Lettuce Turnip the Beets! Get the Beets out!

Every year we try something new with our garden. Last year we even acquired a new garden. Even though the satellite garden didn't work so well (See post about grumpy land), this year it was moderately pleasing. We were able to plant some things, but we kept the treasures at home. Such as the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and herbs.

Back to the Grumpy Garden, that is it's official name now. I was wandering through the store and running down the list of seeds they had. I like to look at the beautiful pictures on those hopeful little envelopes always searching for one that I can duplicate--which is like asking McDonalds to make the Big Mac look exactly like the picture. I always start at the beginning of the alphabet and right there, in the beginning, are beets. Yuck! I remember eating beets as a kid and not liking them one bit. They went in the same category as bars of soap as punishment, liver masqueraded as a steak, and wearing a uniform to school as a kid.

In the last decade, or so, there has been a resurgence of eating healthier. By eating locally grown and pesticide free veggies and fruits, also a whole host of buzz-worded terms to make you feel good while eating certain foods/preparations. One such hidden treasure is the beet.

Punny, yet sophiticated

On to the show:

Searching around for ideas on how to handle these little earthy balls of blood stained EVERYTHING, I came across a recipe that didn't use pickling as it's source of preservation-yay! Nope- it's just a plain old beet in water recipe. This got me thinking about how we preserve tomatoes. You can can them by themselves or you can spice them up or add new ingredients. The method of preserving is based on the Ph scale and if a food is less acidic, acid needs to be added to make it suitable for water bath canning, otherwise you MUST use a pressure cooker for low acid foods. I was using both today and knew by adding lemon I was boosting that Ph up with no problems. 

Back to the beets. I am excited and kind of squirrelly as you can read, but I promise to get on with it. I planted beets at the Grumpy Garden with low hopes of it surviving, plus it was an easy shrug away from this vegetable in which I was unsure of eating anyways. They grew! I watched their green and maroon leaves sprout up and saw the little ball reaching both in and out of the dirt. Cool, now what?

Well, I just harvested them and brought them into the kitchen to slice, dice, and hopefully come up with something nice. Another pun.

Here lies Beetster, may he always stay cool

First off, you need to cut off the ends of the plant and peel them. I've heard you can roast them and the skins come off easier, I did not do this. Next, pull out your food processor and toss those little guys in there. Chop until coarsely ground. Put the beets in a saucepan and add the sugar. It may seem like a crumbly mess, but as soon as the heat hits them it turns into a purple sauce of stickiness. Turn the stove down to low and keep stirring.

Don't splash, otherwise, it will look like a scene in Psycho in your kitchen

Next come the part that makes this a safe water bath recipe. Add chopped fresh ginger and lemon. Now I'm talking the whole lemon-Peel and all. Grind those suckers up in that nifty food processor you haven't put away yet on your table or counter. Add these beauties to your warmed beet mixture on the stove. Tun up the heat and get that pot boiling. Let it bubble for about 2 mins, it will get thicker as it cools off. Gather up your hot clean jars (I used 3 1/2pint jelly jars for this) and fill them with the sweet earthy tart madness you just whipped up. Fill to a 1/4 inch headspace and adjust two-piece lids. Put in boiling water canner for 15 minutes and carefully take out and set them up on a counter undisturbed for 12 hours. While they may look black they are really, really, rea-- you get the point.

Aren't they just the perfect substitute for Halloween make up? 

I'm guessing this chutney/relish would taste good with a cream cheese cracker, maybe even goat cheese if you are fancy and want to enhance the sour from the lemon, or some weird new ice cream flavor. I will say this though; even though I hated beets as a child I find them interesting and tasty now. But only the fresh kind. The pickled beets are still on my No-Go list.

Beet Marmalade Recipe

2 1/2 C of coarsely chopped beets, peeled

1 1/2 C of white sugar

1 lemon

2 TB of fresh chopped ginger

Wash and peel the beets. Chop them and put them in a food processor and grind them down to bits, but do not liquefy them. add beets to a saucepan and turn the stove on low heat. Add the sugar and stir until the mixture melts the sugar. Cut lemon into chunks, leaving skins on. Try to take out as many seeds as you can find, some of these may be a bit tricky. Take the fresh ginger and chop it up very thin. Place lemon and ginger in the food processor and repeat the same as the beets, chunky not liquifiedRemeber to check the seals before setting away.

Rhubarb Lemonade Sweet Tart Cocktail

Hi there, Hope the weather is treating you well in your areas. It's Spring-y Summer-ish is here in Wisconsin! I say this because we had snow in May and now it's 85 F. As we say here, "Wait 10 minutes, it'll change". Alas, the sun is shining, it's warm, and I want a drink!

Rhubarb Lemonade

I had an excellent crop of rhubarb last year and I decided to make it into a syrup. This year it looks as though I might have a nice crop again. I also have Lemon balm that has exponentially bloomed since last year prompting new ideas, but let's carry on.

Lemon Balm Plant

Today I pulled out my jar I canned from last year and had a little fun. I posted that recipe Rhubarb Syrup in an earlier blog. This cocktail can be boozy or kid-friendly it's up to you. I am currently having the non-alcoholic version, wouldn't want to be stumbling around my kitchen with implements of torture so easily obtained. Seriously, kitchens are a dangerous place with gadgets, knives, guillotines, and sausage stuffers--Shhh--Don't get any ideas.

Ingredients

Here we go!

Remember, you can alter measurements to suit your tastes.

30 ml of simple syrup

40 ml rhubarb syrup

20 ml lemon juice

30 ml vodka

Soda water or a club soda to top it off

Pint-sized glass filled with ice

Lemon balm garnish

Get a tall glass and fill it with ice. Measure out the ingredients and add to glass. Adding alcohol for the boozy part, or club soda for the kiddie cocktail version. When finished adorn with a few leaves of lemon balm or mint. That's it! It's a fun and refreshing way to welcome in a new season of growing. And it looks pretty fancy too. 

Happy Spring

Drying Leeks

Hi there fellow readers. Today I had to pick up some foods I don't normally cook with for Korean Bibimbop. Bibimbop is Korean for "rice and mixed vegetables". It's a hodgepodge of rice, spinach, carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber, mushrooms, kimchi, lots of sesame oil and topped with an egg.

This is not what I am posting about today, though. Along with all these wonderful vegetables, I picked up some leeks. Leeks are part of the garlic and onion family, but they are much milder in taste. I have usually had them in potato soups or other potato dishes.

My dilemma came when I picked one out in the produce section. As I chose the one that I liked, two more came down attached. I looked at the price and they were set as "each" not "per pound". My recipe only calls for a half of a leek--what was I going to do with 3!

Thinking back to when I ate potato soup with leeks I recall the package to be dehydrated and you were supposed to add liquid and boil before eating. Aha! Dried leeks! Instead of letting these veggies go to waste I brought down my trusty dehydrator and got to work.

Wash and cut the root ends of the leek. Next, chop them into 1/4" slices and arrange on dehydrator trays. Try to spread them out so they aren't piling up on each other separating them up it helps to dry them more evenly and to let the hot air flow through and do its job.

I put the dehydrator on 135 degrees F for about 4 hours. They are done when they are crunchy and no longer rubbery or moist. Afterwards, I let them dry in open air to ensure there were no more pockets of moisture hiding out. Lastly, I tossed them in a clean, dry jar with a lid to store. Now I have dried leeks to add to sauces, soups, and a multitude of other dishes.

Oh Deer! Venison Stew

     Ah, Christmas is over and everyone is heading back to work and school again. I hope you have had a nice holiday too. Wisconsin had some unusually beautiful weather in the 60's and not below 30's. It was nice being able to stand outside and not have snotsicles. Winter did catch up to us, but not too badly.

Evil Impalers From Winter

     Each year we pick names from a hat to reduce the amount everyone has to pay for gifts, there are 20 of us! This way we can  just concentrate on the "Person" and the little ones.We all fill out little lists beginning on Thanksgiving stating our sizes and ideas. This master list sits on Grandma's fridge so if anyone needs to refresh their memory they can take a look at the lists again. Trust me, it's the only way we can all have Christmas and not go broke. 
     
     This year my Santa was my niece, Karen. I was so excited when I pulled out my gift I nearly dropped it from the weight. Inside she gave me a huge cast iron skillet and 3 packages of venison. A roast, steaks, and chops! My niece is a vegetarian so I had to ask how she found venison since it has to be hunted or traded; you cannot buy it in stores. She fessed up to raiding her stepdad's freezer, but he was okay with it.

Bambi In The Backyard

     So now what? I have the venison and cookware that could cause brain damage to any burglar in the town. (Everything can be used as a weapon). I begin looking up recipe sites, hunter sites, and my own cookbooks. Out of all of these sources -and my experiences- I created a roast that is to die for. I was even asked for the recipe the next day by one of my husband's coworkers who only heard how good it was. <Smiles>. Without further ado, here is my recipe. 

Venison Roast (Crock Pot Edition)
Serves 4
Print Recipe

3-5 Pound Venison Roast (I added some chops to stretch it to 5 pounds for 4 people)

½ Stick of Butter

Enough Beef Broth of Water to cover the roast in the crock pot (Mine was about 3 cups)

½ Pound of Baby Carrots

1 Stalk of Celery

1 Potato per person, quartered if large

For The Marinade

1 Cup of Red Wine

1 Cup Olive Oil

1 Small Onion Chopped

4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

2 tsp. Sugar

2 tsp. Thyme

2 tsp. of Salt and Pepper

2 Tbs. of Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce

2 Tbs. of Worcestershire Sauce

¼ tsp. Allspice

Place all of the ingredients for the marinade in a zip lock bag along with the roast and let it sit overnight in the fridge. If you do not want to use plastic bags there is always the option of using a big bowl. Do not use reactive bowls such as aluminum, cast iron, and copper. The acidity of the marinade will leech into the food and could also make you ill. Instead, use glass, ceramic, or other non-reactive containers. 
After an overnight stay in the fridge, take the roast out and place roast in slow cooker. Pour in about half of the marinade along with the beef broth/water.Cut up chunks of butter and place them on the meat. Venison has little to no fat and requires the addition of a fat. (I’ve also been told that wrapping the roast in bacon is an acceptable way of adding the fat.) Cover the slow cooker and set on low for 8-10 hours. Occasionally baste the roast so the meat stays juicy and does not end up tough. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and any other vegetable you would normally use in a pot roast during the last 2 hours of cooking. When the carrots, celery, and potatoes are soft take them out with a slotted spoon. Then take the roast out and slice it against the grain. Refrigerate leftovers, if there are any left.

This was what was leftover from a 5-pound roast

     I hope you enjoy this recipe and feel free to mix it up a bit. Trade in some celery for a turnip, use a high octane wine instead of cooking wine. Add some mushrooms at then end, or just keep it as is. Just remember if the little ones are around you might not want to tell them you are cooking up Bambi.