This is a family favorite and I've been making them a long time. You've probably seen these at any Middle Eastern restaurant, either as a garnish on your sandwich plate, or as an option on the falafel buffet, tempting you with their purple crunchy goodness. Chances are, you passed. Don't! They are SO yummy.
To make a large batch that will last you all summer, you will need:
5 turnips
2-3 beets
Brine of 3 cups warm water to one teaspoon sea salt
5-7 garlic cloves
Cut the beets and turnips into rounds and let them air dry
.jpg)
Arrange the turnips and beets snugly in a sterilized jar. Throw garlic in every few layers. Pour the brine over the whole thing. Make sure all the beets and turnips are covered or you will end up with yucky looking brown turnips on top. Always put the date that you prepared the food on the jar so you know when it is ready. These turnips take about one week.
If you start seeing foam collecting on the top, scoop it out. It's fine to have some foam (it's fermentation and shows that the process is working), but if you let the foam stay it will eventually break down the food and ruin the batch. Let it sit in a cool place (doesn't have to be in the fridge) for one week. The beets will be soft, but the turnips will have a great crunch and will be dyed a lovely purple. I prefer the turnips to the the beets, and garlic is delicious. My mom actually adds some celery leaves for fun because they turn the pretty purple and it's lovely to serve that way. They look like flowers.
.jpg)
The final product is fun to snack straight from the jar. Other serving ideas include:
Dip into hummus or tzitziki sauce
Put into sandwiches instead of pickles
Cut into strips and add to an assortment of pickles and olives
Add to salads for crunch
A great chaser for vodka shots or a snack with cold beer
Enjoy!
.jpg)
.jpg)
Hi Tamar! Congrats on launching a very cool new blog. The beets are so beautiful. You had me at vodka chaser :) Question- do you have a special canning machine to hermetically seal the lids or do you hand-seal? Is there a difference in how long you can store the items hand-sealed vs. machine-sealed? I've been talking about pickling and jamming for many moons now. This is great step-by-step inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily! For sterilizing jars, all I do is boil them for 10 minutes before putting anything in them. That's all! For sealing, I just twist tight. If you have a good jar, that's all you need. You can also buy wax seals to add or use some fabric to help tighten the seal. There are sealing machines and such out there, but I think they are expensive and unnecessary.
ReplyDelete