actually used might have been smaller... that might have been our problem!!) and pour ingredients in.  Bake at 350 degrees for an unknown amount of time, or until set in the middle.  I think if you use the right size pan, it should be 45 minutes to an hour.

Breakfast Potatoes:

• 2-3 lbs new potatoes (Yay!  There are potatoes again too!!  No more weird substitutes... although I have grown to love me some celery root) (L)
• 2 tbs butter (L)
• Fresh Chives, minced (L)
• 1/2 head garlic, minced (L)
• Spices as desired.  I used rosemary (L) and paprika, but you could really use anything you wanted.
• Lots of Kosher salt and pepper

Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch thick rounds.  Place in a pot and just barely cover with cold water.  Salt generously.  Bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are just starting to get soft - not cooked through.  I have found this is almost exactly the time when the water comes to a hard boil.  Drain water.  Add butter to a large frying pan and melt.  Add potatoes, chives, garlic, and spices, and saute until potatoes are tender and start to brown.  These hold well in a warm oven, and reheat great!

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

For my birthday this year, my husband got me one of those pasta makers that you hook up to your KitchenAid stand mixers.  I had a pasta roller previously, and made pasta on occasion, but I could never figure out how to crank the dang thing and hold on to my pasta.  Which means he had to help.  So I'm pretty sure he got me this one so I could do the whole thing myself while he sat on the couch.  He's a smart boy.

Anyway, it worked like a charm!  I was especially pleased by the pasta recipes that came with the instruction manual - not for the recipes themselves, but for the directions.  I have always done the traditional make a well with the flour, break the eggs into it, etc., but these directions just said to put everything in the stand mixer bowl and use the dough hook.  I personally couldn't taste the difference and it was SO much easier.  (Somewhere, someone's Italian Grandmother is rolling over in her grave... but not mine.  First, because she's not dead.  And second, because she's all about saving time!).

So I made basically the equivalent of fettuccine, which came out very nicely, and I had enough left over to freeze about three servings - so we'll see how that works out later.

The salmon itself was not caught or grown locally, but it was processed locally at Rushing Waters.  Apparently the grocery store "can't" sell their smoked trout, which is local.  The guy working behind the fish counter didn't want to elaborate.

Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

• Pasta (about two servings worth)
• Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup red onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic (I found more local garlic!! YAY!!)
• 1/2 lb. mixed mushrooms
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup white wine - preferably something a little more acidic, like a pinot gris
• 4-5 big handfuls spinach, chopped roughly
• 1 fillet smoked salmon, skin removed and chopped roughly
• 3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
• Salt and pepper

 Cook the pasta according to the directions (or make your own.  It's not so hard!)  Meanwhile, saute onions and garlic in a large frying pan.  Add mushrooms and cook until they just start to brown.  Add butter and white wine, and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and add spinach, stirring until spinach is wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add pasta and salmon and stir to combine, until pasta is nicely coated and the salmon is warmed.  Add goat cheese and stir once more.  The goat cheese should just start to melt, but should not blend totally into the sauce.

Top with freshly ground pepper if desired.

If I would have had them, I would have added tomatoes to this as well.  They would have added color and a nice texture.  Next time!

Total non-local ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Wine