And the Winner is Beets
"My entire family loves pickled beets so last summer I prepared 4 different batches & ran a contest. The slight heat from the chilies made this recipe the unanimous winner - in fact, my daughter hides her jars from the kids. It will be the only recipe that I use from now on!"
photo by CountryLady
- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Yields:
-
8 cups
ingredients
- 6 1⁄2 lbs small even-sized beets
- 2 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1⁄2 cups white vinegar
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 1 cup reserved cooking broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons whole mixed pickling spices
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons crushed whole dried chilies
directions
- Scrub beets, leaving root end& about 1/2 inch of the stem. Rinse in clean water several times to make sure that all garden dirt has been removed.
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook beets just until tender (about 20 minutes).
- Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Refresh beets under cold water, slip off skins& snip off any root end remains.
- Slice beets& set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a very large stainless steel or enamel pot, stir together sugar, vinegar, water, reserved cooking liquid& salt.
- Tie pickling spice& chilies in a double thickness of cheesecloth& add to pan.
- Heat almost to boiling, stirring often until sugar is dissolved.
- Add beets, return to boil& boil for 5 minutes, stirring often to distribute the spice flavour.
- Remove spice bag.
- Pack beets into sterilized canning jars to within 3/4 inch of rim.
- Pour in boiling pickling liquid, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
- Insert a chop stick or long narrow plastic spatula along the sides of the jars to release any air bubbles; add more liquid, if necessary, to re-establish the head space.
- Seal with prepared lids& transfer to a boiling water bath.
- Pour in enough hot water to come 2 inches above the jars.
- Cover, bring to a boil& boil for 30 minutes.
- Transfer to a rack to cool.
- Check seals, wipe jars, label& store in a cool, dry place.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I was going to wait for Zaar tag to make these, but I went ahead and made them. These are great! I had a little juice leftover, so I hard boiled 2 eggs and put them in it. Thanks for a yummy recipe! -
Beautiful beets, CL; just the right amount of everything needed to make beets palatable in a jar. Thank you so much. I could eat a whole jar at one sitting. -
Good recipe. I used apple cider vinegar and sliced large beets. I didn't use the cooking broth (don't like using beet broth-to dirty). I tried 3 recipes from Recipezaar. This one came in second.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
In the words of Tracy Byrd, "I'm from the country & I like it that way"!!
On May 1, 2008 my husband and I started a new adventure. We'll be living in a 37 foot RV while our new home is under construction. Its out in the country on a dead end dirt road with lots of trees. For the next 4 months or so, most meals will be cooked on the BBQ and life will be full of challenges!
We love spending quality time with our friends & family - especially the grandkids!! The photo is 4 generations - my 84 year old mother, myself, my daughter & my youngest granddaughter - taken at the end of 2006.
I've participated in many contests & events here on Zaar but this is the first banner that I've posted. My thanks to Dreamgoddess for hosting the contest & SusieD for the banner design!
<img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f249/Dreamgoddess555/Narrow1-1.jpg">
