Swedish baked beets

Swedish baked beets are traditionally eaten with salted fish. They are also delicious served with beef, lamb, bison, or wild fowl. Eat this dish however you choose: hot out of the oven, at room temperature, or cold as an alfresco summer picnic dish.

Swedish baked beets

                                                                               Yield: 4-6 servings

Oven: 240℃  (460℉)

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized beets

1 large red onion

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

½ - ¾ cup commercial soured cream

Garnish: 5 -6 sprigs fresh dill

Preparation:

1. Wash beets. Remove beet leaves, leaving about 2.5 cm. (1 in.) of stem attached to the roots.

2. Using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, coat beet roots in oil. Place whole beet roots in an aluminium foil cooking wrap, add a dash of salt and pepper, and close the foil wrap securely. Place the foil wrapped beet roots in a heat-proof baking tray. Bake at 240℃   for approximately 1.5 hours. 

Cooking time required will vary with the beet's size, origin and type, and with your elevation above sea level. Wearing heat-proof oven mitts, test the roots for doneness by gently pressing the them with your fingers.If the root gives way slightly, baking is complete.

3. Peel red onion and slice into 8 to 16 wedges, depending upon the size of the onion. Place onion wedges on a baking tray. Drizzle with the other tablespoon of olive oil. Add salt and pepper, if preferred. Bake at the same time as the beets. The onion wedges should require approximately 20 - 30 minutes if placed below the beet roots. Less time will be required if the wedges are placed high in the oven. 

When the onion wedges are just slightly singed on some tips, remove from the oven, loosely cover, and set aside.

Roasted red onion wedges

4. When the beet roots are baked, remove them from the oven. Slip the peels off. Quarter the beets into wedges and, possibly, divide the wedges again into bite-sized wedges, depending upon the size of the beets.

Baked beets, fresh from the oven

5. Arrange baked beet and red onion wedges in a serving dish or on a serving plate. Either add dollops of sour cream over the vegetables, or place the sour cream in a separate serving dish. Garnish with fresh dill. 

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Moroccan chard with lamb

Fresh lamb is readily available in the shops during this spring season. Many prefer lamb to ham for Easter meals. 

If you liked the Moroccan chard recipe, you'll love this dish. It comes to you courtesy of a Moroccan colleague who liked my Moroccan chard recipe. He strongly recommended using vegetable oil because of the high temperature required for searing the lamb. I, however, do not use vegetable oil. I noted his instructions but adapted the ingredients to my own taste. I used coconut oil in this, my own version of the dish he described.

Moroccan chard with lamb, steaming hot and fresh from the pan

                                                                              Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 lamb chops

2 large red-stalked chard leaves, washed

2 large white-stalked chard leaves, washed

1½ cups red onion, diced small

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground paprika

¼ teaspoon ground red (cayenne) pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

fresh ground sea salt

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Slice the stalks away from the washed chard leaves. Slice the stalks, crosswise, into 5 mm. (¼ in.) slices. Set aside.

Chopped chard

2. Slice the chard leaves crosswise, to produce strips about 1 cm. (less than ½ in.) wide. Then roughly chop these strips crosswise. Set aside.

3. Slice away and discard the fat from four lamb shops. Pare the meat from the bones. Slice the meat into bite-sized pieces. 

4. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the diced red onion. Saute over low heat for about 3 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add the sliced chard stalks, cayenne, black pepper, cumin and paprika.  Cook over medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes. 

Sauteed red onion and chard stalks

5. Remove contents of the saute pan to a heat-proof holding dish.

6. Return the saute pan to the heat. Add the coconut oil and raise the heat to high. Add the chopped lamb and the bones to the sizzling hot coconut oil. Sear the chunks of lamb on all sides to seal in the juices, then reduce the heat to medium and fry for up to 5 minutes, until the inside is still slightly pink. 

Seared lamb

7. Add the contents of the heat-proof dish to the saute pan and heat through.

8. Add the sliced chard leaves and cook without stirring until leaves are wilted. Add sea salt to taste.

Chard slices wilting over seared lamb, chard stalks
and red onion

9. Remove from the heat and turn out into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

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Moroccan chard

All the nutritional benefits of Swiss chard are captured in this lightly sautéed, flavourful dish. The recipe produces enough for one person, therefore, you should increase the quantities in accordance with the number of adults who will be eating.

Moroccan chard

                                                                                   Yield: 1 serving

Sliced chard stems and leaves,
paprika, cayenne, cumin
and lemon

Ingredients:

2 large chard leaves with stalks, washed

1 small cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup vegetable or poultry stock

 large pinch of fresh ground black pepper

 large pinch of ground cumin

 large pinch of ground paprika

 large pinch of ground red (cayenne) pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1.  Slice the stems away from the washed chard leaves. Slice the stems crosswise, into 1 cm. (smaller than ½ in.) slices.

2. Slice the leaves crosswise, to produce strips about 1 cm. (less than ½ in.) wide.

2.  In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the minced garlic. Stir and cook until the garlic releases its fragrance. 

3. Add the sliced chard stems and vegetable or chicken stock. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 3 minutes..

4. Add spices. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

5. Add sliced leaves. Stir until leaves are wilted. Cover and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the cover and continue cooking for 2 minutes. 

6. Remove from heat and turn out into a small bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

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Baked beet and black beans with pork

Baked beet and black beans with pork is slow food made in the old-fashioned way. A ceramic bean pot or dutch oven is required for slow baking in a hot oven. The combination of flavours creates a subtle undertone of sweetness that urges your diners to ask for second helpings. Mmmm-mmmm, it will be delicious with your smoked Easter ham.

Baked beet and black beans with pork

Baked beet and black beans with pork is a meal in itself, full of the health benefits of beets and beans, including an abundance of protein, dietary fibre, calcium, and other minerals.

Set oven to 460℉  (240℃)

Cooking time: approximately 4 hours

                                                    

                                                            Yield: 8 - 10 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black beans

2-3 cups water for soaking

6 dried shiitakes

1 cup water for soaking

1 medium beet root, 5 cm. (2.5 in.) in diameter

1 cup diced red onion

2 minced garlic cloves

1 cup lean ground pork

1½ cup diced tomatoes in tomato juice

1 tablespoon old-fashioned prepared mustard

2 tablespoons raw molasses

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch of ground cloves

3-4 grinds of black pepper corns

Dried black beans

Pre-preparation:

1. Wash black beans.  Drain and discard the water. Place beans in a lidded container. Cover beans with 2 - 3 cups water. Cover with lid and leave to soak overnight. 

2. Place shiitakes in a lidded container. Cover with warm water and leave to soak overnight. 

Clockwise: shiitake, diced tomatoes in tomato juice
soaked black beans, and red onion

Preparation:

3. When assembling ingredients, drain the shiitake liquid into a separate container and reserve for later use in cooking. Slice the stems off the shiitakes and store them in the freezer for another time when making stock. Thinly slice the shiitake. place them into the bean pot.

4. Slice and dice red onion, and mince the garlic cloves. Add to the bean pot.

5. Drain water from soaking black beans into a separate container and reserve for later use in cooking. Add beans to the bean pot.

Grated raw beet

6. Wash, thinly peel, and coarsely grate the beet.  Add to bean pot.

7. Measure lean ground pork. Loosen the mince and mix the pork into the ingredients in the bean pot.

8. Add tomatoes, mustard, molasses, apple cider vinegar, pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Mix into ingredients in the bean pot.

9. Add strained liquid reserved from soaking shiitake. If ingredients are not covered with liquid, add strained liquid reserved from soaking black beans but only sufficient to just cover the ingredients.

10. Place in oven at 460℉ ( 240℃) for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 425℉  (220℃) and bake for 3 - 4 hours. 

Test the beans for done-ness after 60 minutes. To test, remove one bean from the pot and squish it with an ordinary table fork. If completely soft, the beans are cooked as is everything else in the bean pot, so remove the pot from the oven. Most likely, the baked beet and beans will require at least another hour or two of baking at 425℉. This depends upon a number of factors, including the elevation above sea level where you live; even more than 4 hours of baking time could be required. In any case, bake covered until the beans are soft. Keep the contents covered with liquid by adding strained liquid from soaking the black beans, or use plain hot water.

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