We pickled beets!

Patrick loves to make pickles. He misses them so much over the winter that as soon as cucumbers appear on the spring CSA list he requests the cucumbers so he can make pickles and satisfy his craving. I decided Patrick shouldn't have all the pickling fun! So off I went on an adventure to pickle beets.

The recipe called for a rosé wine which isn't a wine we usually keep on hand. I usually do all our wine shopping at Trader Joe's but at this particular time I was eating lunch with Patrick and there is a Total Wine store conveniently located near his work so I stopped in. I wasn't in too much of a hurry but I knew I just wanted the rosé (versus browsing). While I began my search for rosé a sales associate asked if I needed help and, even though I usually turn down assistance, since I knew I just wanted that one thing and they could point me in that direction quickly I accepted their help. They walked me to the rosé and continued to help! They wanted to know what I would be doing with it and I said trying a new recipe. I think the associate was a bit taken aback when he learned I wanted a rosé wine for pickling beets... he didn't ask anymore questions. Anyway I bought the one he recommended and it was good! I've always heard when cooking with wine you should purchase one you would enjoy drinking and I couldn't agree more with that sentiment!

Enough about wine... moving on to pickled beets!

Rosé and Raspberry Pickled Beets from myrecipes.com & Cookling Light
Ingredients
1 pound Chioggia beets or red beets (about 2)
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
4 thyme sprigs
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups dry rosé wine
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Leave root and 1 inch stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Place beets in an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish; add water to a depth of 2 inches. Cover with foil; bake at 425° for 50 minutes or until just tender. Drain and cool. Peel beets; cut into 1-inch wedges. Place beets in a large heatproof glass jar or bowl with peppercorns and thyme.
3. Combine raspberries and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and raspberries begin to break down. Strain raspberry mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl; discard solids. Pour hot raspberry liquid over beet mixture; cover and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

Summer appetizer: pickles and pickled beets with cheese

Patrick kindly makes two batches of pickles; one spicier for himself (on the left, you can visibly see more red pepper flakes) and one for his wife with minimal red pepper flake (on the right).

Editor's note: throwback post; we made these during the engagement.
Even though this is a throwback post, beets are a cooler weather vegetable and come back in season during the fall so these would be a good Thanksgiving side!