Salt-Crusted Beets

I made this recipe as part of our anniversary dinner and even thought I was completed befuddled by the 'crusting' part of the recipe once I figured out that it was more of a 'sand castle' building skill than a culinary one, things went well. When crusting the beets just follow the instructions and place them on the salt mix mound instead of trying to hold it in your hands, like I did for the first 5 minutes. Put it down, really, and crust the top and sides with salt. It doesn't need to be perfect since it's not part of the final presentation. For the creme fraiche, we couldn't find pre-made one and didn't have time to make it from scratch, so we just used sour cream and it was really really good. And now that I think about it, not that hard to make - once I gave up having to perfectly crust them, things went smoothly and easy. The result is a salty flavor on the beets that was pretty amazing. John decided it was a definitive 'restaurant worthy' effort!

ps-call me if you start freaking out when salt-crusting!

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INGREDIENTS::

Horseradish Crème Fraîche:
1 cup crème fraîche (8 ounces)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar

Beets:
2 cups coarse kosher salt
5 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
3 large unpeeled beets (each about 8 ounces), trimmed, scrubbed

PREPARATION::

For horseradish crème fraîche: Whisk crème fraîche, horseradish, chopped chives, and Sherry wine vinegar in small bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

For beets:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix coarse salt, horseradish, thyme, and orange peel in medium bowl. Place three 3-tablespoon mounds of salt mixture on small rimmed baking sheet, spacing apart. Top each salt mound with 1 beet, then cover all beets with remaining salt mixture, pressing very firmly with hands and forming crust around each beet, covering completely.

Roast beets 1 3/4 hours. Remove from oven; crack salt crusts open and remove beets. Peel beets; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange beet slices on platter. Serve with horseradish crème fraîche.

(from Bon Appetit February 2008)