Beets: Do You peel before or after You cook them?

I always have peeled my beets before I cook them, now a friend told me that she cooks them first. Also have anybody ever cook and eaten the beets without peeling them?

Any suggestions?

Any positive Comments?

I cook without peeling. Then I let them cool a little bit, and roll them gently between my hands while wearing rubber gloves. The skins come right off.

quote:

Originally posted by garryd451

I always have peeled my beets before I cook them, now a friend told me that she cooks them first. Also have anybody ever cook and eaten the beets without peeling them?

Any suggestions?

Any positive Comments?

I think that if you ever bake your beets, you will never cook them on top of the stove again. The flavor of baked beets is outstanding. I just wash them well and leave the root end intact and a little of the stem end. Wrap them in foil and bake at 350 degrees or until you can pierce them easily with a fork. Remove from oven and let set in cold water for a short time and then you can rub the skins off easily.

I follow RubyRose's method. I do not use aluminum foil to wrap.

I also grill them, which triumphs in flavor over the oven method. Roast them indirctly over hardwood, then slip the skin right off.

Like corn, beets are already designed perfectly for cooking. No need to wrap in anything other than it own skin!

I have always peeled them AFTER cooking, but next time I'm going to try baking them. Do you have to wrap them in foil first? pb

Is there a big difference between baked beets and the beets that come out of a can? My mom used to serve up canned harvard beets when I was a kid. One of 2 foods I could not get down my throat without gagging. At the ripe old age of 44 I may have grown up enough to try beets again.

Canned harvard beets have a sweetish red sauce to them. Roasting fresh beets in the oven are a totally different taste. I would try roasting fresh beets, golden beets are more mild in flavor and might be worth a try for those trying to get back into beet eating.

I always liked harvard beets, but I can see why others dont.

PB, some people wrap in foil, others dont. I dont, as I dont see a need. Just be sure to put something underneath the beet if you dont wrap it, as it does exude its juice.

Roasting in the oven unpeeled is simply fantastic. I think it keeps in the juices and flavor. Then you can do anything you want. Served cold or at room temperature with bleu cheese and a splash of balsamic vinegar...yum.

quote:

Originally posted by azure

Roasting in the oven unpeeled is simply fantastic. I think it keeps in the juices and flavor. Then you can do anything you want. Served cold or at room temperature with bleu cheese and a splash of balsamic vinegar...yum.

I like to roast them and serve them sliced, with just butter and some sprinkles of dill. It is a great combination.

A restaurant that we used to go to served their house salad which featured julienne beets, julienne cucumbers, black olive slices, lettuce and a wonderful Italian dressing. Many customers ordered double salads as it was so good. Now that we live so far away from this restaurant, I often make thisat home. A really nice thing about this salad is that the beets add a lot of taste and color when you cannot get good tomatoes.

When I was a kid my mother always tried getting us to eat those jarred, pickled Harvard Beets. I always thought they were nasty. I avoided them for years throughout my adolescence and adult life.

About three years ago Mrs. Roadhouse and I took a little business/pleasure trip up to Quebec. We took a side trip over to St. Anne's Cathedral, northeast of the city. After touring the church, we wandered the small town that surrounds it, stopping at a small cafe that was actually part of someone's home.

We split an order of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and (shudder) beets. I made it clear to my wife that the beets were all hers. Just give me a head start on the mashed potatoes and she could go to town with the beets. Everything was working out fine until suddenly, the beets called out to me! Maybe it was divine intervention due to our proximity to St. Anne's, maybe it was the beautiful rich red color contrasted against the white mashed potatoes and the deep brown of the meat loaf, all I know is that suddenly and without warning I had a mouth full of beets. And I liked it! We ended up wrestling over the beets, making an obscene red mess all over the dining room! No, not really. We just shared them good naturedly. Not as good a story though.

Anyway, the posts in this and the other beet thread currently running, have inspired me to go down to our local produce market and pick some up beets for baking, boiling, steaming, and grilling. Once again, fellow Roadfooders, thank you for showing me a new dark red path.

Buddy

I have never liked Harvard or pickled beets but we eat a lot of beets in the winter when good tomatoes, corn and other summertime vegetables are not available. Our beet consumption drops way down in summer.

I like them best with butter, salt and pepper but my husband's favorite is to cut them into eighths and serve on greens with toasted walnuts and maytag blue cheese crumbled on top. Beet salad with goat cheese is served at a popular restarant in our area but I like the blue cheese better.

Forgot to add that for the dressing, I mix some basalmic vinegar, honey, paprika, dry mustard and 1/2 & 1/2 olive and vegetable oils.

If I have leftover beets, I freeze them and then grate a couple and add to cabbage borscht the next time I make it.