aninra

Pickled beets

Pickled red beets are a typical Danish smørrebrød topping (pålæg) that goes especially well with liver paté, as well as medisterpølse, and probably a few other open-faced sandwiches. You can often find decent pickled beets for sale in the grocery store, but if you are like me, and you like to grow your own beets in your garden, pickling beets yourself will allow you to get a tangier flavour that is spiced exactly to your liking. Furthermore, your pickled beets will almost surely be less mushy than the store bought variety (unless you like them that way - I don't).

Red beets with liver paté smørrebrød

Making pickled beets is a pretty messy, but easy, way of spending the afternoon. One warning! Watch out with the beet liquid - it can stain the heck out of anything it touches: your cutting boards, clothing, the family pet and, of course, your hands. After a day of pickling beets, your fingers will most likely look like they've been used to murder somebody. But not to worry, the stains on your hands and cutting board will wash away eventually! (I am not sure about clothing, but I would not want to try it to find out).

If you are shopping for groceries in Denmark, make sure you visit the main Magasin department store on Kongens Nytorv. In the basement, you will find a most excellent supermarket. Here you can purchase all sorts of ready-made smørrebrød pålæg, including a line of products by Danish chef Claus Meyer. His pickled beets are especially good...check them out here.  

Magasin, a great place to buy pålæg and so much more!

Here is the recipe for pickled beets that I use after harvesting my own beets in the autumn...yum!


Ingredients for 3x500ml jars

• 3 mason jars, clean
• 2kg beets, scrubbed clean, but not peeled
• 1 tbsp salt
• Pickling liquid, see below

Instructions

1. Add salt to water and bring to a boil in a large pot. 
2. Add the beets and cook until just tender (about 45 minutes depending on the size of the beets).
3. Drain the beets and allow to cool until you can handle them.
4. Peel the beets and then slice to the desired thickness (using a mandolin makes this go really fast, but you can use a knife).
5. Fill the jars with sliced beets, add then pour in pickling liquid to cover the beets.
6. Close jars and process in boiling water until sealed. 
7. Allow the beets to sit in a cool, dark environment for at least 2 weeks before using (better yet, one month, but I find it hard to wait).

Pickling Liquid Ingredients

• 1 liter vinegar
• 450 grams sugar
• 3 tbsp coarse salt
• 2 star anis, whole
• 2 gloves garlic, peeled
• 4 Bay leaves
• 8 cloves
• 20 whole All-spice seeds
• 15 black peppercorns
•  2 tsp Dill seed
• 1 tbsp thyme

Instructions

1. Note that you can adjust the various spices to your liking, but make sure to keep the proportions of vinegar, sugar and salt the same.
2. Combine all ingredients and simmer on medium heat until sugar and salt is completely dissolved.
3. Pour into mason jars with sliced beets while hot. Make sure to distribute the spices evenly into each jar.