- Amanda
The trick to successfully cooking beets is to soften them while also concentrating their sweet flavor. Roasting beets can result in something akin to jerky. Boiling them will produce soggy sponges. The best cooking method I know comes from Tom Colicchio, who wrote in The Craft of Cooking about roasting beets in a foil packet. His way, the roasting condenses the beets' sweetness while a layer of steam inside the packet keeps them moist.
The technique's as easy as can be.
1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut off the leggy root (seen above) and the tops (here's a great recipe for the leaves: Pink Greens). Then scrub the beets if they're dirty.
3. Lay a large piece of foil on a baking sheet, leaving half the foil hanging off one end. Place the beets on top of the foil on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the beets with olive oil -- just enough to dress them like salad greens -- and season with salt and pepper. Fold the foli in half to make a packet and crimp the edges.
4. Bake until the beets are tender (you can check by piercing a fork through the foil). It usually takes 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Let them cool in the foil packets.
5. When the beets are cool enough to touch, remove them from the packet and peel off the skins -- they should slip off like Concord grape skins.
What to do with your perfectly roasted beets? Oh, where to begin! Here are 3 ideas:
1. Cut the beets into small wedges and toss them with Greek yogurt and Meyer lemon zest and juice.
2. Slice the beets into thin circles, arrange in a cluster on a flameproof pan, cover the beets with thin slices of Camembert and broil until the cheese melts and begins to toast.
3. Cut the beets into tiny cubes, dress them with a sharp mustardy vinaigrette and spoon them atop a tuft of mache, frisee or baby arugula. Serve with roasted salmon (this one perhaps!).
Peirino, I wonder if you could use radish tops in a soup like this one, Provencal Greens Soup (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/health/nutrition/17recipehealth.html, or a revised version of this recipe at http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2009/03/provencal-greens-soup.html)?
Thanks for that. I use watercress a lot too. But I've been able to sustain I've been able to sustain a healthy radish population, so I'll give it a test run.
This is close to the method I deploy myself. Some years back I was in Chicago and cooking for good friends. My California friends, including my sister hate beets. So I was relieved when my buddy Erich said "I love beets." We rocked on that because he is a cook too. I will add that beet and horseradish is a match made in heaven. Erich's wife and daughter loved them as well.
But now I'm trying to figure out what to do with radish tops. I've got an abundance. I'm thinking some sort of soup....help?
OOH beets.. I love this method, I have Craft of Cooking and used it when I made beets 3x a week for work.
made a beet risotto in class yesterday (had to make a risotto & short ribs, so did beer braised shortribs w/ fresh horseradish gremolata, beet risotto, quick pickled raw beet salad w/ poppy seeds + horesradish cream w/ more poppy seeds..wish we had the beet greens but alas not so much)...
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoHope we'll get to see some of those recipes here on the site! Love the idea of fresh horseradish gremolata.
I usually put them whole (skins on-- there's good flavor and vitamins there) in a baking dish with a little water, a splash of vinegar, a sprinkle of salt and cover the whole thing with foil. yummers!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoYummers right back atcha!
I usually wrap beets individually in foil. Thanks for the tip. I will try Tom's method.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoYes, same idea, just larger piece of foil!
I love my roasted beets with greens and goat cheese, tossed with walnut oil, lemon juice and some chopped toasted walnuts.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoI'm starting to think Merrill and I should consider doing a beet theme.
I've also peeled and cut them into wedges before roasting in foil packets. Once I put them in the foil packets, I sometimes use olive oil drizzled over them, but more recently I've been drizzling maple syrup or honey over them, coating them well, and then sealing up the packet. The roasting time is immensely shortened, you don't have the sometimes messy peeling process to go through, and they come out sweet and tender. Mmmm, I might need to do some for lunch today...
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoInteresting -- do you peel them with a vegetable peeler? I want to try them with honey.
Yes, I use a veg peeler. Whether I use maple syrup or honey, when I open the packets there's some great beet juice and syrup/honey. I reduce that on the stove a bit to get it more of a syrupy consistency (only takes a minute or 2) and pour that back over the beets. Then I add different toppings ranging from creme fraiche with horseradish to goat cheese. Sometimes with chopped mint. Sometimes with a splash of balsamic vinegar in the mix. I love beets as you can see as I'm going on a bit too much on this I'm afraid.....
And lunch is served! Arugula and foil-packet-roasted-beet salad, maybe with chevrie. Thanks for the tips.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoThat was fast!
I agree-this exactly how I've always done my beets, but I'll often squeeze half an orange--or a little juice--over them, too, before roasting. For me, it's been foolproof, but that may also be the good baby beets we're lucky to have out here much of the year. We often roast a big batch on Sunday and keep them around for a few days for a quick side for the kids--w/goat cheese, arugula, orange or blood orange... or in a tiny dice dressed w/white balsamic & served on appetizer spoons. They look like little jewels.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoThey're a big hit with my kids, too. And I love beets with blood orange and a spicy green.
I have used this method whenever cooking beets...it is indeed foolproof for delicious beets. Last Saturday I had a beet salad in Yountville that was composed of small cubed cold red and yellow beets that surrounded a large lump of creamy burrata. It was devine...subline...delicious!
That sounds fabulous dymnyno! Where did you go?
Bardesono is a new hotel in Yountville...it is very "green". It was raining so we were not able to enjoy the beautiful outdoor spaces and fountains.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoThere's not enough burrata in my life.
Merrill is a co-founder of food52.
added over 2 years agoI'm experiencing serious geographical envy -- rain or no.
I'm going to have to make it up to Yountville and try this new place in the next couple weeks - hopefully without the rain! My former career for the last 20 years was in the green industry so would love to check out what they've done with the hotel along with the food. And I agree with Amanda - there's not enough burrata in my life. Or beets, apparently.
I'm with you on the shortcomings of roasting and boiling. But I usually circumvent them with a combination -- peel and cut the beets into thick wedges (big pieces help avoid the jerky phenomenon -- 4-6 wedges per beet, depending on size), par-boil til they're barely tender, then toss with oil and roast in a hot oven to finish. You get the sweetness of caramelization (along with the sweetness of beets), but the par-boil means the beets are roasting for a shorter time, so they don't dry out.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoThanks -- I like reading about everyone's methods.
Thank you for this! I absolutely love beets - now I need to run out and buy some and roast them ... the ones in the garden aren't ready yet. Would some kind Food52-er please post a borscht recipe? I have made it a couple times but it wasn't very good ... (maybe we need a recipe request spot, because clearly you guys don't have enough to do already - HA!!!!)
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added over 2 years agoI like the idea of a recipe request. And also a beet theme.
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