- Cori Horton
- , Featured, Gastronomy
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Gigantic bags of beets continue to show up in the big, shiny kitchen, and what a pain inthepatootie! They stain hands, clothing and kitchen equipment and take hours to cook, but with quick this how-to, peeling beets is a snap.
Winter food, it find takes a bit of extra effort. Items like squash and rootvegetablesstore formonths, and impart tremendouscolour, nutrition and flavour to meals, but they are not the quickest things to turn around. In the professional kitchenwhere I spend my days over a hot stove, rarely does a week go by without beets showing up in some form or another on the menu. Beet salads, beet garnishes, beets served as sides or soups… we’ve seen a lot of beets since September.
Cooking from scratch we start just like you might start in your kitchen, we take our raw ingredients and start prepping, peeling, chopping and slicing. The only real difference is volume. This week as we peeled more than 20 kilograms (44+ pounds for myimperialfriends) of beets of varying colours, I caught a couple of pictures so I could share a short cut from the pro kitchen that’s easy to use at home the next time you’re serving beets.
Beets peel best once they’re cooked and cooled, the skins then soften and slough off easily. I learned topeel beets the way my mother taught me, with the back of a small pairing knife. Usingtheback of the blade helps to lifttheskin and peel it way, but this method can also leave marks and scars on the smooth flesh of the beet.
How to peel beets better and faster in your speedy kitchen?Simmer beets and cook as usual, time will depend on the size and volume of beets you’re working with. Test with the tip of a knife to ensure they’re cooked and softened through, then remove from the hot pot and cool under cold water. Once sufficiently cool enough to handle, cut boththetop and root to leave the beet whole, then grab a rough kitchen towel and gently peel the beets by rubbing the skin off with your hands under the towel.
Or, if you happen to have a pair of rubber gloves (leftover from the 1950’s) underthekitchen sink, slip those puppies on and slough those beets skins off with a little twist and rub action.
Thistechniquewill leavethebeet perfectly smooth and intact so you can serve then in a variety of ways, cold or hot. It will also leavethekitchen (mostly) beet juice free. I really hope youweren’tattached to thattowel.
Kitchen Basics
Cori Horton
Cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer and recipe blogger. A Cordon Bleu-trained Chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and has been sharing all things delicious - right here - since 2010.
Back-to-Basics
1.Mexican Quickies – How to Tamale
2.Technique – How to make a Fondant Rose
3.How to soften brown sugar
4.Speedy Kitchen – How To Cut Cherry Tomatoes
5.Speedy Kitchen – How to Peel Beets
6.How to Coddle an Egg – Kitchen Basics
7.Kitchen Basics – How to Cut Peppers
8.Grilling 101 – How to Grill Corn
9.Kitchen Basics – How to make Buttermilk
10.Sourdough Bread – A Resource Guide for Beginners
11.Classic Tomato Sauce
12.How to Blanche Tomatoes
13.How to Poach Eggs, Perfectly Every Time
14.Basic Pastry Cream
15.Classic Béchamel Sauce in 4 Steps
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