Beetroot Chocolate Brownies

When you have giant beetroot to use up (some weighing up to a kilogram), you have to get creative with this beautiful purple root. And man is it versatile. I am constantly trying to convince people to let go of their adversion to beetroot which stems from memories of cheap jars of harshly pickled slices (which I happen to love too) and taste it in it's natural form, maybe roasted, steamed or boiled. 

If that doesn't entice you, how about something like these?

Who can resist BROWNIES!? Evidently I can't as I've eaten a chocolatey gooey lump the size of my head over the last few days.

It's like looking at the surface of some delicious uninhabited chocolate moon.

Chocolate and beetroot is a tried and tested cominbation and you will find lots of recipes online for cake, muffins, brownies etc. I adapted a recipe from old reliable BBC Good Food. The cooking time given on the original recipe is 25 minutes but I think you would have to be using quite a shallow tray to achieve this. If you are using a loaf tin like I did, the cooking time is 55 minutes.

I used raw beetroot and steamed it before adding to the mix. You could use shop bought vacuum packed cooked beetroot but be aware that it has to be hot for the recipe so the chocolate will melt.

Using a food processor and hand mixer will make your work a lot easier but it is possible to do this without appliances. You would have to melt the butter and chocolate over the hob and grate the beetroot before adding. 

Ingredients

500g raw beetroot

100g butter cubed plus extra for greasing

200g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces (as always I used Madagascar chocolate from Lidl)

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g caster sugar

3 eggs

100g plain flour

25g cocoa powder (I used Bournville)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4/180C/350F

Grease and line your tin - I used a 2lb loaf tin

Peel and cube the beetroot and steam until tender

Turn on your food processor and add the hot cooked beetroot, chocolate pieces, cubes of butter and vanilla extract

Blend until the mix is smooth - the hot beetroot will melt the butter and chocolate.

TASTE IT - it is to die for. To be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you just abandoned the rest of the recipe and decided to eat the whole bowl with a spoon.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until they are pale and frothy. 

Into the eggy sugary froth, fold the chocolate mix slowly until blended. Try not to mix too long or hard so you conserve the air.

Into this mix, sieve the flour and cocoa powder and slowly blend everything with a fork. This is a bit time consuming as the flour tends to sit on top of the liquid but it will all come together nicely.

Pour the finished mix into your prepared tin

Bake for 55 minutes if using my 2lb loaf tin - less if you are using a more shallow tin. The best way to gauge is to cook until the top has crusted but there is still a very slight wobble underneath.

Cool completely and cut into slices.

Store in an airtight lunch box and they will keep moist up to a week. Although I've never known a brownie that lived a week.

Beetroot Chutney

I have these to use up:

Beetroot, cooking apples and onions make up a holy trinity of ingredients that taste wonderful together. This week I've already made up a batch of soup and today I am trying out a Darina Allen recipe for chutney.

There's a good bit of a peelin' and a choppin' to be done. I waited until my small man was napping and sat on the floor by the open back door listening to music and peacefully getting to work. It was quite therapeutic.

Ingredients

900g raw beetroot peeled and diced
450g cooking apples peeled and chopped
450g onions peeled and chopped
25g ginger grated
1tsp salt
600ml cider vinegar
350g granulated sugar

Sterilised jars and lids

Method

Put all the chopped fruit and vegetables in a big pot, add the ginger and salt and pour over the vinegar.

Stir to mix, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1-1.5 hours until the beetroot is soft.

Add the sugar, mix and cook for a further 15 minutes until the chutney is thick. I removed the lid, turned up the heat and gave it a good bubbling for the last 5 minutes.

Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

The mix filled these jars almost exactly (about 1200g jar space - nutmeg for scale):

It looks great and tastes gorgeous, rich and sweet but not overly:

I'll definitely make this again.

Beetroot, Apple and Onion Soup

This exciting soup is a perfect way to use up the fruits of Autumn. Don't be put off by the adventurous ingredients; my beetroot hating, cooked apple avoiding boyfriend positively loved it. It's pink, hearty and slightly sweet with a zing! to finish.

I was inspired to try this recipe as I had a bag of windfall cookers to use and wanted to do something other than baking. I wasn't fortunate to have raw beetroot to use but the cooked stuff made my job easier.

Ingredients

15g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 decent sized cooking apples, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 tbsp curry powder
250g cooked beetroot, chopped
500ml vegetable stock

Method

Heat the butter and oil and saute the apple and onion over a medium heat for ten minutes, until mushy

Add the curry powder, mix well and cook for five more minutes

Add the beetroot and cook until the whole mix is heated through

Add half the stock and whiz using a hand blender

When well blended, add the remaining stock and mix evenly

Serve and enjoy!