Beets are very popular at my house.  When we get them in the CSA box, they do not last very long and we don’t get too creative – roast beets are always a hit.  But this time, we didn’t get enough beets to roast them for a family of four.

Immediately, my daughter and I decided to go to our second favorite way to eat beets, pickled beets.

I found a recipe for Pickled Beets with Red Wine in The Joy of Pickling.  However, I had less than 1 lb. of beets, so we had to do some “adjusting”.

• 1 lb beets, scrubbed

The beets  in our box were long and skinny.

I scrubbed them and left the lower two inches of their tops.  Actually, the beet itself continued past what appeared to be the soil line by about 1/2 inch.

I put the beets in a pot of water and boiled.  When the beets are just tender, drain  and cover them with cold water.

While the beets cool, make a spice bundle with the following:

• 1/2 t. whole cloves
• 2″ piece cinnamon stick, broken
• 1″ fresh ginger, sliced

Tie the spices up in a spice bag or wrap in cheesecloth.  Put this into a non-reactive pot with:

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 2/3 c. red wine
• 1 c. red wine vinegar
• 1 t. pickling salt

Bring the liquids to a boil with the spice bag, dissolving the sugar and salt and allowing the syrup to simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.

Simmering Syrup

While the syrup simmers, trim the beets and peel the skin off.  If it doesn’t peel off easily, I use my paring knife to cut through the outer layer of the skin and it peels right off.  I sliced my beets into 1/4″ rounds and packed them into one small mason jar.

I did end up with about 1 c. of extra syrup I saved, hoping I’ll get more beets soon.

The rest of the kitchen looks like I killed someone recently…

Pour the hot syrup into the jar packed with beets.  I left about 1/4″ space at the top before closing with a 2 piece lid.  I boiled the closed jar for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath.

After the jar cooled on the counter and I heard the lid pop, I stored it in the garage.  The recipe says to store them in a cool dark place for 3 weeks before trying them.  After opening, store in the refrigerator.

The syrup smelled super wonderful.  I’ll let you know how they turn out.  🙂