We love Aunt Nellie’s beets: whole beets, sliced beets, pickled beets, Harvard beets. The company is the largest provider of jarred beets.
And now, the brand has introduced Baby Whole Pickled Beets, sized just right for one bite. They’re available nationwide and a great boon to anyone who likes to make hors d’oeuvre and small bites.
Serve as a side dish straight from the jar.
Make easy appetizers. Skewer a baby beet with a mozzarella ball and a basil leaf, with a cube of cheese and a cornichon or olive, with a scallop or shrimp, or with tortellini (recipe below).
Toss into salads.
Garnish a martini.
Add to roasted vegetables, soups and other dishes.
This recipe makes about 36 appetizers, 2 appetizers per serving.
Baby beets make quick and easy appetizers. Photos courtesy Aunt Nelllie’s.
BABY BEET & TORTELLINI APPETIZERS
Ingredients
1 jar (16 ounces) Aunt Nellie’s Baby Beets
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated tortellini, any variety
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto*
2 tablespoons prepared vinaigrette
2 medium bell peppers (any color or a combination), cut into 1-inch pieces
Fresh herbs (such as parsley, basil, chives or thyme)
*Thinly sliced strips of smoked ham or turkey may be substituted for prosciutto.
Buy lots—you’ll love them!
Preparation
1. DRAIN beets well; discard liquid.
2. COOK tortellini according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain again.
3. CUT prosciutto into 1×3-inch strips. Wrap one strip prosciutto around tortellini; skewer with appetizer pick.
4. ASSEMBLE: Brush lightly with vinaigrette. Add one piece of bell pepper and one baby beet to skewer. Repeat until all beets are used. Arrange on serving platter. Sprinkle with herbs.
How can you make the everyday peanut butter cup even better? Create them yourself, using better ingredients than are used in mass-marketed PB cups.
The trick is to buy the most delicious chocolate morsels (or gourmet chocolate) and the tastiest peanut butter. You can use your favorite “shade” of chocolate—dark, milk or white—as long as it’s great stuff.
The good news: The “recipe” is easy.
And it’s timely: You can make peanut butter cups for Easter, topped with jelly beans or other candy Easter ornaments.
Uh oh, no wine? Pick a substitute. Le Creuset French oven available at SurLaTable.com.
Sometimes when you’re preparing a recipe, you discover that you you don’t have wine, or find out that a guest does not consume any kind of alcohol.
There are a number of substitutes for both red and white wine; although, advises chef Louis Eguaras, you need to be sure that the sweetness level of the substitute is appropriate to the dish (i.e., grape juice may not work in every dish).
Red Wine Substitutes
Beef stock with apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
Red grape juice diluted with water
Red vermouth
Red wine vinegar
A dab of tomato paste with the juice from canned mushrooms
White Wine Substitutes
Chicken stock with apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
White grape juice or lemon juice diluted with water
White vermouth
White wine vinegar with juice from canned mushrooms
Keep A Supply Of “Cooking Wine”
To be sure we always have wine, we take the last few ounces from a bottle of wine and fill up small repurposed bottles with tight caps—eight or sixteen ounces, one for red wine, one white. The limited amount of air keeps the wine usable for months and the small bottles tuck into the back of the fridge. You can keep topping off the “cooking wine” bottle: It’s O.K. to mix different wines.
Never buy anything called “cooking wine”: It’s the dregs!
We love this fusion recipe for St. Patrick’s Day: Corned Beef and Cabbage Egg Rolls. It’s from Dietz and Watson, purveyors of fine deli meats.
Chinese egg rolls are filled with cabbage and bits of pork. Here, corned beef substitutes for the pork, creating an “Irish” egg roll. The recipe serves 4.
“FUSION” CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE EGG ROLLS
Ingredients
Eight 12-inch egg roll wrappers
4 teaspoons sandwich spread for filling, plus more for dipping
12 ounces corned beef brisket, finely shaved
4 cups green cabbage, finely julienned to yield 2 cups cooked cabbage
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
stone ground mustard or Chinese mustard for dipping
Substituting lots of corned beef for bits of pork makes this an “Irish” egg roll. Photo courtesy Dietz & Watson.
Preparation
1. COOK CABBAGE. Melt butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add cabbage and cook just until the cabbage starts to give off liquid and reduces in half. Do not overcook; the cabbage should remain crisp. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate cabbage until completely cool, at least two hours.
2. MAKE EGG ROLLS. On a work surface, create double wrappers by layering one egg roll wrapper on top of another, flat. Spread each of the four doubled wrappers evenly with 1 teaspoon of sandwich spread. Pat cabbage dry with a paper towel. Distribute the cabbage on the wrappers and top with the corned beef. Heavily brush the edges of one egg roll wrapper with the beaten egg. Begin rolling the wrapper tightly around the filling. Halfway up, fold in the sides, then continue to roll the rest of the way. Repeat with the other wrappers.
3. FRY EGG ROLLS. In a large, high-sided pot, heat the oil to 350°F. Gently drop in the egg rolls and fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove and drain on a towel. Slice in half on the bias.
4. SERVE. Serve with stone ground mustard or Chinese mustard for dipping.
