Beet Borscht
From The Victory Garden, by Marian Morash:
In Eastern Europe, where borscht is king, you could eat a different borscht every week of the year, and each would be authentic. Although borscht is thought of as a beet dish, the word means any soup made with a variety of vegetables.
My version is easy to fix, yet retains the qualities in a more time-consuming preparation. I flavor with Kvas, a traditional fermented beet liquid, but it's not necessary; substitute lemon juice juice if you wish. Notice that vegetables are simmered to preserve the red color of the beets; boiling turns them sienna brown. Borscht ages well; in fact, my family prefers itthe next day or even later in the week. Served with sour cream, black bread, and sweet butter, you'll have a hearty and satisfying meal.
2 thick slices bacon
1 large onion
2 stalks celery
1 large beet
2 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh tomato pulp or canned plum tomatoes
1 cup peeled and chopped potatoes
1 qt beef stock
1 qt water
3 peppercorns
6 sprigs parsley
1 tsp salt
2 cups julienned or coarsely grated beets
1 cup julienned or coarsely grated carrots
4 Tbs butter
3 cups shredded cabbage
Freshly ground pepper
Kvas or fresh lemon juice
Fresh dill (optional)
Sour cream
Chop bacon, blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water, drain, and dry thoroughly. Lightly brown bacon in a frying pan. Remove bacon and reserve the fat. Chop onion and celery and saute in bacon fat until barely wilted and lightly colored. Wash and grate beet, and halve garlic.
Place the bacon, onion, celery, beet, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, stock, water, peppercorns, parsley, and salt into a large soup pot. Bring to a boll, then turn heat down and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Remove vegetables and put through the finest disk of a food mill sieve or food processor, discarding the pulp and seeds. (Or you can just blend it in a blender. - KEV). Add the puree to the broth.
Saute julienned beets and carrots in 2 tablespoons butter for 5 minutes. Add to the soup base and simmer for 15 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, braise cabbage in remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan, stirring occasionally, for 5 Minutes or until wilted and slightly colored. Add to soup and simmer 15 minutes longer. Taste for seasoning, add pepper and salt if necessary; add sufficient kvas or lemon juice to give a slightly tart, but not sour taste. Just before serving, heat to boiling and add dill if you like. Dish up with a spoonful of sour cream on each serving. (The dill can also be passed as a garnish.) (Makes 2 quarts).
- For a heartier meal, simmer 1 pound brisket, 1 pound meaty shinbone, and 1 teaspoon salt in 2 quarts water or combination water and beef stock for 1 hour. Then simmer vegetables in this meat stock for 45 minutes, as above. When straining reserve meat to add to finished soup.
- Combine other vegetables such as parsnips, celariac, beans, and turnips with the basic vegetable mixture, and proceed as above.
- To further thicken soup, mash a cooked potato into broth.
- For a light, clear broth, cook all the vegetables at one time and strain them out: the resulting clear soup is good hot or cold. Let the soup sit unstrained for a few hours to intensify the flavor.
Note: If your soup boiled and the beet red has turned to brown, grate a raw beet into a saucepan, cover it with boiling water and 2 tablespoons vinegar, bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Leave it for 30 minutes and then strain into the soup. The borscht will become red again.
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