Tasty Tuesday

The Attorney suggested I come up with a blog topic for each day of the week. (And by week he meant weekdays, not weekends, because "You don't need to blog on the weekends.") He also said if I chose to follow his advice that I should come up with alliterative titles for each day since I had already set that standard. I liked his idea, so this week I will be launching several new daily topics. This doesn't mean I won't post about other things (nor that I won't write on weekends), but it gives me structure and an opportunity to expound on some of my favorite subjects.

As you probably gathered from the title, Tuesday's topic is food. I wouldn't call myself a foodie, but I enjoy cooking and have a higher interest in food than just it's ability to feed me.

I've written before about belonging to a Community Supported Agriculture program. One aspect of the program is that is has forced us to expand our palette and try vegetables that we otherwise might not have eaten. One of these vegetables is the beet, which we always get in abundance during the early part of the growing season.

I had tried beets as a child. I vividly remember one meal where my brothers convinced me that the purple colored spheres were plums and I believed them. Beets and plums taste nothing alike. I think that experience scarred me a bit.

As I got older, I developed a list of "Foods That Taste Like Dirt" and included beets on it.

As an adult, my tastes have changed and I happily eat many of the foods from the above list. I did not, however, want to try beets. So when we first started getting them in our CSA box, I would give them away. After a while I realized that the beets weren't going anywhere, so I should figure out a way to eat them. Another friend in the program shared a recipe she found for a beet bundt cake. She tested it on her husband (didn't tell him it had beets in it) and he ate it, so I tried it on the Attorney. It was delicious and has made it into our regular rotation during beet season. You have to cook and puree the beets, and I think that makes them work kind of like applesauce in some cake recipes. I'll include it at the end of the post.

The same friend and I wondered if golden beets could be substituted in carrot cake. The answer is a resounding yes, if you make sure to chop the beets up very small. I did not use my food processor the first time I made it (just used a grater), and the larger chunks of beet made for an unpleasant surprise in some bites. I have made it several times now and once the beets are chopped up, no one will know the difference.

This beet season I did go beyond hiding beets in baked goods. I made a beet and carrot salad that was quite tasty. The beets were shredded and the vinegar cut some of the earthiness. I think my tastes have changed again and I am more open to "stronger" tasting foods than I used to be. I also, per another CSA friend's suggestion, roasted some of the beets in parchment paper, which also seemed to cut the earthiness. I splashed on some balsamic vinegar before eating and really enjoyed them. I could not get the Attorney to try these, but maybe next season!

Beet Bundt Cake
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
4 1 oz squares semi-sweet baker's chocolate
2 cups pureed cooked beets
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
confectioner's sugar

Cream 3/4 cup butter and the brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with the remaining butter. Stir until smooth. Cool. Blend chocolate, beets and vanilla into butter mixture. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when completely cooled.