How annoying it is when you happen to love Beetroot and you end up stained because of it? Well, it does happen. One of the most embarrassing moment in my life was to give a pee sample in a hospital when I did have Beetroot juice that very morning. Well I thought I was doing the healthy thing by drinking a Veg Juice and then you feel like an Alien handing the thing into the gloved hand of the nurse. Of course, you do have lots of red cheeks explanations to do when the purple pee is carried away out of the room and sight.

Beethoven Number 5.

This put aside, I really do enjoy Beetroots. It can also make me a little Carbon dated, in a sense that pickled Veg were quite fashionable in the Seventies and Eighties... So I like pickled Beetroots: No shame about it whatsoever. Purple finger tips, lips or tongue, we can deal with it: Flower Power generation or something of the sort... You can always say that you never saw a Yellow Submarine apart from when Cousteau studied the ocean in one.

Colourful Beetroots.

I actually rarely cook with Beetroots although I like them a lot and it is mainly because of the stain that doesn't go straight away. I love them either pickled or roasted. But then I may be very restrictive on the purple road of the Beetroot. As I said you can make Beetroot Juice which is perfectly healthy and fine.

Beetroot Juice. In the morning I do enjoy it. But I also like Tomato Juice and Carrot Juice. Veg Juices are good for you. 

When you can make Juices, you can also make Cocktails, Sorbets and Ice Cream with Beetroot. Beetroot is a Vegetable which has that recognisable earthy sweetness. I will add one thing for this humble Root Vegetable is that you can enjoy it either cold or hot. This brings the great element which is the Beetroot versatility.

Home Made Beetroot Juice.

Throughout the ages Sugar of some type has been made with Beetroot. The art and discipline or tradition of it is not lost, I would say it is rather latent. It is more a case of we will rely upon it if we have to do so. Sugar made from Beetroot appears very often during the time of stress, duress and wars. If it can't be Sugar Cane then it will be plan B: Sugar from Beetroot...

It is not unusual to see  a Vegetable to be liked for its sweetness. The Carrot is another Root Veg with a good reputation for it. For the Birthday of my Man today (26 of Jan 2022) we had a Carrot and Walnut Cake, an old fav of ours. The recipe is simple and delightful: a Classic.

Carrot and Walnut Cake. It is a bit of a Traditional Birthday Cake at La Maison de Cordelia.

If we had to rate the Cakes we do enjoy the most in this home, in no particular order, the Carrot and Walnut Cake is right up there along with the Lemon Drizzle Cake and Chocolate Cakes. Chocolate Cakes, plural because we fancy them up all the time. We do not stick to one recipe for a Chocolate Cake, we are being: shall I say a bit adventurous? But I will cut it short of comparing a trip to the kitchen to the trips of Marco Polo, Christopher Colombus, Neil Armstrong...

So speaking of Chocolate Cakes, the history of them in this House is numerous; The Chocolate and Blueberry one is delicious. We do grow our own Blueberries in the Garden so it is a special Cake for us.

The 'Blueb's', with damages upon the leaves on the plant which is good damage for we have a leaf cutter bee in the Garden which is a pollinator which is most welcomed for the fruits above may be the result of its laborious work.

The Liquorice and Blackcurrants Chocolate Cake was rather original but finger licking good. But there is out there a combination to try as well because it works, this is a Chocolate Cake made with Chocolate and Beetroots. The division/approval resides only in the Icing upon the Cake and the Deco of it. I will smile and just let you think of the crazy pub ideas that everyone have at least at one point in their life if they did live. (Sharing a drink and talking over it doesn't have to be alcoholic, think of Tea rooms parlours and Cafés). Anyhow the contentious matter of the top of the Choc/Beetroot Cake resides in it being covered by an Icing of Icelandic Yogurt rippled with Beetroot Coulis or a whipped Goat Cheese Mousse covering with Caramelised Beetroot Pearls dotted about... Anyhow as I am not Heston Blumenthal I will wonder how will I fare in both covering experiment. But it could be an interesting day in the Kitchen...

Layered Chocolate and Creamed Beetroot Cake.

There are products made from Beetroots which I did myself or bought but one I do like very much so as a snack is Beetroot Crisps. Okay I may be totally wrong but I do feel that I am healthier eating those. But like everything BJ says it can be just entire BS. 

From going to a dry and cold Beetroot product to going to a cold and wet one, I do make a Borscht on occasion, especially when the Summer days linger right through to the Autumn: The Indian Summer... (Link below the song of Joe Dassin (RIP): L'été Indien).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQb4eWCAq8c

Now a Beetroot Soup is delightful either hot or cold but most importantly it must be enjoyable. However I will say it is a very colourful Soup which makes a nice statement that simply speaks volume.

Home Made Beetroot and Horseradish Soup. Cold and refreshing but also a looker upon a table.

Beetroot is a vegetable I absolutely love, and I will root and repeat myself again for this Vegetable, pickled... yum-yum...

Home Made Pickled Beetroots. This is one of my treats.

I will just add one thing which is that when you do grow Beetroots remember that their leaves are edible. They can be included in Salads and Soups or Casseroles and Stews. Last but not least Beetroots do not come in just one colour...