borscht

One of the joys of my life is my wife's borscht.  I first tasted it in her flat in Belarus on Thanksgiving Day, 2005.  I loved it then and I've loved it ever since.  Everyday I eat borscht for lunch.  Here's Luda's recipe for borscht.  Don't be intimidated by all the steps.  Mostly it's all about letting all of the ingredients cook at a simmering boil.  The result is delicious. 

Luda’s borscht recipe

Half pound pork neckbones

Half pound stewing beef

 Half pound chicken breasts, (we now use chicken breast because I'm trying to lose weight, makes the borscht taste sweeter.) 

Four to five medium beets

Half a cabbage

Five medium carrots

Three medium potatoes

One green pepper

Five mushrooms

Two cups of tomato sauce

Olive oil for frying beets

Two teaspoons of cider vinegar

Seasoning and salt to taste

Put the pork and the beef in a five quart pan and cover with water. Bring to a low boil and continuously skim the scum that rises to the top.

With a serrated knife cut and shred the cabbage. Peel and dice the carrots and the potatoes. Core and dice the green pepper. Dice the mushrooms.

When the meat has cooked for about half an hour add the cabbage to the borscht. Let the cabbage and the meat cook at a simmer for about half an hour. Then add the potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes.

Peel the beets and then shred them in your food processor. In a heavy fry pan put the olive oil and fry the beets until they are tender, typically about ten minutes. Just prior to adding the beets to the borscht, mix the cider into the cooked beets. Add the beets to the borscht and cook for about 15 minutes. Also add the seasoning and the salt at this point to the borscht. The seasoning is any good soup seasoning. We use a Russian seasoning and some dry parsley.

Add the green pepper, the mushrooms and the tomato sauce and simmer 10 minutes. Let the borscht cool overnight before putting it in the refrigerator. Serve hot with an optional dollop of sour cream. This recipe makes about six to ten servings depending on how hungry you are. The borscht tastes increasingly better through the third and fourth days as the flavors bind together.