Friday, July 13, 2012

Domestic Goddess

When I was in the throws of pickling the carrots (hands covered in garlic, jalapeños and vinegar, lovely) my friends showed up for a meeting I was hosting for the Boston Many Hopes leadership team. I thought I would be done with the carrots by the time they got here. Think again. One woman remarked as I was sweating and covered in garlic, "you are such a domestic goddess". Hilarious. Right J. So goddess-esque right now.

The Pickled Beets recipe I found on Epicurious only filled 2 jars. Undefeated, I took J's encouragement and I decided to make up my own beet pickling recipe. None of the ones I found online seemed to be what I wanted and I knew my grandmothers recipe would have me waiting for 6 months if I did it properly. I took on my new domestic goddess distinction and made a NEW beet recipe.
Pickling Spice costs a fortune at the grocery store for a tiny jar. Ridiculous. When I looked at the jar I realized that I had most of the ingredients, so I just made my own. Making my own spices. Another new thing. On. A. Roll.

{Tara's Pickled Beets & Eggs}
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar (I used turbinado, which made them more sweet, but just because I was out of regular Trader Joe's Organic Sugar)
1 tsp pickling spice (recipe below)
1/4 tsp pickling salt
2 bay leaves

1lbs fresh beets with caps cut off both ends
4 fresh eggs
1 sprig of fresh dill for each jar
1/8 tsp whole peppercorns 

Boil vinegar, water, sugar, spice, salt and bay leaves until sugar is disolved and let cool. Prepare the beets by boiling for about an hour and then letting them cool. I let mine sit on the counter during my meeting for about 2 hours and then they were cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins. They should just slide off if you boiled your beets long enough. Your hands could get stained, so where gloves if you like.

While you are slipping off the beet skins, put 4 eggs in a small pot completely covered in salty water and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes. Then let sit in the water another 10 minutes or so. You want to make sure the eggs are hard boiled. No soft yolks. Run the eggs under cool water and remove shells.


Divide beets and eggs into 2 jars with a sprig of fresh dill and a pinch of peppercorns. 
Once the brine is cool pour over the beets and eggs. Seal up your jars and put them in the fridge for at least 2 days. The longer the better. Eat within a month. Delicious sliced on top of a salad with quinoa and feta or just plain with salt and pepper.
Epicurious on left. Tara's Beets on right.
{Tara's Pickling Spice}
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cloves
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf, crumbled or cut into small pieces
1 cinnamon stick (2 inches)
Mix it all together in a little jar and use as needed. Shake before using to make sure spices are well distributed.

I'm calling these recipes "Tara's" this or that only because I am offering to take all the credit if it is horrible. I just made these up, so I'll let you know in a few days what happens. 


bon apetite,
t

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