Beetroot and Carrot Caviar

Unclear why this is called caviar, as there are no fish eggs and it bears no resemblance to fish eggs.

Equipment

• Large pan (if you use cast iron, you'll need to re-season it when finished)
• Cuisinart with grating attachment or coarse cheese grater
• Citrus reamer

Ingredients

Quantities are flexible:

• ~ 1 lb of beets
• 2-4 carrots depending on size
• One small yellow or sweet onion
• a few cloves of garlic, to taste
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 lemon
• fresh dill, ~1 1/2 cups chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Track 1

ideally this is done a day or more in advance so the beets are cool for later.

1. Prepare the beets. Wash them thoroughly, put them in a pot of cold to warm water (not hot) and bring to a boil
2. Boil the beets for ~30-35 minutes, until a fork can stab them without too much effort
3. Blanch off the skins: submerge the hot beet with tongs in a bowl of cold water, and use your hands to slip the skins off. Do this in the sink/in close proximity to the compost bin. It will look like a murder scene.
4. Put the beets aside/away to cool.

Track 2

1. Chop the onions into fine slices and peel the garlic. If the cloves are huge, cut them into normal smallish garlic clove proportions.
2. Caramelize the onions and garlic. Cook the onions until they begin to be translucent and then add the garlic and some salt. The onions will take about 30 minutes to caramelize into a nice golden brown. The garlic doesn't become translucent but it will brown slightly and become soft.
3. While the onions and garlic are cooking, shred the carrots. You can do this with a hand grater, but a cuisinart is much faster and less hazardous to the knuckles.
4. Chop the dill and juice the lemon for later.
5. Once the onions are close to done (~25 minutes), add the carrots and a bit more salt and saute the mixture for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover, and let simmer for a few minutes.
6. While the pan is simmering, shred the (cooled) beets. Add them to the mix.
7. Add the dill, lemon juice, and coriander, and more salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Great as an addition to sandwiches or salads. If you want to serve it as a dip, you can chuck the whole lot in the cuisinart to puree it.

Contributed by Sophie