Red Beet Eggs

The Easter egg hunt is over.  The kids are on a sugar high, and you’ve got a dozen dyed hard boiled eggs in your fridge.  What to do with them?  Two classics come to my mind:  egg salad and deviled eggs.  Kimiko will share her deviled egg recipe on Monday.  But there’s another way to use up those eggs:  red beet eggs.

This is another one of our great grandmother’s recipes.  We grew up eating these Pennsylvania Dutch pickled eggs.  While they might sound strange, I encourage anyone who likes pickled foods to give them a try.  If you don’t like the idea of pickled eggs, you can omit the eggs and just make pickled beets.

When I have beets from my garden, I like to use those.  But canned beets produce a great product too.  Just be sure to buy straight beets and not pickled beets.  Sliced or whole work.

The longer the eggs stay in the vinegar mixture, the more they will soak up the color and flavor.  When we were kids, Kimiko would wait until the yolk turned red.  If they are left in too long, however, they will start to get rubbery.

Red Beet Eggs

1 can beets with liquid (about 1 pint)

1 c. cider vinegar

⅓ c. vinegar

¾ tsp. salt

¼ c. sugar (more or less to taste)

8 eggs, hard-boiled and shelled

In medium saucepan, combine beets (with liquid), both vinegars, salt, and sugar.  Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Place eggs in medium-sized container with tight-fitting lid.  Pour beet mixture over eggs.  Add water if necessary to cover all eggs.

This is a six-cup container.

Refrigerate 2-3 days or until pickled to preference.

One-day eggs.

Two-and-a-half-day eggs.

Three-day eggs.  Notice there's no white left!