Pickled Beets and Eggs with Onion
Reader Jake Bryan was kind enough to share his grandmother’s Pennsylvania Dutch recipe for pickled beets and eggs with onion. Only modification I’ve made is the salt content: Jake uses 1½ t per pint. (But he tells me his granny used a tablespoon.) Based on 1 dozen eggs.
Ingredients (per pint of pickling liquid):
1 c beet boiling liquid (see below)
1 c cider vinegar
2 t Kosher salt*
1 t whole black peppercorns
1 T whole mustard seed
6-8 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
8-12 peeled hard boiled eggs
1 lb red beets
1 large onion
2 peeled garlic cloves
Pickled eggs in their jar; I took a couple out before photo which is why the liquid does not come to the top of the jar.
Method: boil washed, whole, unpeeled beets until cooked through but still firm. Save some of boiling liquid for pickling. Peel and slice cooked beets; place into large jar or non-metallic container along with hard boiled eggs and the separated rings of one thinly sliced onion.
Prepare the pickling liquid by mixing beet water, cider vinegar and spices. Bring to the boil and pour over contents of pickling jar. The ingredients should be covered and the liquid should come within ½ inch of the top of the container; if needed add more pickling liquid. Cover jar and cool to room temperature; refrigerate for one week before serving. Will keep for at least a month under refrigeration.
*An earlier version of this recipe left out the salt. FIXED.
