Being on a farm and not getting a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables all the time. Or getting a whole lot at once I try to preserve the fruit and vegetables. The most successful preserving vegetables are beetroot, carrots, green beans and tomatoes.
The most important thing is that you sterilise your glass containers so there is no bacteria that will let it go bad after a few weeks.
Try not to overcook the vegetables, it still must be a little crunchy.
I will share the recipes of pickled beetroot.
Pickled Beetroot
Boil beetroot in a big pot filled with water on your stove top until you can easily stick a fork into a beet, it must still be firm. Be patient, this might take a while, up to 1 hour. Remove the beets from the pot, let it cool down. Remove the skins and cut the beet into small cubes. Some like it grated or just cut into slices.
Ingredients:
6-8 cups cubed cooked beetroot
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups vinegar
2 Tbsp corn starch, mixed with a little bit of water
1 Tbsp mild curry powder
1 tsp salt
Method:
Add the sugar and vinegar to a pot. On low heat let the sugar dissolve while stirring constantly.
Add the beetroot and cook for 10 min.
Lastly add the corn starch, curry powder and salt. Let it cook a further 2 minutes.
Sterilise your glass bottles and add the cooked beet into the jars.
Making Biltong is a very old tradition, it comes from the Bushmen who learned how to preserve their meat for long periods of time because they did not have cooling facilities. It is also very high in protein and keratin.
You can use venison or beef. Cut out pieces of meat and we layer them with vinegar and salt, pepper and coriander. Leave them for a day, buy turning every few hours. Hang it out to dry in the wind. Biltong time is usually during the dry months, that is usually our winter.
