For years, when I was the in-house corporate chef, due to their popularity, we made these every couple of weeks. Now, for old time’s sake and because I love pickled beets, I make them at Christmas. My Mom made hers from scratch from beets she’d grown! This method seems a whole lot easier to me!
3 tins Alymer’s Whole Rosebud Beets
2 tsp. (scant) pickling salt
1-2 Tbsp. pickling spice
1 cup sugar
1 cup white distilled vinegar
Make The Beets:
Drain off beet juice from beets, reserving 1 cup, pour into a medium sized pot. Add the distilled vinegar, sugar, salt & pickling spice. Bring to a boil on medium heat; lower the heat to simmer & simmer for 20 minutes. Get a nice big jar with a lid; wash well with soap and water, rinse well, then fill it with boiling water, let stand for 10 minutes. Drain the water and add the beets to the jar. Strain the hot beet juice over the beets. Top with 1 Tbsp. of the pickling spice. Cover with the lid. Let cool. When cool, store in the fridge. The beets will keep for approximately 3 – 4 weeks in the fridge.
Tip: My sister places her pickling spice in a tea-infuser then adds that to the beet juice, vinegar and sugar. When she’s ready to put the beets in the jar, she takes out the tea-infuser, leaves a couple of teaspoons of spice mixture remaining, disposes of any extra; puts the tea-infuser into the jar with the beets and pours the liquid over the beets. That way she doesn’t have her beets filled with the bits!
