BEET REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

OCTOBER 11, 2018 BEETS
It looks like we missed fall this year. Just a few weeks ago it was sunny & nice and warm. We just finished harvesting our grains fields.

Then one day later it was windy, cold with periods of rain & even some snow.

The garden was all out except for the beets so rather than wait any longer I put on my gloves, pulled them out, banged off the mud, filled the wheel barrel & drove it into the car garage.

I was eager to try a new recipe from someone. In a short time I had 2 quarts of pickled beets cooling on the counter. We did our usual taste test and since then I have made several more batches, changing ingredients because of our health and preferred taste.

This week I will make enough jars to give a jar to each or our family. I will include a 4 by 5 inch card with the following information on:

REFRIGERATER BEET PICKLES
(store in the fridge)
I am sure you have read the health benefits of eating beets and as well Apple Cider Vinegar & ginger.
I have exchanged the sugar for this sugar substitute but instead you can use honey or a few spoons of stevia.
These pickles can be stored in the fridge to eat with a meal or you can add a spoon full or two of the juice to a salad dressing that calls for vinegar or to a bowl of vegetable soup.

Wash 4 pounds of raw unpeeled beets. Put 1 cup of water & the steam rack into your insta-pot. Arrange the beets so they are somewhat tight, more towards the bottom than the top.
Plug in the pot, close the vent, turn the lid to lock. Press steam & set the timer for 17 minutes.
When done, allow the pot to cool until the button drops & the pressure is released.

Lift the steam rack & beets out, saving the liquid. Rub the peels off and cut the beets into
1/2 – 1 inch cubes. Divide and press the beets into 2 quarts or 3 smaller sealers.
Make a brine of the following:
1 cup beet liquid
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 cup Xylitol (or maple syrup or honey) Or use a few teaspoons of stevia to taste.
3 (1/4 inch thick) coins of ginger (or one for each jar)
1 cinnamon sticks broken into the number of jars you are filling
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon corn starch (stir to dissolve in)
Bring the brine to a boil; pour over the cut beets in jars. Store in the fridge. They are ready to enjoy in 24 hours.
CANNING THESE PICKLES
It is now the last week in October. I have given away jars of these pickles and decided I wanted to can some pints to store in the cellar for a longer period of time. I followed the above recipe 3 times, sterilized 14 pint jars and filled them with the beets and brine. Once the tops were on I put them into the oven in 1 ½ inches of water at 275 degrees for 45 minutes.
The tops all sealed so these will keep for a year or more.

FROZEN COOKED BEETS
Last year I froze cooked & finely shredded beets in 1 cup plastic bags. Yesterday I took out a number of these bags, thawed them and drained them for several hours.

BEET JUICE
I added ½ cup of this beet juice to 1 cup unsweetened apple juice, 1 cup of current juice and 1 cup of chokecherry juice. I added 10 drops of stevia as the juices were quite sour.

REPLACING MILK AT BREAKFAST
The above is what I use on my porridge each morning instead of milk. I mix together any variety of the frozen juices that I picked in the summer.

BEET FIBRE
After eating a jar of pickles, I saved the brine in the fridge as I knew it was apple cider vinegar, healthy and too good to throw out. I added the fibre that was left in the strainer (as above) to a jar of this remaining pickle juice & put it back in the fridge.

Today we had company for lunch & everyone enjoyed this pickle relish. So if your beets are all out of the garden & in the freezer either shredded or cubed, you can make these pickles too.

Beets are nutrient rich in folate, manganese, potassium. copper, fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B6 plus lesser amounts of others.