Roasting the beets is essential for the flavour and texture to develop. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall used a mortar and pestle to pulverize the garlic and the walnuts. I found it simpler to put the garlic and walnuts between two sheets of plastic wrap and hitting it with the blunt side of a meat tenderizer. I have a mortar and pestle too, but I don’t use it for food preparation, its one of the few family heirlooms I have from Hungary .
It used to belong to my great grandmother. My great grandfather was a musician [he played the clarinet] and my great grandma was wildly eccentric. They lived in the outskirts of Makó, where people had outhouses and used potties for the night. One day great grandma went to the market to buy sour cream, but she forgot the jug at home, and since she needed a new potty anyway, she bought a potty and got it filled with sour cream. Grandma, who was a young girl at the time, was absolutely mortified walking through the village with her mother carrying the sour cream filled potty.
My great grandmother
József Fehérné, Mária Ürge 1880 – 1949
BEETROOT FETA AND WALNUT SALAD
6 beetroots
2 garlic cloves
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup walnuts
pinch of salt
1/3 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Scrub the beetroots, peel and chop into same size pieces.
- Lay them on the prepared baking pan and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil.
- Bake until tender.
- Meanwhile crush the garlic and 1/4 cup walnuts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with the blunt side of a meat tenderizer.
- Mix in 2 Tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Remove beets from the oven and arrange on a serving platter.
- Scatter feta cheese over the beets.
- Distribute
the crushed walnut mixture and the coarsely chopped walnuts on top.
