[1 - 1] today we aren't going to beat around the
[1 - 3] bush look if you can't beat them join
[3 - 5] them we march to the beat of a different
[5 - 9] drum when that beat drops let us beat a
[9 - 12] hasty retreat okay I'm done let's talk
[19 - 19] most of us think of the dark red inky
[19 - 21] specimens when we think about beats but
[21 - 23] let's not forget our other options there
[23 - 25] are yellow beats also known as golden
[25 - 26] beets these tend to be less sweet than
[26 - 28] red beats and almost carrot like in
[28 - 29] flavor and there are candy-striped beats
[30 - 31] but just look so beautiful with their
[31 - 33] concentric alternating circles of red
[33 - 35] and white fair warning though those
[35 - 37] beautiful concentric circles lead to an
[37 - 38] even pink when beets are cooked and
[38 - 40] there are even white beets which
[40 - 42] honestly to this day I kind of struggle
[42 - 44] with I mean I turned beet red I struggle
[44 - 46] with beet stains on my cutting boards I
[46 - 47] mean beet pickled eggs I dye my hair
[47 - 49] with beet juice I mean isn't that what
[49 - 51] beets are all about but with white beets
[51 - 53] just all goes out the window
[53 - 56] frankly it's destabilizing beets get
[56 - 58] their color from a class of pigments
[58 - 59] known as imbed elaine's
[59 - 61] these compounds are closely related to
[61 - 62] anthocyanins which are the purple blue
[62 - 64] pigments that give us color in red
[64 - 65] cabbage and blueberries interestingly
[65 - 68] the stems of rainbow Swiss chard also
[68 - 70] get their color from feta lanes even
[70 - 73] more interesting Lee is beet greens are
[73 - 74] delicious and they could be subbed in to
[74 - 76] any recipe calling for Swiss chard
[76 - 79] beyond betel lanes which oddly enough is
[79 - 80] also the title of my forthcoming memoir
[81 - 83] there's a lot of interesting chemistry
[83 - 85] to report on when it comes to beets ask
[85 - 86] anyone on the street what beets taste
[86 - 88] like and there's a really high
[88 - 89] probability that you'll get the
[89 - 91] adjective earthy the chemical that gives
[91 - 93] beets their earthy aroma and flavor is
[93 - 95] called geosman can you guess where else
[95 - 98] geosman is found that's right soil you
[98 - 100] guys are so smart you know that
[100 - 101] unmistakable smell in the air when it
[101 - 104] rains after a long dry spell that smell
[104 - 105] is due to a high concentration of
[105 - 107] geosman and that surface soil being
[107 - 109] forced into the air by crashing
[109 - 111] raindrops so if a beet hater we all know
[111 - 113] there are a lot of beet haters out there
[113 - 114] tells you they don't like eating beets
[114 - 117] because they taste like dirt you can
[117 - 120] tell them that's that's largely accurate
[120 - 122] but when geosman finds itself in acidic
[122 - 124] conditions it converts to an odorless
[125 - 127] compound so think about pickled beets beets in
[127 - 129] so think about pickled beets beets in vinaigrette you know I'm talking about
[129 - 130] you can control that earthiness
[130 - 132] personally I love that earthiness and
[132 - 134] beats it's balanced by a luscious
[134 - 137] sweetness beets are jam-packed with
[137 - 138] sugar the kind that we cook with and eat are
[138 - 140] the kind that we cook with and eat are on par sweetness wise with apples in
[140 - 142] sugar beets which are a major source of
[142 - 144] sugar production here in the US contain
[144 - 147] about 20% sucrose by weight that beats
[147 - 148] out sugarcane but no matter what you
[148 - 150] think of beets their earthiness their
[150 - 152] sweetness how creepy the white ones are
[152 - 154] there's one thing that we can all agree
[154 - 157] on beets take a really long time to cook
[157 - 158] think about it can you name another
[158 - 160] vegetable about the size of a baseball
[160 - 161] that you wrap in foil throw in a hot
[161 - 164] oven and roast for an hour just to
[164 - 165] tenderize it now if you're yelling at
[165 - 167] your screen right now yeah baked
[167 - 170] potatoes first off please don't yell at
[170 - 172] me I wouldn't do that to you I just
[172 - 173] wouldn't do that but look the difference
[173 - 175] here is even after an hour sure the beet
[175 - 177] is tender but it's still firm it has
[177 - 179] almost a crisp texture where's the
[179 - 180] potato is just falling apart
[180 - 182] that kind of feat is made possible by a
[182 - 184] high concentration of phenolic compounds
[184 - 186] which strengthen the cell walls and
[186 - 187] beets and make them particularly heat
[187 - 189] stable and if we're talking about Heat
[189 - 190] and you can't stand the heat and you
[190 - 193] better get out of the kitchen guys this
[193 - 194] isn't gonna work it's not gonna work
[194 - 196] because I have to go to the I have to go
[196 - 199] to the kitchen right not out of it
[199 - 200] that's how the show works I always go to
[200 - 206] the kitchen yeah I know I wrote it you
[206 - 210] don't have to remind me of that let's go
[210 - 212] to kitchen first let's whip up a batch
[212 - 214] of pickled beets this is a recipe by
[215 - 217] Sasha Mart's and it takes advantage of
[217 - 218] the wonderful bacteria that give us half
[218 - 220] sour pickles and fermented hot sauce
[220 - 222] you've seen the hot sauce episode right
[222 - 227] no we just sliced some gorgeous red
[227 - 229] beets on a mandolin nice and thin
[229 - 231] combined with a brine and let it sit for
[231 - 233] about a week the beets emerge crisp
[233 - 235] tangy and delicious far cry from the
[235 - 237] weird jarred pickled beets that everyone
[237 - 239] is afraid of the beets are awesome on
[239 - 241] salad sandwiches you name it but the
[241 - 243] beet pickling liquid is just as valuable
[243 - 246] one crazy use for it this Campari and
[246 - 248] orange juice infused granita if you find
[248 - 250] Campari too bitter and you're not a big
[250 - 252] beet fan this is not the recipe for you
[252 - 254] but if like me you like kicking back in
[254 - 255] the middle along
[255 - 257] work day with a Negroni you need this
[257 - 258] recipe and if you're gonna blow some
[258 - 260] minds at your next dinner party you
[260 - 262] absolutely need this beet and buttermilk
[262 - 264] panna cotta with black sesame brittle
[264 - 266] the sweetness of the beets and the Tang
[266 - 267] nice of the buttermilk work together to
[267 - 269] create something truly special but I can
[269 - 271] hear some of you saying whoa whoa slow
[271 - 273] down Danny Boy I'm just here for my beet
[273 - 275] salad with goat cheese whatever happen
[275 - 277] to that don't worry I'm here for that to
[277 - 279] you but we can do it better than before
[279 - 281] most of the time we cook our beets whole
[281 - 282] and they do all of our peeling and
[282 - 284] cutting afterwards but we can actually
[284 - 286] speed up cooking time considerably if we
[286 - 287] do our peeling and cutting first like we
[287 - 289] do with most other vegetables beets can
[289 - 291] stain everything so if you have gloves
[291 - 293] it's helpful to wear them here or just
[293 - 296] let your hands get pink just peel cut
[296 - 298] tossed with water and salt and microwave
[298 - 300] covered until tender that took just 20
[300 - 304] minutes take that phenolic compounds
[305 - 307] well those little jewels cool we'll make
[307 - 308] a creamy component for the salad with
[308 - 310] goat cheese chives the lemon and a
[310 - 312] little care way nice and we'll lightly
[312 - 314] dress some arugula and our beets and
[314 - 317] we'll plate it up just like this man
[317 - 320] this is almost too pretty to eat I said
[320 - 328] almost this is how to eat beets
[331 - 331] hey it's Valentine's Day and instead of
[331 - 332] chocolate this year show the person you
[332 - 334] really love what you actually think
[334 - 336] about that make him something with beats