Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Happy Days with Jamie: Roasted Carrots and Beets with Pork Chops



This meal made me happy. It was an impressive meal…it wasn’t difficult to toss together and I learned a few things about beets.

For instance, if you want your veggies to be tender you may pre-boil them for a short time, about 20 minutes. The smaller the beets the better as, they will be more tender after a 20 minute boil (unless you want to cut them into smaller pieces.)

Also, did you know if you handle a hot beet to peel it that you will drop that hot beet on your counter?

Did you also know that a hot beet traveling just a short distance from your scalded hand to the countertop will gain enough velocity to splatter….alot.

Did you know hot beet juice erupting upwards toward your bare arms will stain? They do!!!




Jamie at Home



Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds carrots, mixed colors if available, peeled
1 1/2 pounds beets, different sizes and colors if available
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bulb garlic, broken apart, 1/2 the cloves smashed, 1/2 left whole
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 orange, juiced
A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
A few sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 thick organic pork loin chops, skin on
8 fresh sage leaves
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the carrots into a large pot and the beets into another, and add enough water to cover them. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until just tender, then drain and place in separate bowls. Peel the beets, and cut any larger carrots and beets in half or into quarters. Smaller ones can stay whole.



Now add the flavorings while the vegetables are still hot.
Toss the carrots with half the smashed garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the orange juice and the thyme leaves and toss again. Mix the beets with the rest of the garlic, the rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.

Place the vegetables either into separate ovenproof dishes, or together on a large roasting pan with the carrots in 1 half of the pan and the beets in the other. Place in the middle of the preheated oven and roast for around 1/2 hour or until golden. (I used two different dishes)

While the carrots and beets are cooking, prepare the chops and press a sage leaf onto the meat. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the chops with about a TB of olive oil, turning over after 8 minutes or so. After that place in the oven until cooked through. (For my oven it was 10 minutes) They were so juicy!



Pour most of the fat out of the pan and add a squeeze of lemon juice to it. Stir and scrape the bits off the bottom and drizzle all over the chops. Remove the carrots and beets from the oven - they should be nice and sticky by now. Serve them with the chops and a glass of wine.


Another tip: When roasting the beets in a pan with the balsamic vinegar mix will result in a burnt mess that is awful to try and scrub out. I wasn’t about to throw out my glass dish so I soaked it in hot water with a bit of Dawn dishwashing liquid and a ½ cup of white vinegar. You still need a bit of scrubbing but I saved my dish.

Next time I will roast beets in an aluminum pan that can be tossed.

A good meal...definitely one we will be having again!



You know what to do...surf to IHCC.....

IHCCJamieOliver

32 comments:

  1. Haha I have stained my fingers and various body parts many times with beet juice....it definitely makes for some strange looks on the subway.

    What a great dish!

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  2. Wow! There's a lot I didn't know about beets. Thanks for the lessons ;-) You had me laughing from the start with the first picture!

    I'm glad the meal was delicious despite the challenges!

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  3. Simple and gorgeous colored veggies!! THe Pork chop looks delish

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  4. been cooking a few chops lately myself.... can't say that about the beets though - nor anything of Jamie's... hey, every thing from the salsa event looked great and delish

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  5. lol, yup been there through all of that before...ha ha ha. That said, I still love beets ;) This is the simple, no-nonsense type of meal that I just adore. Yummy ;)

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  6. I love beets and make them with yogurt! I am sure it was a very filling meal Tina!

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  7. Great post and two more things to know about cooking beets. 1) wear rubber gloves when peeling them; 2) always use aluminum foil to line pans. Clean ups are always a breeze.

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  8. Funny post! Looks good and great choice of wine. One of my favorite go to. I made beets yesterday but used the yellow ones. That way, I'm safe :-)

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  9. I love beets, they are so tasty. So funny about the splashage, the risks we take in the kitchen!

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  10. This sounds wonderful; what a painful mess that beet caused; wow. Beet seem to be the in rhing right now and I love them.
    Rita

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  11. Love that picture of Jamie with the pig's head. He sure is a character, isn't he? You may not believe this, but I've never ate a beet AND I've never worked with them either. I definitely want to give them a try soon. Looks great!

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  12. I will definitely have to try roasting the beets, thanks for the tip about the pan! I always remember their staining potential after it's already too late.

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  13. We call them beetroot - LURVE beetroot! I've never boiled them or carrots before roasting them before ... *makes mental note to try doing just that*

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  14. Thanks you all! What a nice thing to log online and see such great comments. I'm off to visit you now :-)

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  15. You certainly learned a lot from this recipe! lol ;-) It looks really wonderful--lots of color.

    BTW--I love the new header/look on your blog. ;-)

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  16. I need to give beets another try. I love them and eat them, but have only tried making them once. They seemed to cook for hours and were still hard. I didn't parboil them and that might be the answer. As soon as they appear in the farmers' markets, I'm going to give Jamie's prep a go. Thanks for a great post.

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  17. Ciao ! Your crazy beets scared me ! (I usually line my pan with oven paper ) lovely meal !

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  18. Oh I definitely learned a thing or two on this recipe! Usually I roast beets.

    Thanks about the new header :-)

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