Beetroot
For the sweetest flavour, and silky smooth texture pick your beetroot when they're about golfball size. Leave the central root, and 1in stalks on your beets to stop the deep red juice leaking out and to preserve the flavour when they cook.
Boiled
Beetroot is wonderful boiled and served with a knob of butter or a little olive oil. Boil them with the skin on. Put on a pair of marigolds to peel the skin off unless you fancy rose tinted fingertips.
Beetroot goes very well with rich game dishes, duck or lamb, in which case it's nice to add a few black peppercorns or juniper berries to the boiling water to take on these flavours.
Roasted
Beetroot is even more delicious roasted. Put them in a roasting dish with half a centimetre of water. Cover the whole dish with foil and roast at about 160C for about 45 minutes. Remove and peel as above.
Roasted Roots
Peel the beetroot and cut into wedges. Add other veg you've got available, like carrots, parsnips and squash, along with some whole unpeeled garlic cloves and woody herbs like thyme or rosemary. Combine with a good glug of olive oil and season well before roasting in a preheated oven at 200C for about an hour.
Salads
Always pick a few young beetroot leaves to add colour to salads.