Beet Season

Even though I have bunches of beets growing in the garden, I can't resist admiring, fondling and inevitably buying more at the farmer's market.  I have a bit of a secret....I have a hard time harvesting things from my garden.  I like the look of things growing, healthy and full of life.  I like the look of my growing vegetables so much that it pains me to pick, pull or cut a thing!  Of course, I never let them rot or go bad (on purpose) but a beet can sit quite happily in the soil for a long time.  They are patient things.

I love borscht.  Beet soup.  Normally, I use a traditional Eastern European recipe from this cookbook which uses a base of pork belly.  The pork adds so much because, well...let's be real, it's pork and pork is delicious.   

This time, I wanted to try a smoked hock base.  I also wanted to try something a bit less traditional and I found a recipe from food and garden genius Sara Raven (the Martha of the UK, in my opinion) in her book  Fresh from the Garden.  Sara's recipe calls for coconut milk and Thai red curry paste which sounded like a perfect addition.  It was.  

Beet Soup 

1 smoked ham hock, cut in half

2 bay leaves 

1 large onion, halved

5-7 beets (I used a variety of sizes and colours) 

1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 medium or 4 small white potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

Half a can of good quality coconut milk

1 tablespoon of red or green Thai curry paste

Fresh dill

salt and pepper to taste 

Put the ham hock in a medium to large size pot with about 4 or 5 cups of water and the onion and the bay leaves.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for at least 2 hours or until the meat is tender.  In the meantime, wash the beets (with their odd, rat-like tails) and coat them in olive oil.  Roast them at 400 for 45 minutes or so.  Allow to cool.  

When the ham is done, strain the meat, putting the liquid back into the pot.  Set the meat aside to cool and discard the bay leaves and onion.  Add the carrot and potato to the stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes.  In the meantime, peel and chop the beets.   Try not to snack on the cooling ham hock.  Add beets, coconut milk and curry paste to the pot and cook until the carrots and potatoes are tender.  Blend with an emersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth.  

When the meat is cool, pull away the fat and chop up the meat.  Add the meat to the soup.  

Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with fresh dill to serve.