Ukrainian borscht
My friend Dan, who also studied Russian once upon a time, named this recipe that I once dictated for him "Tom’s Boisterous Bold Bolshevik Borscht." Technically speaking, the Bolsheviks were a Russian political party and this is a Ukrainian borscht but who can resist that alliteration? I usually start this soup with a homemade vegetable stock (recipe to come). It's a labor-intensive process but trust me, this soup is worth it. One time I made it with leftover prime rib and … omg I cannot begin to explain how exquisite that was. Dan noted no peasant or tsar ever had borscht so good.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 quarts broth or stock vegetable, beef or chicken
- 1 lb beef bones (optional)
- 4-6 medium beets
- 1/2 head small red cabbage
- 3 ribs of celery
- 2-3 lbs. beef and/or pork cubed
- 4 large carrots
- 2 parsnips
- 3-4 roma tomatoes
- 2 turnips
- 2 bay leaves
- 8-10 whole peppercorns
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- Water to cover if needed
Instructions
- Chop onion and sauté in 2 tbsp oil.
- Brown meat in seasoned oil. Add garlic and cook until fragrant 1-2 minutes. Add bones, if using. Cover with stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer 1 hour while preparing beets (next step). Skim off any foam that rises to top. Remove bones before adding vegetables.
- Meanwhile trim greens off beets, wrap in foil and bake about 1 hr at 350 degrees or until tender but not mushy. Let beets cool slightly and peel while warm. Add any juice from beets to stock pot. Julienne beets and add to pot.
- Shred cabbage into thin, short slices and add to pot.
- Julienne carrots, parsnips, celery and turnips – add to pot.
- Add herbs and spices.
- Let simmer covered for 1-2 hours.
- Dice tomatoes and add to borscht.
- Cook covered another hour over low heat.
Serve warm with dollop of sour cream and finely chopped dill.
Notes
You don’t need expensive cuts of meat for this soup. The long slow cooking time will yield a tender result regardless. I like to mix pork and beef for the best results but I also use leftover meat from previous meals, whatever I have on hand. I’ve never tried it with chicken but I don’t see why that couldn’t work.