Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Salt Roasted Beetroot with Orange and Ginger Sauce



I start this post by sending out my sincerest wishes for the safety and welfare of the citizens of Christchurch, New Zealand, a beautiful English-style city that was badly damaged yesterday lunchtime by an earthquake, and unfortunately people were killed and injured in the process.  Please pray for the people of Christchurch.  

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I received some really good feedback recently on my post about pancetta green beans, with one comment that there are not enough side dishes posted about.  In that vein, this post is about another side dish that beetroot lovers everywhere will adore - salt roasted beetroots with orange and ginger sauce.  I came across this recipe via Jonathan at Around Britain with a Paunch, who found it on an Amazon book review for chef Marcus Samuelsson's book, Acquavit.

As the name of the dish suggests, you roast up beetroots on a bed of salt, with a head of garlic:  


I halved some of my beets because they were enormous.  I also had to roast my beets for 2 hours instead of one to get them "fork tender".

The salt keeps the beets moist, just like roasting a whole chicken or fish in a salt crust keeps them moist.  Once the beets are cool enough to handle, you peel and dice them, and place them in a bowl with the roasted garlic after you have squished the cloves out of their skins.

In the meantime, you make a simple sauce to pour over the beetroot by reducing orange juice with ginger and some other goodies in a saucepan.

I loved this dish.  The beets can be served as a side with whatever takes your fancy, or if you really love beets, you can dig into a bowl of diced beetroot all by itself.  If you are a beetroot fan, you will find a number of interesting beetroot dishes on Jonathan's site, for as he says, he has become "obsessed" by beetroot.  One of my favourites is a beetroot curry, which is on the list for the winter.


Enjoy!   

7 comments:

  1. Though this looks like an interesting process and dish, I'm not really a fan of beets. I do like the bright color of your beets!

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  2. Cakelaw in first place really Im sorry by the New Zeland people we had a earthquake the last year and was terrible. I really sorry by the people .

    Your beetroot have a lovely colour and look nice! huggs gloria

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  3. My heart goes out to those in Christchurch. I haven't had roasted beets in years, but I do like them. The sauce sounds wonderful. What a great side dish.

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  4. I absolutely love beets, and would make a meal of these alone. Am off to check the beetroot curry recipe now--yum!

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  5. That sounds really nice. I love beets, but can never think of recipes to make with them.

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  6. Ahh I wondered why recipes specified to roast them on salt! Thanks for solving that mystery! :D

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  7. love beetroot esp in a curry - I have had salt roasted beetroot in a cafe but wonder what I would do with the salt if I did it at home - do you just reuse it as flavoured salt?

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