Braised Spiced Beets

Diann is Cooking's Note:

This one came from the New York Times, January 17th, 1999. I'm not sure what unit a "bunch" is, but hey, try for a couple or three in a bunch. You can use chicken stock instead of the vegetable stock.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 50 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 3 bunches beets
• 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorn, lightly crushed
• 6 cloves, whole
• 1 cinnamon stick, lightly crushed
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• salt

Directions:

1. Scrub beets and cut stems down to hardly there. Place in cooking pot, cover with water, and simmer until nearly tender (approximately 20 minutes). Remove from water, peel and quarter them.
2. Heat butter in sturdy saucepan or skillet with lid. When melted, add beets and cook at medium for five minutes, tossing frequently so as to coat the beets with the butter.
3. Add peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon.
4. Add in sugar, stock, and salt to taste.
5. Cook on low heat for approximately 15 more minutes, or until beets are tender, mixing occasionally.
6. You can serve now, or reheat for later.

Reviews

[Cookgirl]

A "bunch" as I understand it is a group of 3-4 beets. Therefore, three bunches would be roughly 12 beets. For this recipe, taking into consideration the amount of spices, I used 1 bunch. This was delicious over a simple plate of fresh arugula leaves. Reviewed for Veg Tag/May.

[Elmotoo]

Fantastic but I would use more (double?) spices next time. everyone enjoyed these but said they couldn't detect the spices very well. I'm happyto have found a new way to serve beets! Made for Special Event - adopt a veggie tag.

[Sydney Mike]

After reading the other reviews, I made this recipe using 12 beets & doubled the rest of the ingredients for a very nice tasting beet dish! Did let it drain before serving it & the beets were great! Just as nice the next day, too, when I served 'em cold! Thanks for sharing the recipe!