Vegetables - Harvard Beets: The Return of Mrs. Gust Haugen

Beets.  I like beets.  It took me a long time to realize this was the case though.  Growing up, any beets I had came from a can, and there isn't much that comes out of cans that is really worth consuming (exceptions include baked beans, beer, tomatoes, and various varieties of legumes).  So for a long time at best I was indifferent to beets.  It wasn't until Sarah and I got a CSA box from Featherstone Farm that I had beets by choice.  I will say though that week after week of beets and more beets became something of a chore to eat, but I did learn that beets can be quite good... but not always.  Roasted beets = good.  Beet soup = edible.  Beet salad = good.  Beet hash = funny looking, but alright.

There's one thing though that always strikes me as a little strange about beets, they have tails.  Here's a picture of some of our beets from the farmers' market.

Sweet, innocent beets.

 The tails remind me of rat tails though, and together they make me think about rat kings.

EEEK!  Go away beet king!

Anyway...

This summer, we've been getting beets from the farmers' market more or less regularly as James announced that he likes them.  So seeing a beet recipe in the vegetable section of the cook book seemed like a good idea... or an idea at least.  I was a little concerned though because none of the recipes on the page had a name after them except for the last one, and that name was Mrs. Gust Haugen.  This seems to indicate that each of the recipes on the page were provided by Mrs. Haugen, which filled me with trepidation.

Let's review briefly, our previous submissions by this lady.

Cabbage Rolls: Meh
Carrot Ring and Creamed Peas: RUN AWAY!
Norwegian Meatballs: Meh -

(Meh + RUN AWAY! + (-)Meh)
-------------------------------------------    = Bleh
                       3

If Mrs. Gust Haugen wants to pass this class, she's going to have to step up her game.  Let's see how she does.

Preparation

All by Mrs. Gust Haugen?  Which would have been "best"?

The recipe is simple.  Cooked beets plus cornstarch sauce = Harvard Beets.  I can only guess that they are called Harvard beets due to the color, but who knows.  I really hope that these are served daily in some cafeteria on the Harvard campus.

'Gredients

Now who's to say whether or not Mrs. Haugen wanted us to use our victory garden beets, or to get those new-fangled, highly technological canned beets?  Despite her track record of less than stellar recipes, I am going to imagine that she had a fantastic vegetable garden and will skip the can.  That said, I am going to assume that if she used fresh beets that Mrs. Haugen would have boiled them rather than steamed them.  This also helps to solve the "water or beet juice" question in the recipe.  So I boiled the beets and used the beety water for the sauce.

Bright crimson beets, full of potential and promise

Pale, sad, boiled beets that will forever long for what could have been (beet salad)

Then it was a matter of mixing the sauce ingredients and cooking until thick.  Sarah looked at the recipe and sighed.  She's not a fan of thickening things with corn starch.  I use it here and there, but based on the consistency of this sauce, I understand where she's coming from.  As I am cooking the sauce, she says to me, "This totally makes me want to go to Harvard."  I'm assuming that Harvard beets is some convoluted recruitment effort by the university.  That sounds reasonable.

Ah, nice and syrupy.  

Tasting and Reaction

I served the beets with some stuffed potatoes and a salmon fillet.  It's strange to make a dinner that consists of more than one course.  But here you go.  For what it's worth, this salmon recipe is decent for a cheap frozen fillet and it makes for a quick and tasty dish.  The potatoes are baked, and then hollowed out and the flesh is mixed with plain yogurt, pepper, salt, cheddar, and broccoli, then put back into the potato skin, topped with more cheddar, and baked/broiled until brown.  Yum.  So that's what's for dinner tonight.

Sarah looks at the beets that I am dishing up for the boys and says, "Our poor offspring."

Sarah is thrilled.  That's her thrilled face.  

James is sweaty.  That's his sweaty face.

Sarah:  What do you think James?

James:  Mmmmmm!

Me:  James, do you like the beets?

James:  Uh-huh!  I like like beets.  I like like like them.

Well, that's not a bad reception.  Thomas wasn't so keen on them.  I'll just show the series of pictures and you can determine what you think he thought of them.

I think it is safe to say that he likes his rice better.  

James:  Do you like the beets mom?

Sarah:  Well, it’s not the worst thing I’ve put in my mouth.

Me:  And what’s the worst thing you’ve put in your mouth?

Sarah:  Did I try the carrot ring?  I think that might qualify.

James:  Mom, do you like the beets? [I guess he really wants her to like the beets]

Sarah:  They’re ok. 

Me:  They’re too vinegary for me.  I mean, it’s not strong vinegar, but it’s too much.

Sarah:  Maybe a different kind of vinegar, like apple cider vinegar?  I think it’s supposed to add a depth of flavor, but I think that could be accomplished in other ways.

Me:  Maybe so.  I’m not sold.

Sarah:  Well… I’ll finish what you gave me. [a glowing endorsement]

Me:  I’m not sure what to think of the… umm… sauciness.

Sarah: The sauce seems a little sweet and unnaturally thick.

Me:  I put in the full amount of sugar called for in the range offered.  Hmmm...the sauce looks a little bit like cheap costume blood.  It’s a little purple, but it’s close.

Appetizing.

Alright alright alright, to be fair this wasn't bad.  It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad.  If I had used canned beets it would be bad, but there was still some texture to the beets and beet flavor that hadn't been cooked out like would have happened with canned beets.  They were a bit sweet as Sarah mentioned, and they were definitely too vinegary for my tastes.  Though I don't care for vinegary things in general, so I wasn't likely to be a real big fan of these to begin with.  I think Sarah's assessment of the sauce was accurate as it just seemed a little well... corn starchy.

Final Thoughts

So on the Mrs. Gust Haugen continuum, Harvard beets fall somewhere between her cabbage rolls and her Norwegian meatballs with a qualified "meh", qualified due to my personal tastes.  Sadly, this only raises her dish average to Ugh, a step over bleh.  So well done?

I think I've finally figured out the relationship between Harvard and Harvard beets.  The clue was in the logo for the university.

That lion?  It's running from the beet king, and that's the truth.

Next time:  Fancy Cookies!

P.S.:  If you want to do a recipe out of the Canning section that I am skipping over again, please let me know.  I'd be delighted for someone to do a guest post.