On a recent trip to France I was served a delicious liver dish in a 'sang de
betrave' sauce. It's deep red looked wonderful on the plate, and was a superb
accompaniment. But I can't figure out the best way to achieve this rather
thick sauce.

It gave the appearance of being reduced (maybe with some sugar) and stirred
into the pan juices in which the liver had been cooked.

My problem is how to get the juice in the first place. It seems that one could
boil raw beetroot and then reduce the liquid (adding sugar, maybe, as I said)
or
One could boil beetroot and liquidise the whole thing (but I think that might
make the sauce cloudy, which it wasn't - not that that matters if the flavour
is there), or
Maybe one can buy cans of beetroot juice (we don't have a juicer ourselves and
I admit we've never seen it on sale - not that we've looked up till now).

So if anybody has any experience of working with beetroot juice I would
certainly be grateful to be set on the right path.

Derek
(Oxshott, Surrey, UK)

Derek Carver wrote:
> On a recent trip to France I was served a delicious liver dish in a 'sang de
> betrave' sauce. It's deep red looked wonderful on the plate, and was a superb
> accompaniment. But I can't figure out the best way to achieve this rather
> thick sauce.
>
> It gave the appearance of being reduced (maybe with some sugar) and stirred
> into the pan juices in which the liver had been cooked.
>
> My problem is how to get the juice in the first place. It seems that one could
> boil raw beetroot and then reduce the liquid (adding sugar, maybe, as I said)
> or
> One could boil beetroot and liquidise the whole thing (but I think that might
> make the sauce cloudy, which it wasn't - not that that matters if the flavour
> is there), or
> Maybe one can buy cans of beetroot juice (we don't have a juicer ourselves and
> I admit we've never seen it on sale - not that we've looked up till now).
>
> So if anybody has any experience of working with beetroot juice I would
> certainly be grateful to be set on the right path.
>
> Derek
> (Oxshott, Surrey, UK)


Oddly enough, Barb Schaller (a legendary beet hater) has a lot of
experience making beetroot juice. If she see's this message she'll
probably reply.

Meanwhile,
Slice or finely chop the beet roots. (there's no need to peel them).
Put them in a saucepan and just cover with water, and simmer until they
are soft. Mash them up a bit if you didn't chop finely enough to begin
with. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then pour into large
strainer lined with cotton mulsin cloth and collect the liquid. Gather
the corners of the cloth and slowly twist into a ball to squeeze out
most of the juice. (if you use cheesecloth instead of muslin, squeezing
will result in cloudy juice, but mulsin is woven a lot finer and I
usually squeeze it when I'm juicing crabapples, etc.)

This will make a horrible mess in your kitchen.

You're gonna reduce this, and serve it with liver??? :-P

Best regards,
Bob

In article >, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> > So if anybody has any experience of working with beetroot juice I would
> > certainly be grateful to be set on the right path.
> >
> > Derek
> > (Oxshott, Surrey, UK)
>
>
> Oddly enough,

Who you calling odd?

Barb Schaller (a legendary beet hater) has a lot of
> experience making beetroot juice. If she see's this message she'll
> probably reply.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 10-22-04; Popovers!.
"Peace will come when the power of love overcomes the love of power."
-Jimi Hendrix, and Lt. Joe Corcoran, Retired; St. Paul PD, Homicide Divn.

In article >,
PAMBLOC (Derek Carver) wrote:

> On a recent trip to France I was served a delicious liver dish in a
> 'sang de betrave' sauce. It's deep red looked wonderful on the
> plate, and was a superb accompaniment. But I can't figure out the
> best way to achieve this rather thick sauce.
>
> It gave the appearance of being reduced (maybe with some sugar) and
> stirred into the pan juices in which the liver had been cooked.
>
> My problem is how to get the juice in the first place. It seems that
> one could boil raw beetroot and then reduce the liquid (adding sugar,
> maybe, as I said) or One could boil beetroot and liquidise the whole
> thing (but I think that might make the sauce cloudy, which it wasn't
> - not that that matters if the flavour is there), or Maybe one can
> buy cans of beetroot juice (we don't have a juicer ourselves and I
> admit we've never seen it on sale - not that we've looked up till
> now).
>
> So if anybody has any experience of working with beetroot juice I
> would certainly be grateful to be set on the right path.
>

> Derek
> (Oxshott, Surrey, UK)

I'll light a candle for you, Derek. I make Beet Jelly. Beet water
flavored with Raspberry Kool-Aid. Some people really like it. :-)

How much liquid are you looking for? Were I you (and I'm glad I'm not),
I'd peel the disgusting beets (I know what zxcvbob said; I'm telling you
what I would do) , dice them small or shred them coarsely, put them into
a microwave-safe vessel, add a small amount (maybe a half cup) of water,
cover loosely, and nuke them for 5 minutes or so. That should get you a
fair amount of liquid if they were juicy to start with.

When I do mine for the jelly, I peel (I don't want boiled dirt in my
beet liquid) and slice or dice and put 3 cups of water in a pressure pan
with the beety bits and pressure cook them for about 10-15 minutes.
That pretty much gets rid of the color in the bits and gives me a
loverly deep magenta liquid that I use for the jelly. Check my webpage:
www.jamlady.eboard.com and look for the Beet Jelly note.

Dominatrix Pox Vobisgum
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 10-22-04; Popovers!.
"Peace will come when the power of love overcomes the love of power."
-Jimi Hendrix, and Lt. Joe Corcoran, Retired; St. Paul PD, Homicide Divn.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> I don't want boiled dirt in my beet liquid

How is that possible, whether you peel them are not? Beet juice *is*
boiled dirt.

(I guess peeling them might be easier than scrubbing them, I don't know.
You need to do one or the other)

Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > I don't want boiled dirt in my beet liquid
> How is that possible, whether you peel them are not? Beet juice *is*
> boiled dirt.
> (I guess peeling them might be easier than scrubbing them, I don't know.
> You need to do one or the other)
> Bob

Be ruthless about trimming the top where the leaves grow. Trim it all away.
This is the place where it mostly tastes like dirt. And try to buy beets
smaller than a fist. In fact 3 or 4" in about good. Tender young beets are
wonderful and pickled beets are better.
Edrena

zxcvbob wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > I don't want boiled dirt in my beet liquid
> How is that possible, whether you peel them are not? Beet juice *is*
> boiled dirt.
> (I guess peeling them might be easier than scrubbing them, I don't know.
> You need to do one or the other)
> Bob

Be ruthless about trimming the top where the leaves grow. Trim it all away.
This is the place where it mostly tastes like dirt. And try to buy beets
smaller than a fist. In fact 3 or 4" in about good. Tender young beets are
wonderful and pickled beets are better.
Edrena

Derek Carver > wrote:

> On a recent trip to France I was served a delicious liver dish in a 'sang de
> betrave' sauce. It's deep red looked wonderful on the plate, and was a superb
> accompaniment. But I can't figure out the best way to achieve this rather
> thick sauce.

I wonder whether they used beetroot juice, as such, or beetroot kvas,
i.e. fermented beetroot juice. Both would work in such a dish.
>
> It gave the appearance of being reduced (maybe with some sugar) and stirred
> into the pan juices in which the liver had been cooked.

Unlikely any sugar was added, as beetroot juice and even kvas are fairly
sweet by themselves and any reduction would have only accentuated the
sweetness.

> My problem is how to get the juice in the first place. It seems that one
> could boil raw beetroot and then reduce the liquid (adding sugar, maybe,
> as I said) or One could boil beetroot and liquidise the whole thing (but I
> think that might make the sauce cloudy, which it wasn't - not that that
> matters if the flavour is there), or Maybe one can buy cans of beetroot
> juice (we don't have a juicer ourselves and I admit we've never seen it on
> sale - not that we've looked up till now).

Commercial beetroot juice (very occasionally) and kvas (in health food
stores always) are avaialble where I live, maybe you can find them in
Surrey or, more likely, in London, too.

That said, beetroot juice is best prepared by carefully washing the
unpeeled beetroots, steaming them, then trimming and peeling them and
juicing them by some method, for example in a juicer. Unlike the
misguided, beetroot-hating Barb (who, in reality, *loves* 'em!), I
wouldn't add any water, which only dilutes the goodness.

BTW, Barb will be overjoyed to learn that Avicenna recommended
beetroot-juice enemas.

Victor

Derek Carver > wrote:

> On a recent trip to France I was served a delicious liver dish in a 'sang de
> betrave' sauce. It's deep red looked wonderful on the plate, and was a superb
> accompaniment. But I can't figure out the best way to achieve this rather
> thick sauce.

I wonder whether they used beetroot juice, as such, or beetroot kvas,
i.e. fermented beetroot juice. Both would work in such a dish.
>
> It gave the appearance of being reduced (maybe with some sugar) and stirred
> into the pan juices in which the liver had been cooked.

Unlikely any sugar was added, as beetroot juice and even kvas are fairly
sweet by themselves and any reduction would have only accentuated the
sweetness.

> My problem is how to get the juice in the first place. It seems that one
> could boil raw beetroot and then reduce the liquid (adding sugar, maybe,
> as I said) or One could boil beetroot and liquidise the whole thing (but I
> think that might make the sauce cloudy, which it wasn't - not that that
> matters if the flavour is there), or Maybe one can buy cans of beetroot
> juice (we don't have a juicer ourselves and I admit we've never seen it on
> sale - not that we've looked up till now).

Commercial beetroot juice (very occasionally) and kvas (in health food
stores always) are avaialble where I live, maybe you can find them in
Surrey or, more likely, in London, too.

That said, beetroot juice is best prepared by carefully washing the
unpeeled beetroots, steaming them, then trimming and peeling them and
juicing them by some method, for example in a juicer. Unlike the
misguided, beetroot-hating Barb (who, in reality, *loves* 'em!), I
wouldn't add any water, which only dilutes the goodness.

BTW, Barb will be overjoyed to learn that Avicenna recommended
beetroot-juice enemas.

Victor