Pickled Beetroot

Not all the recipes I post up on the blog are tried and tested. I have absolutely no idea how these will turn out, but I thought it might be fun to try and everyone can have a good laugh at me and point out the many obvious flaws in my method (chopping them up before roasting, leaving the skins on, roasting with the honey rather than adding it after).

Still, here goes... I washed the beetroot thoroughly, topped and tailed them and chopped them up. Then roasted at about 180degC, drizzled with honey and sprayed with a little oil for about 40 minutes. They were tender and tasty for the most part but still had a bit of bite in the middle.

Whilst they were in I made up a light brine solution and allowed it to cool. A 5 percent brine is recommended, so for 1 litre of water you would dissolve 50g of kosher salt (or in my case 500ml of water and 25g salt). This is strong enough to preserve the veg and prevent the forming of unwanted bacteria, but allow the lactobacillus to grow and slightly sour the beetroot.

I placed all my beetroot into a jar and made up a quick on the spot mix of herbs:
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 and a half tsp Toasted Peppercorns

I washed out my roasting pan juices with the brine and poured it over the beetroot in stages to try and get as much air out from between the beetroot as possible. Finally, when full, I covered the jar with some cling film and sealed the lid.

In a couple of weeks I'll try one of the beetroot and check the sourness and flavour. If it all looks good and my plan has worked then I'll pour out the brine, boil it to halt the fermenting, cool it and pour it back in then leave it for about 2 months before they're ready to eat.