Borsch.

[adelynne]

mevennen is collecting borsch recipes, and I offered to post this one in matociquala's journal. So here you go, internets.

Credit for the original text goes to my sister - as she's the one who originally gave me the recipe - and credit for the recipe itself goes to my mother and her mother before her (my grandmother pretty religiously uses chicken to make borsht - it gives this absolutely divine golden tint to the broth). Note - this recipe makes a gargantuan amount. Scale down to fit the pot you have, or find ways to store it for a good, long time. :)

Borsch

The recommended meats are beef and lamb. Chicken is possible, we've never tried pork (and it may not actually work, as it needs a long time to cook, possibly complicating the recipe). For vegeterian version, start at step 3, sans the meat, of course.

Ingredients:

meat or soup bones (enough for a pot of boullion)
2 onions
4 small or 2 large beets
2 large or 3 medium carrots
1 small cabbage
1.5-2 lbs of potatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
salt, pepper, bay leaves, garlic powder, garlic

*You can use canned beets if you are lazy. In that case, you will need two cans of whole beets instead of the raw beets above. You will also need to skip step 3. Instead, open the cans of beets and pour the liquid into the pot. Grate raw carrots and add them in step 4. Add grated beets as described in the main recipe.

1. Place meat or soup bones and one whole onion (peeled) in the pot. Fill about 2/3 of the pot with water. Bring to rapid boil.

2. Immediately pour off all the liquid, throw away the onion. Wash the pot clean (hot water and dishwashing liquid are recommended :)). Wash the meat thouroghly with cold water and place back in the pot.

*3. Add 4 small or 2 large beets, peeled, and cut in half; 2 large or 3 medium carrots (peeled, whole). Fill the pot about 2/3 again. In case too much water boils off and you want to add more liquid, you can boil a kettle of water and add some at will. Bring to boil, add copious amounts of salt (I always wonder at the amount of salt one pot of borsch consumes); add 2-3 bay leaves; reduce heat, and let boil for about 15-30 minutes (depending on the size of the vegetables), untill the beets and carrots are soft enough to be impailed on a fork.

4. Remove the carrots and beets from the pot, place on a plate to cool. Add one small onion, finely chopped; one small cabbage, also chopped, but NOT too fine.

5. Let boil for 15-20 minutes, or until cabbage is about 2/3 of the way to being cooked. Add about 1.5-2 lbs potatoes, cut in bite-size pieces.

6. Let boil until potatoes are almost cooked, add grated beets and carrots (the ones that were cooling on the plate).

7. Let boil for a couple of minutes, then add one small can of tomato paste. You might want to put the paste in a bowl, add some liquid from the borsch and make the mix be of uniform density before adding it to the pot-- makes it much easier to dissolve.

8. Add pepper, garlic powder, and other spices to taste. For authentic taste and unforgettable aroma, add crushed or finely chopped fresh garlic. The more, the better.

9. It is believed, and rightly so, that the best borsch is yesterday's borsch. In this case this does not refer to the borsch you had yesterday, but rather to one you cooked yesterday, but are eating today. Letting the borsch cool slowly after it is done lets the entire boquet of taste blend together, and lets the aroma set in. (You can leave the pot to cool slowly on the stove. If you cooked the borsch at night, you can leave it to cool till the morning.)

It is traditional to eat borch is with sour cream, although it really falls to being a matter of taste. And for the complete experience smother a piece of real bread (preferably a darker one, like rye, and definitely not the Wonderbread crap, you need something that's not going to fall appart for this process) with garlic, sprinkle with salt, and enjoy with your borsch and large bites of fresh garlic.

Enjoy!