Creamed Beets

A plain treatment that depends almost entirely on the sauce, since the beets bring only sweetness and moisture. Two details in the original text carry the whole dish: small beets, and thorough draining before the cream goes on.

• White beetsPale-fleshed sorts, sold today mainly as seed rather than in shops. Ordinary red beets work but will tint the sauce pink; golden beets are the closest common substitute and discolour it far less.
• Size and timing"small" here is likely to mean roots of an inch and a half to two inches, which will usually boil tender in something under half an hour. Larger roots take considerably longer and can be woody at the crown; test with a skewer at the thickest point rather than by the clock.
• Leave the roots onTrim the tops to an inch and do not cut the tail or pierce the skin before boiling. Beets bleed and lose sweetness through any cut surface, which matters more here than in a dish where the liquid is kept.
• The cold-water dipThe plunge into cold water is there to loosen the skins and make the beets handleable, not to chill them through. Keep it brief so the beets are still warm when the sauce goes on.
• Rich cream saucePeriod cream sauces of this kind are generally built on roughly equal spoonfuls of butter and flour to a cup of cream or rich milk, seasoned with salt and white pepper, sometimes with a grating of nutmeg. Make it while the beets boil so nothing waits.
• Dry the beetsWater clinging to peeled beets will thin the sauce to a puddle. Drain them well and let them steam dry in the warm pan for a moment before saucing.
• Heat, do not simmerOnce the sauce is on, warm the dish through over low heat and stir gently. A cream sauce held at a boil with cut vegetables in it will break or catch on the bottom.
• YieldThe recipe gives no quantities; as a rough guide, about 2 lb of small beets with a cup of sauce will serve four to six as a side dish.