This dish has an earthy flavor that has sweetness and complexity to it. It can serve as a side dish, a base to a stack of items, or thinned a little it can be a sauce. Formed into quenelles it elevates the lowly beet into something quite elegant. A scattering of tender fresh herbs such as tarragon, basil, or shiso is nice, and chervil seems to work quite well here.
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch Red Ace beets, peeled and sliced thinly (1/8th inch) 1 medium to large red onion, peeled and sliced as above 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pea sized bits Salt and pepper to taste 2½ cups vegetable stock Optional-Fresh herbs such as chervil, tarragon, or basil, 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped with a very sharp knife or scissorsMETHOD:
Heat a heavy bottomed sauce or chef’s pan with a tight-fitting lid, around 2 quarts, over medium heat. Add ½ a tablespoon of butter and melt. Add ¼ of the onions and cook until wilted and just beginning to caramelize. These onions will help add depth of flavor and a contrasting sweetness to that of the beets, which is an earthy sweetness.
Remove the pan from the heat and layer in the onions and the beets, adding the butter bits throughout as you build up.
Return to the stove and add the stock to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook gently until the vegetables are fully tender and easily pierced with a toothpick, but do not cook until they are falling apart.
Once cooked, place the vegetables into a blender, season with salt and pepper, and add enough liquid to enable the machine to pureé the vegetables. If there is a fair amount of liquid left once the vegetables are in the blender, reduce over high heat to reduce the liquid. 1/2 a cup should be sufficient to do the job. Pureé the vegetables until completely smooth. (Running it longer will make it light and fluffy, and may lighten the color. Decide what you want with the vegetables and go from there.) If they are quite thick, thin with a little stock until the pureé moves freely. If you wish to make quenelles, be sure to not thin the pureé too much. If making a sauce, and you have liquid left, reduce it to intensify the flavor, and use this to thin the pureé to a sauce-like consistency. If the pureé is too thin, you can cook it over a medium heat and stir constantly to thicken it a little, but you will lose some of the more intense beet flavor.
When ready to serve the pureé, dish out and if you wish, scatter with fresh snipped herbs.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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