Keeping pickled onions crisp

[pargyle]

Beetroot chutney sounds interesting. Any hints at a recipe?

Beetroot Chutney Recipe

3lb beetroot, boiled, remove skin and then dice.

1 onion, diced/sliced

1 cooking apple, peeled cored and diced

12 oz sugar

1 pint vinegar
.
2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

Just simmer everything together until it's soft (or retains as much bite as you want) then spoon it into sterilised warm jars. Keep for a month to "mature" then serve with cold meats and cheease.

Keeps up to 12 months .. refrigerate when opened.

The above is the official recipe .. I add a little (very small amount as it will kill the beetroot flavour otherwise) chillie (fresh or ground dried) which gives it a 'bite' and I use a little less sugar .. 12oz makes it a tad too sweet for my palate but I don't use sugar much.

If you like your chutney a little less 'chunky' boil it a bit longer with the sugar etc., halve the mixture and mash half of it before recombining and bottling.

 

[alanf]

Beetroot Chutney Recipe

Thanks, the beet has done well this year, another way of keeping it over the months to come is very welcome.

 

[pargyle]

Thanks, the beet has done well this year, another way of keeping it over the months to come is very welcome.

Yes ... it's been a good year for them and I still have some in the ground that have not gone 'woody' ... will be lifting them this weekend I hope ... They will also freeze quite well ... won't last years but will go round to next year. Boil them up (not till they are very soft, leave a bit of firmness in them), peel the skins off, cool, dice or slice and freeze them on a baking tray and seal in boxes or freezer bags. Defrosted they can be used in salads or a quick blast in the microwave and they are fine as a vegetable. Not quite as tasty as fresh out of the ground but in the April gap a useful addition to your diet and passable !

 

[mbc]

freeze them on a baking tray and seal in boxes or freezer bags.

I will try this tip, big blocks of stuck together frozen veg are very wasteful if you dont want to use the lot in one go.

 

[pargyle]

I will try this tip, big blocks of stuck together frozen veg are very wasteful if you dont want to use the lot in one go.

I do beans, root veg, soft fruit and rhubarb etc. all in this way ... I use 1.8 litre freezer boxes from Asda and fill them right up for bulk storage and then, as we use part of a box, I often transfer the balance to freezer bags so you don't get freezer burn or ice crystals forming. With rhubarb I don't blanche but I sprinkle a little icing sugar over the chopped up sticks and it keeps both its colour and flavour ... Rhubarb crumble in January .... mouth watering !

 

[BeeJayBee]

I will try this tip, big blocks of stuck together frozen veg are very wasteful if you dont want to use the lot in one go.

I do a bulk cook of cooking apples, and sometimes rhubarb, then freeze it in silicon cup cake tray. I've also frozen a job lot of chopped ginger in ice cube trays. Decant into plastic bags or boxes once frozen, it takes up less space than uncooked.