Pickled Baby Beets

When Brad's family came to visit for the wedding his mom brought along some pickled beets that barely made it around the table at dinner.  They were so delicious, with a bit of spicy zip.

To make these pickled beets, I combined parts of Thomas Keller's basic pickling recipe from his ad hoc at home cookbook with a recipe in the Mercer County Historical Society of Beulah, North Dakota "Then and Now" cookbook.

(Sorry, no Amazon link for the Mercer County cookbook.  You'll have to marry a North Dakota boy to get your own copy.)

The result is a delicious, sophisticated twist on pickled beets.

Hope you enjoy them!

Pickled Baby Beets

Several bunches of baby beets
1 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup beet water (reserved from boiling beets)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

Remove beets from stems, reserving the greens for another use (we sauteed them with a bit garlic of olive oil).  Scrub and trim the beets, and place in a medium saucepan.  Cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until fork tender.  (Cooking time will vary according to the size of the beets.)

Remove beets with a slotted spoon and let cool.  Reserve the beet water.

Peel beets and cut in half.  Wear disposable gloves to avoid staining your hands.  And wear a dark colored shirt.  Just trust me on this.

Place the beets in a jar and add the spices.

Bring the champagne vinegar, sugar and 1/2 cup of the beet water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Pour this pickling brine into the jar, covering the beets completely.

Seal the jar, let it cool a bit, then place it in the refrigerator.  For best results, let them hang out in the fridge for about a week before eating them.  If you can.

They can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.  But they won't last that long.