Tuesday, February 07th 2012

Borshch - Borscht Recipe

12 cups beef stock
1.5 lbs. chuck
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Salt to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 head cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
8 roasted beets, peeled and diced (recipe below)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 pitted prunes, chopped
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
Freshly ground black

Stock

Make your own beef stock with 1.5 lbs. of chuck or simmer chuck with ready-made stock until meat can be shredded--about 2 hours.

Roasted Beets

8 medium beets
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Trim all but 2 inches of stalks off the beets. Wash beets and immediately put into a baking dish lined with a large piece of foil.

Drizzle with olive oil over beets and sprinkle a liberal amount of salt. Fold foil to seal completely shut. Roast beets until soft (pierce through foil to check for doneness), 2–2 1/2 hours. Unwrap and serve.

Borscht Soup

Strain stock into a large pot, setting meats aside. Bring stock to a boil over high heat. Add tomatoes and potatoes and season to taste with salt. Reduce heat down to medium, and simmer until potatoes are just soft or for about 15 min.

While that is going on, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onions, and carrots, and cook, keep stirring, until vegetables begin to soften and turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until cabbage wilts, 6–8 minutes. Add vegetable mixture, beets, and lemon juice to stock in pot and simmer, stir often, for 5 minutes or so. Add prunes, tomato paste, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste and continue to simmer until prunes soften and begin to dissolve, about 10 minutes more.

Shred beef from the stock into large pieces and add to soup mixture. Simmer for about 15 minutes more. Remove pot from heat, add garlic, parsley, and dill, then set soup aside to rest for 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Add a dollop of sour cream to each portion when serving.

Adapted from Saveur