Let’s hear it for beetroot

Beetroots are known for making a mark.  Ollie looks at at how this colourful vegetable has been in the news over the summer’s Olympics, but also shows there’s a big place for this dramatic vegetable in the autumn.  Discover how it’s not just a punchy ingredient for salads but can also be celebrated in sorbets and cakes              

Beetroots are known for making a mark.  They bring a sense of drama to any plate and they have been big this summer. David Weir, one of the legends of this summer’s Olympics, famously drank it to give him a boost when he was flagging. There has been extensive research into this and it has been shown that the nitrates in the vegetable boost stamina and make muscles more efficient – if only Lance Armstrong had chosen this approach. There is even a sports drink named Beet-IT that contains 90% beetroot juice and 10% apple juice, apparently to smooth out any earthy tastes within the beetroot. However, at Great British Chefs, while hugely excited by the warm glow generated by this summer’s Olympics, we are more motivated by flavours and creativity in the cooking field. Our beetroot hero of the summer was Christoffer Hruskova who provided us with a beetroot sorbet that truly is a thing of beauty.

There are of course many types of beetroot, with Bull’s Blood, a variety with extremely dark leaves from the 18th  century, being perhaps the most aptly named. But as the adventurous vegetable shopper will know, there are varieties that have red and white rings (Chioggia Barbietola), orangey ones (Burpees Golden) and the more pedestrian white ones (Blankomana).  Simon Hultsone’s Golden Beetroot salad was another hero of summer 2012, as it graced the plates of British Airways’ business class plates.

One of the most exiting things about cooking with beetroot, beyond its flamboyant colour, is the variety of ways in which it can be used. This weekend, I took part in an annual baking challenge called ‘Cakeaplooza’ started by friends Si and Raf, who’ve recently moved to Australia. We all decided to keep the tradition alive and via Facebook the competition took place in London, Sydney and New York.  I’ve learned over the three years that the competition has been running, that one needs to stand out from the crowd, and that often means not baking with chocolate. This year there was also an Obama category which proved too much of draw for people to ignore:

I decided that the answer for ‘Cakeaplooza’ 2012 was a beetroot cake.  I have made Nigel Slater’s “extremely moist chocolate beetroot cake” before but felt I needed something that ignored chocolate all together.  I found a recipe in Anna Hansen’s The Modern Pantry, a cookbook that is getting a lot of attention in our house at the moment.   While the cake didn’t win, it came second (to Amy’s fantastic apple and almond cake). It packs a punch with lots of Autumnal flavours which will have you yearning for some of Adam Gray’s mulled wine.  The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

150g self-raising flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground star anise (the recipe asks for 1 ½ but I think this is too much)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150 soft brown sugar

125ml vegetable oil

2 eggs

Zest of 1 orange

135g beetroot, grated

Grapes roasted in pomegranate Molasses

60g Roasted pecan nuts

Lemon drizzle (lemon juice and icing sugar)

Preparing the ingredients:

1. Start by making the grapes – place about 100g of grapes in an oven proof dish with sugar, a little white wine and molasses. Cook until they are collapsing and allow to cool.

2. Grate the beetroot

3. Roast the pecans until they give off a nice nutty smell

4. Zest the orange

Making the cake

1.      Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon and star anise into a bowl.

2.      In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and orange zest. Stir in the grated beetroot, roast grapes and toasted pecans.

3.      Fold in the dry ingredients and place in a buttered cake tin

4.      Bake in a pre-heated 160 degrees oven for 35 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean)

5.      Allow to cool and cover with lemon drizzle

For more inspiring beetroot recipes visit our collection on Great British Chefs.  Let us know your favourite ways of using beetroot (both savoury & sweet) on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Beautiful Bold Beetroot - Taking home the earthy veg, Pakistani-style

For the close of  National Vegetarian Week, we end on a colourful note with the bold and beautiful beetroot.  New Great British Chefs guest blogger, Sumayya better known as the Pukka Paki,takes a look at this highly versatile vegetable and shares two of her own beetroot recipes - one savoury and one for dessert! Enjoy.

Blog post & photography by Sumayya aka Pukka Paki 

This is a bright purple delight with the scent of the earth in which it grows. It’s roots are firmly set in the Indian sub-continent from where it has travelled to the West. Its colour gives away much of it’s health benefits which includes helping manage heart disease, blood pressure and, in my culture, it is known to be a blood purifier which helps to boast a rosy complexion, which is reason enough to make this one of my favourite vegetables, that and the fact that I  use it to dye my old white shirts pink!! Rather versatile for a muddy vegetable which gets so ignored in the supermarket aisle!

I was brought up on fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables grown in my back yard in Pakistan.  In the West it’s a luxury to have an allotment in the city to grow your own vegetables whereas in Pakistan one takes for granted our  huge fruit and vegetable gardens.  I grew up pulling out my own carrots and beetroots amongst other vegetables, which leads me to feature beetroot  as one of my most vegetables, as my  National Vegetarian Week  special veg and I include two of my favourite recipes using fresh beetroot (not the boiled variety). What I love most about beetroot is that nothing is wasted - you can wash  them and eat them from the ground, green, roots - all! - quick tip: stir fry left over greens in some rapeseed oil, cumin and mustard seeds, garlic and add some coriander leaves in the end - delicious with chappati bread!

Beetroot is popping up everywhere, in cakes, desserts, breads, rice, risotto - it goes to show this vegetable is finding it’s place on people’s plates and in their hearts, because once you give this modest silent brave bulb a go, there is no turning back to possibilities of recipes and ideas it conjures up!

Here are two of my own beetroot recipes. A Beetroot and Jaggery raita, to compliment summer BBQ’s and gorgeous biryanis or even your lamb roast, try this cooling, sweet, tangy, earthy raita which can be eaten either as a condiment or a dip with veggies or crisps - And I include a stunningly vibrant sweet dish - A decadent and fragrant beetroot halva infused with cloves and cardamom - serve this at the end to a festive summer meal, eat it warm with vanilla ice cream or cold with masala chai…Beetroot isn’t boring, its bright, beautiful and so good for you! Give these two recipes a go! 

Beetroot and Jaggery Raita - A sensory explosion

Serves about 2-4 people as an accompaniment to another dish, it takes about 15 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients:

1-2 small fresh beetroots, peeled, washed and grated in a medium grater (do not boil the beetroot)
1 tsp of dry roasted cumin seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
1-2 tbsp Jaggery
1 fresh green chili, chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
2 tsp mint leaves, chopped
3-4 cups full fat natural yoghurt, whipped

Method:

1. Mix the grated beetroots with the cumin, jaggery and salt, give it a good mix.

2. Pour into a serving plate and decorate with a sprinkling of green chili, coriander and mint and serve with anything you like! 

Beetroot halva infused with cloves and cardamom- Decadent and gorgeous

Serves about 8-10 people, take about 45 minutes to and hour to prepare and cook.

500 g beetroot, peeled and grated
400 ml double cream
100 ml fresh milk
100 g caster sugar
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp cloves

Method:

1. Boil the milk and cream together, add the grated beetroot, cloves and cardamom seeds. Cook on low heat and keep stirring occasionally and keep an eye on the pan. Cook this until the milk/cream gets absorbed into the beetroot mixture (takes about 25-30 minutes on medium low heat). Now add the sugar and keep stirring until it is all mixed in well

2. Once the halva is thick, deep red and all the cream/milk and sugar is absorbed, pour into a serving dish and either serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream or serve cold with some delicious hot masala chai!

Blog post & photography by Sumayya aka Pukka Paki 

For more beetroot recipes check out Great British Chefs beetroot collection

What’s your favourite way to serve beetroot?  In salads?  In cakes? Maybe some other way. We’d love to hear your tips for cooking beetroot over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.