Interesting beet dish this morning

Cafe Society
#1

Having newly arrived in DC, I’ve been exploring some of the local food options. This morning I had some business to attend to in Cleveland Park and decided to have a bite to eat afterward. I was disappointed to find very little open before 11. I had a coffee at Firehook Bakery before heading to Ardeo for brunch. $25 for two courses and bottomless mimosas. Yum.

For the first course I had beets with sour cherries, blue cheese, and walnuts(? I get nuts mixed up sometimes). These are all things I enjoy separately, but I would have never thought to combine them. The cherries looked like they had been canned (not in syrup, mind you; that’s gross), but that’s fine; sour cherries have a short season, and lurve me some sour cherries so long as they aren’t in syrupy goo. It was a slightly bizarre, but tasty combination of flavors. I think I’ll try this again, and it’s certainly something I could slap together on my own if I want.

#2

Apart from the cherries, I’ve made something similar whenever beets are in season here in fall. Also try switching the blue cheese to goat cheese (chevre) or adding some rosemary, thyme and honey. You can leave the walnuts out, too, if you want. It takes about 35-40 minutes to bake in an oven so the beets are softened, so it’s not something quick to whip up a snack, but it’s worth it.

#3

I’ve had beets with goat cheese before. Quite tasty. The last place I had them didn’t do much with the beets (and IMO good beets don’t need much modification.) The goat cheese was a breaded, fried disk. It was served with a balsamic vinegar reduction between the two.

I rarely cook beets myself. I ought to.

#4

Kerouac compote?