Beetroot JellyI love beetroot, it’s a wonderful vegetable. Beetroot and stovies, beetroot in stews and beetroot in jelly. Beetroot jelly reminds me of when I was a kid, one of our neighbours discovered I liked beetroot (he grew a lot of his own veg in his garden and would always give me something to take home). He told me about jelly beetroot, it sounded strange to me but the next time he made some, he gave a little bit to me and to my surprise, I loved it! The next time he gave me a whole tub of it to take home… I can’t remember what we ate it with but I remember it being delicious. Sadly I didn’t get to try it again but I always remember how great it tasted and ever since I started cooking for myself I’ve wanted to try and make my own.
For my Forest Floor dish I had initially planned to do a quince jelly or poached quince but since quince wasn’t in season and beetroot is just starting to come into season I thought it would make for an excellent alternative. The jelly is easy to make, especially if you have a Thermomix but it is still possible to do it without one, it just means a bit more cleaning up to do afterwards – that purple juice stains everything it touches so wash it off before it dries in!
This jelly can be used as a side dish or a simple condiment to many stews or heavy dishes (in a similar way to redcurrent jelly).
Ingredients:
4 Beetroot
100ml Red Wine Vinegar
25g Sugar
2 Gelatine Sheets
3 Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
Method:
1. Soak the gelatine sheets in some water for 20-30mins.
2. Meanwhile, skin the beetroot and combine with the red wine vinegar, cloves, bay leaf and sugar, blitz in the thermomix, SP6 / 30 secs or until it becomes a fine paste.
2. Pass the paste through a sieve, discard any pieces of pulp.
3. Now squeeze out the gelatine and add to the juice.
4. Return the juice to the TMX and heat it up, 60C / SP2 / 3mins.
5. Pour the beetroot jelly into a sterile jar (if using as a condiment) or dish/tray (if cutting into cubes or shapes).
6. Place in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours to set before using.
Tips:
– Try altering the herbs or vinegar to give a slightly different flavour, I suggest Sherry vinegar with Tarragon as an interesting alternative.
– You can filter the juice through a chinois or muslin cloth if you want a smoother jelly but I like some of the beetroot to come through in the jelly.
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