Our recent trip to Europe took us to Southern France. We spent almost two weeks in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. One town we really enjoyed was Oloron St. Marie. We stayed at a beautiful bed & breakfast, complete with a magical garden, a creek and the most wonderful host ever. Patrick turned out to be one of these rare finds: interesting person, widely traveled, a mountain climber, and a fantastic chef to boot! During our stay, he served us this amazing “Beet Mousse” as a first course.
After my return home, I visited the farmers market, where I couldn’t resist these beautiful red, golden and candy cane striped beets. I had been thinking about recreating the beet mousse Patrick had made. He was kind enough to share the recipe with me.
So here it is:
4 to 5 small beets
2 to 3 tablespoons of mascarpone or sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
ground cayenne or a milder pepper ( I used some Espelette pepper I brought back from Oloron )
1 lemon, juiced
Boil or roast the beets until tender. When cool, slip off the skin.
Add the beets, mascarpone and lemon juice to the food processor and puree until smooth and silky. Taste, and add salt and pepper to your liking. Chill in the refrigerator until serving time. Sprinkle with chopped, toasted pistachios or fresh dill.
I made both golden and red beet mousse. Both were very delicious!
in cahoots with muddy boots 
I forgot which post that we chatted about cheese substitutes but I finally tried Heidi Ho it was pretty good, just wish it had a firmer consistency but the flavor of ” smoky ” was pretty good.
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If you see her “feta cheese” try it. The flavor is nice and it has a similar texture. I’ve used the smoky one as well and like it,
A while back I made some mac & cheese for a friend, using butternut squash for the sauce. It was really tasty, and everyone liked it better than the real thing.
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Wow never thought of substituting squash in macaroni and cheese, that sounds amazing. Did you puree the squash? The package says to use it for fettuccine Alfredo, not sure if that would work but one container wouldn’t be enough, now my intolerance gets pricey. So glad I have more options. Now I still need to plan to go to a nut cheese shop called “Dr Cow” in Brooklyn, maybe I’ll write a post on it.
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The Mac and cheese recipe can be found at the Post Punk Kitchen blog. The squash is first roasted, and it also uses cashews. Really yummy. I also find Heidi Ho’s products pricey, so I rarely buy it. I hope to hear about Dr. Cow in one of your future posts, it sounds intriguing. When I make the beet mousse again, I’ll use fresh silken tofu (well drained) and that would make it vegan.
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Some weeks I’m vegetarian, then I’m not but I’m always lactose intolerant, lol. I think I will do a post on it, there’s a vegan pop up shop in Brooklyn on the weekends I need to find it before it gets cold.
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I am mostly vegan, but sometimes it’s hard to do while traveling. I am mostly lactose intolerant, but can handle a little cheese now and then. But I do feel better when I am complete dairy free.
Good luck on finding the shop and try the PPK Mac and cheese. I think you’ll like it.
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Thank you, that was very kind of you! Btw, I hope I do find the pop up shop, that will give you more reason to visit!
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Cool! I’ve already seen enough fabulous places to put New York on my destination list!
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Thanks I will check out the recipe!
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Such a tasty, healthy treat, well worthy of Tasty Tuesday!
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Thank you kind Sir!
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Love beets – roasted, pickled, on salads, gratins you name it! I want to try this mousse/mash. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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Same here! A friend just gave me a bunch of beautiful beets from her garden, so I think I’ll make a hash. The greens will get sautéed with a little garlic to serve along side it. Now I’m getting hungry!
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They sure look pretty. I’ve never heard of beet mousse. The B&B sounds fabulous though. I’m trying to catch up. 🙂
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It is very tasty, even Robbie liked it! Hope all is well with you.
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I’ll bet it was right up Robbie’s ally. Still struggling with fatigue. Not sure what that’s about. Maybe stress. Working to let that go.
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I hope you’ll get over your fatigue. It is no fun to be low on energy all the time. Let me know if I can do anything for you.
Robbie is getting cuter by the day. He rally wants to walk!
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Robbie loved this! I enjoyed it too but didn’t get to eat it all since Robbie kept demanding more lol. When all was done he reminded me of snow white but with a tan 🙂
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We’ll have to do it again soon! It’s fun watching him grow and learn about the world! Extra beet mousse for you!
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