With a stroke of serendipity, I learned about the BEET theme for this week's Steemit IronChef competition exactly one day before I had plans to visit a beet farm. What the what?!
@progressivechef, stop reading my mind man!
If you've never picked beets before, it's just about the easiest type of produce to pick. Beets almost jump right up out of the ground into your hand. So easy.
Staying true to my typical form, I picked WAY too many beets than should be consumed by any given family. I made sure to pick beets on the small side, as the young ones tend to be sweeter, and bite size! I was quite thrilled to get them into the kitchen and whip up some goodies.
My first thought for this week's theme of BEETS, was to do a spin on the Scotch Egg: to make Beet Scotch Eggs. So for this week's Steemit IronChef competition, I did a rift on the Scotch Egg, using freshly picked local beets.
For those of you who are scratching your head, wondering, "What's a Scotch Egg?", it's a soft boiled egg coated in a thin layer of sausage, then breaded, and fried up. A big old protein bomb.
For these "Scotch Beets" the BEET replaces the EGG as the CENTER OF THE DELICIOUS UNIVERSE!
First I separated the beet greens and cleaned up and roasted a whole bunch of beets with some salt and olive oil. Low and slow. Then I peeled off the skin from each of the cute little beets.
Ingredients
- Roasted and peeled bite-size beets
- All purpose flour
- Mild italian chicken sausage
- Egg, lightly whisked
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Fresh rosemary, finely minced
Here are the steps for the first type of Scotch Beet, the closest to the real deal Scotch Egg:
- Combine the sausage (8oz) with 1 egg, 1/4 cup flour, and 1T rosemary
- Pat the beets dry with a paper towel or dish towel
- Roll the beets in flour to coat
- One at a time, form the sausage around the outside of the beet to encase it fully
- Roll it in the egg to coat
- Roll it in the panko breadcrumbs
The second type of Scotch Beet is the same as the first but doesn't include sausage. Just a panko-crusted roasted beet, first dredged in flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.
The third type uses a 1:1 mixture of goat cheese and beet puree on the inside. Here's how to make the beet and goat cheese spread
Ingredients
- Goat cheese
- Roasted and peeled beets
DIrections:
- Using your blender or food processor, puree the beets, adding a bit of water if needed.
- Set a portion of the beet puree aside to be used for dipping and future recipes!
- To the beets in the blender, add the same amount of goat cheese and blend until completely smooth.
- To make the third Scotch Beet, form a ball of the beet and goat cheese spread, roll it in flour, then egg, and breadcrumbs.
- Place all of the beets on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for several hours to allow them to firm up before cooking.
To cook, just fry them quickly in hot vegetable oil until golden brown.
- The sausage-wrapped version will need additional time to cook the sausage through, so bake them in the oven at 325°F for an extra 20 minutes until the sausage is cooked through.
I plated these three types of Scotch Beets up with some of the remaining beet and goat cheese spread and beet puree. Both are great dips for these deliciously savory and crispy treats.
For a more casual plating, maybe as an appetizer to be shared with friends, these little beet balls are great arranged on a platter with the beet and goat cheese spread in the center.
Nearly forgot my proof photo!!
I hope you've enjoyed this recipe, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
If you're interested in being a part of the Steemit IronChef Competition, don't forget to check out the details at @steemit-ironchef. A huge thanks to @progressivechef for coming up with this awesome way to showcase our food creations and build community with each other here on Steemit. Looking forward to continuing this competition!!
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please do check out my blog.
All content and images by @jaymorebeet, taken on September 19, 2017 with a Canon 7D Mark II.