Those of you who read my Cornish Pasty thread of last week will recall that I screwed up and bought beetroot instead of swede or turnip. So, to make use of these beets, decided to pickle them. I've never pickled anything before so this was going to be a new one.
First assemble the ingredients.
The beets went into a large saucepan and boiled/simmered for around an hour until tender.
They were then put to one side to cool, so got on with the pickling liquor. I used white wine vinegar, water, sugar, bayleaf, mustard sees, cloves, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, and some salt. This all went into a pan, brought to the boil and then simmered for about 5 minutes. I then strained the liquid into a jug.
When this was done, the beets had cooled sufficiently to peel the skin off by just rubbing it, then halved and cut into thick slices.
I'd sterilized two large coffee jars by washing in soapy liquid then about 15 minutes in an oven. Packed the sliced beetroot into the still hot jars, then topped up with the pickle liquor.
They'll keep fine in a fridge for a couple of months, though there will be a sampling tomorrow when I make one of my favourite pub grub meals.