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

Vegplosion

Thanks R. for giving me your CSA this week. For the few people who may read this, you are in for a treat. Vegetables have exploded out of this unassuming little box to cover my kitchen counters. That means I'll most likely be making amazing deliciousness all week and posting it here because, hey I'm a blogger this month. Get ready for green smoothies. 

Bright orange carrots, crisp little cukes, lots of yet to be identified leafy greens and my absolute favorite of the bunch. Beets. Oh how I love beets. I love beets fried. I love beets roasted. I love beets on salad. Most of all I love beets pickled. Jars of pickled beets lined my grandmothers cellar, were on the table at every Easter dinner, and are in many dangerous stained finger memories from my childhood.

Magic is going to happen and the beets are the object of my affection.

To make this box of veg joy even better, I discovered that the Boston Food Swap July meeting is this Saturday. I will be pickling and brining and cutting and jarring all week because doing a food swap is on my list.

I'm fairly certain that a miracle of science will occur in my kitchen. I will keep you posted.

First things first: fava beans. Recipe courtesy of my fave cooking gal pal, Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. My roommate M. and I enjoyed these little treats last night and I won't lie, I was pleasantly surprised. They will be making many more appearances in my kitchen. So without further ado, I give you grilled fava beans.

{ Grilled Fava Beans }

fresh fava beans, still in their pods

a couple glugs of olive oil

a few pinches of kosher salt
optional: crushed red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and or chopped fresh herbs.

Toss oil, salt and beans together. Add your herbs or pepper flakes if you wish. Grill in a single layer on an outdoor grill or on a grill pan. You can also pan fry like I did, just use a little more oil and watch the heat so you don't burn the pods before you steam the beans inside. Heidi says 4-5 mins per side and that worked for me. You are trying to steam the beans inside. You'll start to see little burn bubbles toasting on the pods when you are ready to flip. I eat them like giant edamame pealing the bean from the pod with my teeth and getting lots of salt on the way. You can also pop the beans out and take off the little shell inside which is a bit more lady like.

bon apetite,

t