Poached Apple with Sweet and Sour Beets

We just spent a week in Warsaw.  Our hotel served a wonderful breakfast and we tried out different several different restaurants – a burger at the Hard Rock Cafe, sushi,  a couple of English pubs, and as just before we caught our train, we had fantastic lunch at Moulin Rouge, a restaurant in the mall between our hotel and the train station.  I loved the beets they served and was confident I could duplicate the dish at home.  The beets had a subtle sweet and sour flavor and were served on top of a thick slice of cooked apple.

I love a vertical presentation and can think of many occasions to serve this.  It has a real autumnal feel and would be the perfect as something new and different for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

2 beets (approximately 2 pounds total)

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, diced

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 Granny Smith apples

apple juice

1/4 cup seedless blackberry preserves

Directions

• Trim the top and bottom of the beets, peel, and grate
• Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onions and cook until they just begin to brown
• Add the beets, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, cover and cook over medium-low heat until the beets are tender, 35 – 45 minutes, stirring occasionally
• While the beets are cooking, slice the apples in half crosswise, remove the core and if necessary, trim a bit from the top and bottom to give your apple halves a flat, stable base
• Place the apples in a pan and add about half an inch of apple juice, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, turning once, until the apple is tender, about 15 minutes
• Stir the blackberry preserves into the beets and heat until melted (if you can’t find seedless, heat the blackberry  preserves or jam and strain out the seeds)
• Serve the beets on top of an apple half

Serves: 4