Pickled beets

The basis for this recipe came from a very pretty book by Arthur Schwartz entitled Jewish Home Cooking. His recipe called for onions instead of garlic, but on the day I first made it, I discovered that all my onions were spoiled. I made the substitution and a couple other tweaks and never looked back.

I like this much better with red beets, but if you like the mellower taste of the yellows (or are freaked out by the beeturia that affects some folks), go ahead and use the yellow ones. Just keep in mind that, according to the New York Times, red beets are the #1 food you should be eating more of.

Do not throw away the liquid in which the beets are boiled. That liquid is the textbook definition of a beet stock, and can be mixed up into a perfect clear borscht. Clear borscht made from yellow beets is completely indistinguishable to the eye from lager beer.

If your beets come with greens, you can prepare them like swiss chard or collard greens.

The following ingredients are per 1-quart jar. You will undoubtedly want to make more than one jar at a time.

UPDATE 7/17/2008: Use a higher proportion of vinegar and sugar, and less garlic, when pickling yellow beets.

INGREDIENTS (PER JAR):

• 1 1/2 lbs. beet roots (net weight after removing greens)
• 3-4 garlic cloves (1 per beet), peeled
• 1-2 bay leaves (1 per 2 beets)
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
  
• pinch of salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scrub the beets well, but do not peel them. Put them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook until just tender but not soft, about 20-30 more minutes depending on the size of the beets.
2. Meanwhile, mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pitcher or liquid measuring cup. (It makes it easier to pour.)
3. Once the beets are ready, remove them from the cooking liquid (reserving the liquid) and rinse them with cold water. You may wish to reduce the liquid further.
   
4. Peel and slice the beets. The peel of a cooked beet may be easily removed by hand by gently squeezing the beat, or you may use a peeler.
5. Pack the beets into the jar, adding a peeled garlic clove after each beet and a bay leaf after two beets.
6. Add all of the vinegar mixture. Add enough reserved beet stock to fill the jar to the brim.

Store the jar in the refrigerator. The beets are pickled after one day. However, it takes four or five days for the garlic flavor to infuse the beets with a soft, warm garlic glow.