So where did the beets go ?

I haven't forgotten about this blog, I've just been... busy. As it frequently happens with two young children, friends coming over, and way too many projects on my hands.

A while ago, I posted about finding raw red beets. They've been cooked and eaten ! Here's how...

Potée aux betteraves (red beet stew)

2 red beets

about the same volume pumpkin

2 sweet potatoes

2 onions

1 saucisse de Morteau (a very large smoked sausage)

Proportions don't need to be precise, and don't hesitate to mix things up a bit !

Peel and slice the onions. In a large cooking pot or a dutch oven, preheat a dash of oil, add the onions. When the onions are translucent, add the diced Morteau (you can pretty much substitute any nicely salty, smoked or not sausage(s) )

Peel and dice the beets, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin and add them as you cut them to the pot. Stir some more. Add water until it almost covers the ingredients. Cover and let the stew simmer over low heat for.. a long time. One hour is a minimum. Beets take a long, long time to cook, and the more cooked it is, the better the stew will taste.

It is done when the vegetables turn to mush under the fork. And yes, it's very purple. Very, very purple. :)

Mama's note : mix it all together for a baby-proof meal. See background of the picture for proof.

Now, you can perfectly use pre-cooked red beets for this, the tastes won't mix exactly the same but it will be very good, too. I tend to prefer using my cooked beets in salads like say...

Winter salad, take 142358

1 red beet

1 endive

1 apple

1 handful corn salad

1 hard boiled egg

1 handful walnut

Dice or slice the vegetables, hack the walnuts and generally cut everything into small bits that can be easily mixed together. Yes, even the salad. If you're using something with bigger leaves like lettuce, pre-cut the leaves with your kitchen scissors - it makes for easier eating. Serve with a salad dressing made with a dash of walnut oil.

A not completely picture-less stew

Have you ever tried taking pictures of a really thoroughly cooked stew ? Well, mine didn't look that pretty. I tried, it looked horrible, so I'm just going to show you the pretty big pot we used to cook it. So the stew is in the picture, it's just not... visible.

We started cooking this with pork, but we changed this time after looking at what was in the fridge - one used-to-be-a-laying-hen chicken, fat and tasty but in need of a good boil so as not to be too chewy.

Kiwi stew

1 chicken, cut into pieces, or pork...

10 kiwis

3 leaks

4 carrots

Oil, salt, pepper, ground red chili pepper

Cut the meat into bits no bigger then a child's fist.

Wash and thinly slice the leaks. Peal the carrots and kiwis and cut them into small dices or slices.

Heat a dash of oil in a big cooking pot with a heavy bottom. Add the leaks first, stir regularly until they get a little softer. Add the meat, stir some more. Lastly add the kiwis and carrots, pour water in the pot until about an inch below the level of the ingredients, add salt, pepper, and a small pinch of ground chili. Let it cook for one to two hours - you can cook it a day or two in advance, and reheat it for half an hour or more before serving. Just check that there's still enough water and add some so that it doesn't get dry.