Freezing the baked beets, Cooking the Stems & Greens

The Beet Harvest Is In!

I am a first-year gardener, so imagine how happy I am to see these treasured beets coming out of the ground. My parents, in the last few years, got me enthused about borscht, but beets can be a dollar each here, and the greens are never good.

I don't like to boil beets- I like to bake them. If they are fist-sized, wrap each one in foil to make its own little moisture-sealing oven and bake at 350 F until done, usually 1 hr to 1 hr and 15 min. Try to pierce them with a fork. When cool, rub or cut off skins. You can cut them into quarters and freeze in freezer bags. Be sure to label the bags.

I was not sure what to do with the stems, but after consulting with my mom and reading a few websites, I decided just to wash them, slice and fry them up with onions. My mom throws the onions away afterward, but that seemed silly, so I kept them. I used only a little oil, and put some water in as needed. Keep stirring them.


Although I am a kale lover, my mom is devoted to beet greens. I was surprised at how much I had, even after culling the bad ones! I steamed them. They wilt down quite a lot.

Although they can, too, be frozen, my mom feels it is easier to make borscht combining the beets and greens and freeze it that way. Tomorrow I'll make borscht, but not like my mom makes!

Thrift tip: My friend MB buys special soap for her vegetables at the health food store. It's about $5 a bottle. Dr. Weil's website says that plain vinegar works just as well. Buy the gallon to save money; you'll use a lot. It was about $1.50.

Cleaning tip: After cleaning all the beets in the sink, I sanitized everything with a solution of 10% bleach (a glug) in water. The sponge, brush, cutting boards, counters. Wear old clothes anytime you use bleach solution; one spot on your blouse or sweater will ruin it. Thinking of it later, I should have cleaned the beets outside in a bucket with the hose.

Try Not To Eat It All In One Day

Delicious!

Rolling and Baking the Loaf

Here is the dough, fresh from the bread machine, rolled out. Notice the sidecar, the little loaf on the side for my husband who will not eat sauerkraut.

Simply spread the well-drained sauerkraut on the bread, roll up and carefully place in a pre-heated oven. I baked this at 375 F for 40 minutes. Of course, all ovens are different. The center can be too moist due to the wetness of the sauerkraut, so you may have to bake this longer than you would think.

For those who love sauerkraut

Here is a rye loaf with sauerkraut inside. I took it to a party and it created a sensation. I layer and roll the sauerkraut as if it was a cinnamon roll. If you don't like sauerkraut, make the rye loaf without it; it's a fabulous taste.

This recipe was adapted from Whole Grain Breads by Machine or Hand: 200 Delicious, Healthful, Simple Recipes by Beatrice Ojakangas. She is brilliant, funny and, I'm proud to say, from Northern Minnesota.

Due to my tendonitis, I made the dough in my bread machine (eliminating the baking cycle), but you can do it by hand or in your food processor. Of course, if you do it in the bread machine, be sure to open it during the initial mix to make sure you don't need more water or more flour (forget what the manual says!).

Rye Bread with Sauerkraut
1 C water
2T dark molasses
2 T oil
3/4 C rye flour
2 C bread flour
1/2 C oatmeal (rolled oats)
1 1/2 t baking yeast


Put this in your bread machine and hit "dough", or make according to traditional methods. If you are a new breadmaker, you can find several wonderful learning books on my shelf.

For later: 1/2 c. sauerkraut, or to taste

Variations: add 1 1/2 t caraway seeds
cut molasses and oil down to 1 T
instead of rolling the sauerkraut in, drain and chop it and add 1/2 c. directly into dough. This is how the author does it.


Frugal tips: Buy yeast in a big package at your membership store or by mail order. Everyone says it doesn't keep, but I use a package over a year and I've never had any trouble. Keep it in tupperware in the refrigerator.
Buy flour in 25 lb sacks from your local coop or health food store (organic if you can). Put the whole bag in a garbage bag, label it with magic marker and put it in your freezer. Fill tupperware tubs with it as you need it and store them, labeled, in your cupboard.

I have figured, before the price of wheat rose last summer, that a loaf of organic bread made this way costs me 35 cents. I'll try to refigure it now.

I'm curious to know if you have baked with sauerkraut, or if your ethnic tradition has a specialty to share.

Dinner and a new blog!

We had Pasta with fresh-picked basil pesto tonight. Delicious!