Ingredients

• 3 pounds beets (8 medium, including greens), scrubbed and stems trimmed to 1 1/2 inches
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
• 5 whole cloves
• 24 quail eggs or 5 regular large eggs

Instructions

1. Cover beets with cold water by 1 inch in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer beets, partially covered with lid, until tender, about 40 minutes. Transfer beets to a bowl with a slotted spoon (reserving them for another use), then measure out 2 cups beet cooking liquid, discarding remainder. Bring beet liquid to a boil in a small saucepan along with vinegar, sugar, salt, bay leaves, and cloves, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool pickling liquid completely, about 1 hour.
2. While pickling liquid cools, cover eggs with cold water by 1 inch in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring gently (to help center the yolks in eggs). Reduce heat and gently boil eggs, uncovered and undisturbed, 3 minutes (or 10 minutes for regular eggs). Pour off water and shake pan so eggs hit each other, lightly cracking shells. Cover eggs with cold water and let stand 15 minutes (to stop cooking and facilitate peeling).
3. Drain and peel eggs, then transfer to a glass jar or deep bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons pickling liquid (for watercress salad vinaigrette; recipe precedes) and pour remaining liquid over eggs. Let eggs (quail or regular) pickle, covered, 24 hours.