Mr. Sitwell has been craving pickled beets... "You know those crunchy beets you get when you go for a falafal? Those are the ones I want."
So I set out remembering those beets, thinking of how to achieve that crunchy texture. The other thing about them is that they're neither particularly sweet, nor very acidic. I probably looked through a dozen different recipes on the internet before coming across this one, which seemed to have the right idea:
"Middle Eastern Pickled Turnips & Beets
4-6 fresh turnips
2 fresh beets
1/2 cup course salt or pickling salt
6 cups water
1 glass jar with a tight lid
Wash the turnips and beets really well, peel them and cut into thick slices. Put the slices in the glass jar with the salt and add the water until the liquid fills the jar. Give them a little stir and put the lid on the jar tightly. Stand the jar in a warm, sunny spot in your kitchen. I put mine in my sun room since there's lots of sun coming in that room. It will take about 2-3 weeks for the turnips and beets to really pickle. If you want to make them spicy, add a chopped up hot pepper to the mix."
The key ideas are that the pickles are made with a simple salt brine, no sugar, and no vinegar. She also doesn't cook the beets, but lets them develop in the jar.
Here's what I did: Skinned and chopped the beets into home-fries-like shapes, about 3/8" thick. Placed them into my largest pot, along with 1 cup of coarse salt, a dash of white vinegar, and enough water to fill the whole pot. Brought it to a boil and simmered for 5 minutes. Placed the whole lot into a plastic bucket, lidded it, and submerged it in an ice water bath to cool it quickly, preventing the beets from softening too much.