Beets have a bad reputation. Maybe it's the association with Russian peasants who relied on the nutrient-packed roots. Maybe it's the distinct earthy taste. Whatever the reason, our friends arch their eyebrows when they learn how much we love this ill-reputed root. (In our defense, we note that Amy of Cooking with Amy and Matt of MattBites extolled the virtues of beets in recent posts.)
But even beet skeptics often cave when they taste roasted beets. The roots lose water in the long cooking time, leaving behind rich mixtures of sugars and flavor compounds. The technique is easy to master. Place unpeeled beets into a loose envelope of aluminum foil and cook at 425° until the flesh yields to a fork, about an hour. Let cool briefly in the foil, and then rub off the skin to reveal glistening flesh.
We also grate raw beets and toss the shreds with orange juice, which adds a high note to beety bass tones. If you eat raw beets, however, keep that vibrant red color in mind the next day: You're probably not hemorrhaging internally.
We all know about that ruby red juice, but the beet universe offers gold beets and bulls-eye-colored Chioggas, which dominate the plates at Chez Panisse when they're in season.
Buy your beets with the greens intact. You can use them to gauge the vegetable's freshness and you can cook them just like chard, which inhabits the same species. We suggest that you lop off the greens when you get home so that the stems don't suck sugar out of the beetroot.
This early in the season, be picky about your beet vendors. If the greens have bolted, the root will probably be tough and woody. As we move into the high season (typically June through October, though who knows with the weather we've been having of late), you'll find great beets at every stall.
In addition to orange, we love the combination of goat cheese and beets. At a recent dinner party, we served a wedge of goat cheese atop a small tower of red and gold roasted beets, which we garnished with authentic balsamic vinegar and kumquat powder. This last weekend, we reversed the presentation with a tower of roasted beets and fennel atop a disc of warm goat cheese, dressed with an orange vinaigrette and garnished with more citrus dust. We served a Mosel Kabinett Riesling on the side. Beets also pair nicely with baking spices, parsley, and strong flavors such as prosciutto and mustard.
Are you in the love 'em or hate 'em camp with beets? Tell us about your favorite preparations in the comments below.
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Love beets myself. My blog post today is a praise to beets! ;-) Where would you get kumquat powder? Intrigued by that as I love to cook with kumquats!
Bea,
What a pretty beet dish you made.
As for kumquat powder, you don't buy; it you make it. I adapt the French Laundry dust technique for all sorts of things, but the gist is: chop kumquats finely, microwave on low power until dry (check after half an hour and then every ten minutes), grind in a spice grinder. It's very piquant.
My husband is French and hates beets. Maybe it's genetic. I love beets. My favorite way is to sort of pickle them. I slice the beets-canned or cooked-add vinegar, chopped garlic and onion, a litte worchester sauce, and salt and pepper. Let it sit at least a few hours. Heaven.
my french boy hates them too, but I don't think it is anything to do with french since many other friends of all varying nationalities seem to not be keen (or detest) beets.
I happen to be in the like camp.
But it seems like the beet season has only just finished when it seems to be beginning again. I looked on Cuesa and noticed that in fact they are in season here all year round.
I think the yellow and pink beets have a milder flavour and that I prefer them to the red. Do you think this might be true or am I just making it up? Maybe my last batch of red were particularly bitter or something, I dunno.
Thanks Derrick,
I look forward to trying the kumquat powder and your recipe! Thanks again!