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Beets
In cutting off the tops of the beets leave an inch or two of the stems, and wash thoroughly, but do not bruise the skins or the juice will be extracted in boiling, and both the color and the sweetness will be lost. Boil until tender, throw them into cold water for a few minutes, and the skins will rub off easily.
Young beets are served either whole or sliced with melted butter poured over them. Shake over salt and pepper, and serve hot. Or use them either in slices or whole; if small, for garnishing and for salads.
Young beets will cook in an hour or less, but old ones will often require two hours.
A sound method that still works, though the timings assume beets larger than most sold today.
- The hinge: keep the skin intactLeaving an inch or two of stem on, and not scrubbing hard enough to break the skin, is what keeps the color and sweetness in the beet rather than in the water. A vegetable brush under running water is enough.
- TimingSmall beets of 2 to 3 oz are tender in 25 to 35 minutes; medium ones take 40 to 50. The full two hours applies only to large, late-season storage beets, and a paring knife slipped into the thickest part is the only reliable test.
- The cold-water dipDraining and plunging into cold water for a minute or two loosens the skin so it slips off under the thumb. Do it while the beets are still hot; if they cool through, the skins cling.
- Roasting as an alternativeThe same beets, wrapped in foil and roasted at 400F for 45 to 60 minutes, concentrate rather than dilute the sugar. The peeling step is identical.
- Don't salt the waterSeason after cooking -- The recipe seasons after cooking rather than salting the pot: dress the peeled beets with butter, salt and pepper while warm.
- Save the topsBeet greens, if fresh, cook like chard in 5 to 8 minutes with a little butter or bacon fat. Cut them off an inch above the crown when you prep the roots.
- YieldAbout 1 lb of beets serves three as a side dish.
- StainingBetanin stains hands, wooden boards and light plastic. Peel over a sheet of parchment or in the sink, and use a nonporous board.