Pickled Beets with Red Onion and Tarragon

When I was a kid, beetroot came in jars or tins, pickled, crinkle cut, sweet and bleeding. It went in sandwiches and wrecked them by turning the bread crimson and soggy. I didn't mind the taste, but I hated how destructive beets were. At some point I learned about beets being root vegetables, and now thanks to my close relationship to Nigel Slater, I know that beets really want to be roasted with oil, salt, pepper, and served with a splash of sherry vinegar.

Anyway, beets are plentiful, cheap and irresistable at the moment, so I thought it was time to revisit the whole pickled beet thing. While I was trawling the recipe books I kept seeing recipes for pickled onions, which I absolutely love. So today we've got beets pickled with red onions.

The recipe came from a cool food and travel website; thank you Gourmet Getaways via Kings Seeds blog I doubled the quantities, and changed the herbs. And I've just remembered that I forgot to put in the balsamic vinegar... so it's practically a new recipe! But I do like to credit the inspiration.

YOU'LL NEED
These quantities make 5 x half litre (or 2 cup) jars. Cut in half if you like, or double up again.

5 beets, the size of tennis balls
3 red onions
A few sprigs of fresh herbs. Tarragon, rosemary, thyme maybe.

For the pickling brine:

4 cups white wine vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp salt
a couple of sprigs of rosemary

HOW TO

Sterilise some preserving jars, by washing in warm soapy water, then baking them in a 120 degree oven for half an hour. I put them in a roasting dish on a clean tea towel. There is nothing mad about baking tea towels. They stop the jars slipping around, so they're very useful.

Boil the beets whole and unpeeled, until just cooked through. I leave the stems on them because I think it stops all the colour and flavour leaching out of them into the cooking water. It's my very own old wife tale.

Make the brine. Put all the brine ingredients into a pot, bring to the boil, boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat off. Your kitchen will now smell amazing and pickly.

When the beets are cooked and slightly cooled, slip their skins off and cut them up. I did half in slices and half in chunks.

Cut the onions to match the size of the beets. Slices for slices, chunks for chunks.

Pack the beets, onions and herbs into the hot jars. You can layer neatly or toss with abandon.

Fill the jars with hot brine. I use a Pyrex jug to do this bit. Just fill till the liquid is even with the veges.

Tap the jars to release any air bubbles, then put the lids on.

I don't know if this bit is necessary, but I felt a bit mad scientist today so I decided to do it.

Boil the sealed jars until the lids snap down.  You can get special pots with baskets in them to do this safely, but I find the good old tea towel in a roasting dish does the trick. Put the tea towel in the dish, tuck the jars in so they don't touch each other. Pour in boiling water from the kettle -- you'll need two or three loads. Turn on the gas, and let it bubble away for... I did about ten minutes. The lids didn't snap then, but they have since I've taken them out.

I will leave these in the pantry for a month or more to let the flavours develop and the onions soften. I love the deep reddy crimson with that rich orangey yellow. What is that you ask?

Pluto Jam of course! 

These are a cross between an apricot and a plum. They are called Pluots in the shops, which I think is a really plonkery sounding name for a fruit that really transcends the best of its parts. So we call them plutos, which at least has some heavenly vibes. I'm eating one right now, and it's heavenly.

I was going to make apricot jam this year, but we are so enamoured with plutos, I decided to make jam out of them instead. I used the good old faithful strawberry jam recipe, but I doubled the quantities.

The colour is intense, but the flavour is even more intense. It's a tart jam that snaps your tastebuds awake, and keeps them tingling long after your toast is gone.