Beets Me!

Beets, those gorgeous root veggies that make the majority of people dry heave.  Despite being a superfood, they have an odd dirt-like flavor; one almost impossible to describe and can be summed up as... beety.  My first experience with beets was last summer, when my cousin made beet burgers.  They were beautiful pink patties - the dirt flavor being covered by fresh goat cheese and a basil leaf which let the sweetness come through.  Apparently I was a huge fan of beets when I was a baby, eating cans of the pureed baby food, but my mom felt guilty because she hated them. 

One day on either Pinterest or Facebook I came upon a recipe for pink deviled eggs!

I'm a fan of anything pink, and deviled eggs are one of my specialties, so I knew I had to make them.  These were tinted pink by pickling them ever so slightly in a vinegar, peppercorn, and beet juice bath, which I prefer over food coloring.

I wanted to make them for a special occasion, so I decided to try them out for Mother's Day.

Here are my eggs, pickling overnight. 

In the morning I was delighted to find pink eggs!

PINK!

And when I sliced them, they were perfect!  Not completely pink, but with a bright border.   I had to taste one - delicious!  They had a slight kick to them, but were a tad vinegar-y, so before adding the egg mixture back I rinsed them off so it still retained that nice flavor without being too overwhelming.

Instead of the recipe given I used my favorite recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, a must have if you don't already own it.

Yummy eggs!

Along with the eggs I made pork chops and stuffed mini peppers, but went a little overboard with the pepper.  NB: don't serve peppercorns whole - your parents will have a coughing fit.

I had a lot of extra beet left over, almost a whole one, and didn't want to waste it.  As I was cooking, I noticed that beets have this underlying sweet flavor, which is why it must be perfect for chocolate cakes.  Unfortunately, I let this sit out for too long before deciding what to do with it, so I'm currently cooking another one.  I have plans to recreate the sweet recipe, and make beetsauce, and make something yummy with that, so we'll see how that turns out. 

Happy crafting!