Beetroot
Beetroot Chutney
26cm Large Heavy bottomed pan or Jam pan
Wooden spoon
4 ex-instant coffee 100gm, or 5-7 Standard size 450gram jars
(The Ratio of ingredients is not supercritical and can be varied to your taste)
Ingredients
3lbs (1.5Kg) Beetroot
Onion 12oz 300g (white or red)
Cooking apple Large 12oz 300g or 3 smaller firm dessert apples
12oz (350g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
Level teaspoon salt
1 pint (570mL) vinegar (your choice red wine, or malt)
Some chilli flakes to taste (if required)
Handful of raisins or sultanas (if required) presoaked
Method
Pre-cook the beetroot in large glass bowl with a pint of water and covered -
(easiest in Microwave - Try a Medium setting - 10mins / delay 20mins / 10mins)
Allow to cool so you can handle, strip off skin. Slice and dice into cubes - between 0.5 - 1 cm cube
Peel and chop up Onion very finely and Apple into cubes - maxm 1 cm
Now Add Beetroot, Apple, Onion, and Vinegar to your pan. Bring to a Boil and reduce to a Rolling Boil.
Next add your Ginger, Salt, other ingredients then Sugar, in stages, stirring in gently to ensure all sugar is dissolved.
After around 5mins cooking the mixture may look a little wet, at 10mins there should be less liquid visible, at about 20 mins the liquid level starts to drop, at 25mins keep a close eye as the mixture thickens. Continue cooking and with increasing frequency of stirring as you near the end. (for a smoother end result, mash the mixture during cooking) When you can scrape the bottom of the pan and the mixture is slow to flow back the chutney is ready. Liquid will disappear quickly towards the end so reduce your heat to compensate. Be careful as the sugar content could stick/burn to the pan bottom. The overall cooking time is likely to be at least 30mins but could possibly be longer, say 40mins.
Meanwhile preheat your jars to 120C. Spoon out chutney into jars and get rid of air pockets. Seal in your normal way. Store in a cool, dark place. Allow a few months before you try. It will darken to brown and improve in flavour with time, even in as much as a year or two.
We have tried different solutions for carbonised enamelled pan bottoms - the only one that had any effect was "Mr Muscle OVEN spray cleaner".
JBS Aug 2020
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Beetroot Pickle
Come late-August/September you are probably wondering what on earth you can do with those 4.5inch (12cms) diameter giant beets. Red beetroot is best for this recipe.
Large microwave proof dish with cover
Small pan to melt sugar
Wooden spoon
2 large jars (eg ex-Hellman) or better still glass topped Kilner jars
1 large beetroot (+/- 5in dia)
1 pint (570ml) cider vinegar (sub, Malt vinegar)
1 chilli and/or some chilli flakes
4 heaped Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
Ground Black Pepper
I suggest that the easiest way to cook the beetroot is in the microwave.
Place cleaned beet whole with 1 pint (570ml) water into your dish
Cook in microwave Medium 10mins, 20mins delay, then further 10mins on medium.
Leave to cool so that you can handle and remove skin.
Allow beet to go cold so you can slice into +/- 5mm thick discs. Then quarter those discs to fit your jars.
Sterilise your jars and lids first by washing, then by heating in oven at 120C for 15mins.
Just cover the sugar with water in a small pan and heat to just dissolve it.
When your jars are cool enough to handle fill with beetroot pieces and minimise air gaps.
Pour sugar syrup into each jar, then salt, pepper and chilli and fill each with vinegar (you may need to top up with some extra malt vinegar at the end)
Cover the tops of the jars with 2-4 layers cling film and seal with metal lids.
Store in a cool, dark place for 2 months before use, then in the fridge after opening.
Sept 2019 JBS