Beetroot isn't a vegetable I had worked with often or even thought of working with often before this past week. Reading about them and how fully one can utilise them completely changed that. For starters the fact that the entire plant is called a "beet" and one can use its leaves, stems and of course its beet-ROOT completely blew my mind to the amusement of many who saw my story on instagram.
I am trying really hard to be a waste neutral cook and so I was excited to try use the entire plant from root to leaf. My trusty Flavour Thesaurus (GET ONE) was a huge help in leading down the path of combining beef with beetroot for this visually arresting dish. My beef and beet jus tasted really amazing but unfortunately split just as i was about to add it to the plate, it was still a great dish and one of the prettiest things I think I've cooked. Ideal for a romantic dinner.
Time: 1h45
Serves: 2
Difficulty: Moderately Stress-inducing
Ingredients
4 Medium Beetroots with stems and leaves
2 Cloves Garlic
5 Sprigs thyme
2 Tbsp Honey
1/4 Cup Greek Yoghurt
1 Cup Arborio Rice
1 Cup Red Wine (sweeter than dry, I used Shiraz)
1.25 Litres Chicken Stock
1 Onion
1 Carrot
100g Goats Cheese
50g Parmesan
300g Eye Fillet Steak
200g Beef Bones (easily sourced from a butcher)
1 Tbsp Dijon
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C
Cut off the roots from the beetstems and scrub them clean before placing 3 the centre of a large piece of tin foil. Then add crushed garlic, honey, thyme and olive oil before wrapping up tightly and roasting for 45 minutes. The leftover beet should be chopped into chunks and added to a 1L pot of boiling water and left to reduce by half so you have 500mls beet juice
Season the fillet with salt and pepper and seal on all sides before brushing with Dijon and placing in the oven for 15 minutes for medium (using a thermometer is best). Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing 2cm thick slices
Add your beef bones, beet stems, half an onion and roughly chopped carrot to a roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil and season liberally before placing in the oven as well
Once the beetroots have finished roasting and cooled enough to handle, peel them and add to a blender with the greek yogurt and pulse until broken down enough to blend till smooth.
For the jus: Take the roasting tray out of the oven and place it over a medium heat on the stovetop, deglaze the pan with the beet juice let it simmer for 3 minutes before straining into a smaller saucepan and reducing to the desired thickness.
For the risotto: Fry the onions in a little olive oil with garlic before adding the arborio to toast for 1 minute. Pour in the red wine and stir continuously, add the chicken stock a cup at a time, adding another cup as the rice has almost absorbed the previous cup fully. When the rice is close to being done fold in the beetroot puree and add the parmesan before covering with a lid and turning off the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
In that time get 1/4 cup oil heated over medium hit in a small saucepan and fry the beet leaves till crispy before draining on a paper towel and seasoning with salt and pepper.
To serve place a well shaped mound of risotto on the plate, topped with goats cheese. Lean a piece of steak against it with 2 others nearby, arrange the leaves over the risotto and drizzle the jus over everything
Happy Cooking!
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