Beet Soup

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parker57

Cook
Joined
Aug 6, 2004
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Location
Northwest PA
Was just watching a movie where all they kept talking about was Borscht........now I have seen recipes made mainly with beets and would like to try it. Most of these call for it to be served cold. Does anyone have an opinion what this would taste like served warm? And does anyone have any versions of this they would share? ( no cabbage please :sick: )
Thanx.
 
Try here. Now, its not traditional, but I like to use some beef stock as a base and then shred beets into it. A little crumbled ground beef is nice in there, and shredded zucchini gives some nice texture. I avoid potatoes as it just doesn't work for me. Potatoes just should NOT be in borscht. Enjoy. And if Charlie pipes up with a recipe...listen to the man. He knows his stuff.
 
Most beet recipes Ive seen call for short ribs to be used as a stock for the soup. Ive seen hundreds of borcht recipes all are pretty much the same stock beets onions and top off with a dollop of sour cream and it is generly served cold
 
just an fyi, not all borschts are red, with beets.

and most of the borschts that i've had use salt pork for a base, not short ribs or beef stock, necessarily..

but yes, red borscht is good hot. i've even enjoyed it spicey.
 
Thanks for your replies.

From doing google searches I see that Borscht means different things to different people.......I might try the beef stock idea, but I am not too keen on pork.
 
Sorry, meant to add that I have never eaten borscht cold. It is a hot soup for me. I don't like cold soups and borscht is such a comfort food. Mmmmmmm, its rainy and yucky today and borscht sounds good.
 
I like to eat beet soup cold and warm, with sour cream and a little crushed garlic. My grandmother cooked borsch with fish but unfortunately he is dead and I don't have this recipe. If some one have please share!
 
" Most beet recipes Ive seen call for short ribs to be used as a stock for the soup. "

Dave, that's how I make mine. I'm with Alix, I always think of borscht as a cold weather soup.
 
Borscht taste great cold on a hot summer day, and hot in the winter. I make both kinds. My hot borscht is very close to authentic Ukrainian recipe. I, of course am partial here. I keep arguing that borscht is in fact a Ukrainian dish. Though, there are hundreds recipes of Russian, Polish and many others available. Of course none of them are as good as good Ukrainian Borscht. Now, having said that I have to run to work, but I promise this time I will put the recipe on pepper and post it latter.
 
Okay, here is a half of the promise. I still have to put hot Borscht on pepper. In reality you will see that it does not differ that much.


Borscht Cold, red.

Perfect for hot summer day.

Water -3 quarts
Onion finely chopped or diced – 1
Potato – 2-3
Carrots – 2-3
Beets – 1-2 (could be canned, but not pickled)
Cabbage I buy coleslaw salad – 1-2 cups.
Salt to taste.
A sour salt also known as citric acid or lemon juice also to taste.
Egg – 1

For garnish:

Green onion
Radishes
Cucumber
Hard boiled egg
Sour cream


Start by boiling the whole beets and chopped onion. While beets are cooking peel all the vegetable and cut slice or grate anyway you like your veggies in soup. I cut potatoes in cubes and grate the carrots; at the end when beets are ready I grate them too.
When beets are close to be ready put potato in, let it cook for few minutes, then carrots, then cabbage. Let it cook till veggies are done, about 20 minutes or so. During cooking take, the beets out and grate them and add back into soup. If you are using canned beets, grate them and add some time after carrots. Add salt to taste, right before soup is ready add a pinch of sour salt or juice of maybe a quarter or a half of a lemon. It should have just a hint of tartness but not to be sour or tart at all.

At that time, I take a bowl of just liquid and let it cool. Beat the raw egg in a separate bowl and slowly add the warm soup into it stirring constantly so egg doesn’t cook, it has to dissolve in the soup. Not sure, what the process is called in English. Add this mixture back to the pot, again stirring to make sure that egg doesn’t get cooked. It can be done when Borscht cooled down completely. It is for color rather than taste. Cold borscht should be light in color.

I like to serve and eat it when its room temperature or slightly below that. Some people like it very cold.

To serve garnish the bowl of Borscht with a t-spoon of sour cream, finely chopped green onions, cucumbers, radishes, sliced hard boiled egg, or any other fresh veggies that you like. Or don’t put anything. Now this is how I like to eat it, some people tell me I’m weird, but never the less it tastes great. I serve the borscht with a slice of good bread, with some sour cream spread on it and couple of slices of smoked salmon, also known as lox. What a treat on a hot day. This is a meal in it self. There are plenty of calories to keep you going till evening. The whole preparation takes about an hour, and if you use canned beets then it’s even less.

Enjoy.
 
At that time, I take a bowl of just liquid and let it cool. Beat the raw egg in a separate bowl and slowly add the warm soup into it stirring constantly so egg doesn’t cook, it has to dissolve in the soup. Not sure, what the process is called in English. Add this mixture back to the pot, again stirring to make sure that egg doesn’t get cooked.

It's called "tempering" in English. So, you tempered the egg before adding it to the soup.

This recipe sounds good! I don't think I've ever had borscht, so I'll have to try it. Thanks!
 
Thank you.

It really isgood.

It is so hot and humid outside right now that nothing else sounds good. But this is really very simple and yumy. If you use canned beets the whole prepation takes no more than 20-25 minutes.
 
Borscht, hot:

Meat about 3 lbs.
Water -3 quarts
Onion finely chopped or diced – 1
Potato diced – 2-3
Carrots grated – 2-3
Beets grated – 1-2 (could be canned, but not pickled)
Cabbage I buy coleslaw salad – 1-2 cups, or great your own.
White beans, I use canned, you can use as much as whole can or about a half would be good.
1 tablespoon of ketchp or tomato sauce for coloring.
Secret ingredient (recipe to fallow). – 2-3 table spoons
Salt and pepper to taste.

Start by making good meat broth. Use whatever meat you like. Lately I’ve been using chicken. But pork or beef is definitely great. Short ribs are good. But in my opinion, the best part is cross cut shank meat with marrow bone. The reason for that is broth comes out with a hint of tartness. I do not know why it is. And that is exactly what you want in borscht. If you search for other recipes you’ll find that some of them use lemon juice, some use citric acid, also known as sour salt, or pickled beets, or sauerkraut, and then they have to add sugar to compensate...

Nonsense. All those things will only ruin natural taste of Borscht. If I use beef I cook it for a long time to make sure the meat is extremely soft, and practically melts in your moth so you do not have seat and chew the darn thing for half an hour. While meat is cooking prepare all the vegetables. Again like in the cold borscht recipe you can use fresh or canned beets. If using fresh beets they will take an hour or so to cook. I cook the whole thing and then take it out immerse in the cold water, grate and add almost at the end of the process.
I do not like onion, so I usually put it in early so it over cooks to the point that you can’t even see it. Adds great flavor. Cook potato, carrots, coleslaw, beans. Should take about half an hour or less.

Some people will tell you that I do not know what I’m doing or talking about. The true purists of an authentic Ukrainian Borscht will sauté their beets, onion and carrots in some fried pork fat, yum. Very unhealthy, I do not do it anymore.
So, I do not worry about them anymore. Taste of my Borscht is very refine.

Now the secret ingredient. Indeed some people will add the same ingredients separately but I make this special concoction (I do not know what to call it in English, so please help me out somebody here). In fact I use it for many soups and other dishes, especially when I make spaghetti sauce.

Here it is:

10 sweet red bell peppers (any color is good, but not green)
10 hot peppers or go by weight use same amount (it could be any hot peppers you like, depending on how hot you like your food)
3-4 heads of garlic
2 table spoons of salt (works as preservative)

Cut, remove seeds, wash, put everything thru meat grinder or, if using food processor make sure not to chop very fine.

Right now is a perfect time to make this mixture. There are so many fresh veggies, I make the whole recipe put in couple of jars and keep it in refrigerator for up to 6 month. It actually never last that long I use it up faster. You can scale the recipe down.

When Borscht is nearly ready add couple spoons of the mixture. Taste and re-season to taste. Hm, that sounds funny; probably I am spelling something wrong.

Serve hot with a spoon of sour cream and hearty bread. Russian will have a clove of garlic seating right next to the plate and they will keep bighting into it. Not sure about taste but very healthy.


Okay, please correct my spelling and other grammar as this is the first, fresh of the press, version. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
 
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Hi, Yes this could go under a Ukrainian Recipe thread very easily. I have assembled a good collection of beet soup or borsch recipes I modestly call the World's Best Borsch. They are all genuine and excellent. This is my second post and they say I may not display a url ): until I do twenty, well I can play that :) Meanwhile go to Books by Volunteers who serve Ukraine Orphans and click on the World's Best Borsch tab. Let me know what you think! You may reply right there in the About Us tab. Thanks, happy cooking - and yes I guarantee those recipes are good. They are hand picked. David
 
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hmmm, an orphanage and soup recipes.

sounds like there's a story in there somewhere.

"please sir, may i have some... more?"

i'm goin' to check it out. thanks dave.
 
Hi buckey tom from joisey, Yes there is a bit of a story in borsch and me:). Not a big deal but it's surprised me how one thing has led to another. Beet soup, kasha, mushroom soup, pampushky, vereneky and some other things including one awsome tort, recipe from a Ukrainian-American origianlly from Lviv to Kyiv to the North East. Awsome. David
 
Lviv Ukraine Vegetarian Borsch

Here goes, I'm trying to copy directly from website that has to do with ukraine orphans dot net. Hope this works - the recipe is simple, has nothing to do with ribs or meat of any kind and is absolutely authentic Ukrainian. Enjoy! David
Lo, maybe it worked - help me to get my twenty posts so I can reveal this mysterious place - it accepts no money! Isn't that nice. D I'm back, the place is Books by Volunteers who serve Ukraine Orphans, Enjoy, D


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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Lviv Vegetarian Borsch which probably should be spelled Borshch


from Dr. Oksana, originally from Lviv, now of the USA



her Babcia Lidia’s recipe



Notes from Oksana: “I keep my borshch vegetarian, but if you want to make it chicken-based, you can use chicken broth as a base for the borshch. I always experiment, my borshch is never exactly the same :), but we enjoy all versions of it. Eat it with sour cream, add sour cream right before serving. Some people add lemon juice and minced garlic. They say borshch is more tasty next day, and perfect after it stays in the fridge for two days.”


Here is a starter recipe for her excellent borshch.


Ingredients


2 – 3 beet roots
2 – 3 laurel (bay) leaves
4 – 5 black pepper corns
salt to taste
2 – 3 large carrots sliced
1 parsley root, chopped (Here in sunny Marion Ohio, USA, parsley root is hard to find so I often use some parsnip root. It works for me. D)
lima (large) beans from can or cook the beans separately
1 medium onion, diced
cooking oil
lemon juice, optional
minced garlic, optional
sour cream


Instructions


“I cook my beet roots whole, without peeling, separately from anything else, till they are ready (softish), which takes about an hour, or more,” Dr. O.


This is the way I did it (D). Often I roast the beets for borshch but for this I boiled well scrubbed beets in about a liter (quart) of water and then set the beets aside. The purple cooking water was strained through a coffee filter and became the soup base.


Bring the soup base to a boil and add laurel leaves, pepper corns, about a teaspoon of salt (and for D a few sprinkles of garlic salt). Let the spices steep with the base for a few minutes.


Thinly slice the carrots and parsley root, dice the onion, rub the skins off the cooked beet roots and grate with the larger openings on your grater.


Mince the garlic if you are using – depends on taste and you know your taste.


Remove the pepper corns from the base, bring it up to a gentle boil and add the carrots and parsley root.


Sauté the diced onion and when they are almost translucent add the minced garlic if using and sauté all but do not brown.


When the carrots and parsley (or parsnip) are appropriately soft add the sautéed onion and garlic, the cooked lima beans and the grated beets.


“Let just get to the boiling point, and turn off right away, do not let it boil, or you’ll lose that beautiful burgundy color.” Dr. O


Allow the flavors to meld. Check for taste, does it need to be reseasoned? Would you care to add some tartness with lemon juice, does it need some salt?


Dr. O continues, “If you like it more spicy, add Vegeta before you add the beets, let the water boil for 4 – 5 minutes.”


About Vegeta from Wikipedia: Vegeta is produced by Podravka, a company in Koprivnica, Croatia. The ingredients include salt, dehydrated vegetables (carrot, parsnip, onions, celery, parsley leaves), monosodium glutamate, sugar, cornstarch, spices, disodium inosinate, riboflavin (for coloring).


You can find it at Amazon.com, two kilos (2.2 pounds) for about $9.00 plus shipping.

Not bad price for that much spice I guess. I haven’t tried it. D


As I have been typing this recipe I have been eating two bowls of this very nice borshch. It’s light, lively and tasty. It’s also easy to put together. Wish I had some dark bread to go with, but then I would have bread crumbs in the key board! As it is I have a purple stain right there on my white T shirt – see it, right there in the middle! For real.


I thank Dr. Oksana for the recipe and her personal comments. I especially thank Babcia Lidia for helping to raise such a nice lady.


Enjoy, all the way from Lviv,


David

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Dear Alex, our esteemed Administrator :)! I love it, I just love it - there is nothing like word borsch (or beet soup) to start a good argument, or should I say discussion. I have read recipe reviews that are all over the map - one went on an absolute rant that borsch does not contain beets, it's not Ukrainian if it contains beets and one and on). As the lady who sent the recipe is some what emoved from from me I asked a nice lady from Western Ukranine, now here, to review the recipe for me. Her first comment, with a puzzled look, was "Where are the potatoes and cabbage?" Me, I have no clue, back in Lviv I guess. None in this one. I love it.
Posted in fun, because food should be fun. It is a blessing and when sharing recipes or the food itself it's hard to not be of good will. I hope you agree. David
 
Hi! I'm back with beet soup from everywhere - almost! And I'm legal when I invite you to visit Books by Volunteers who serve Ukraine Orphans for a most excellent selection - donations are not asked for or accepted!

To take the mystery out of all this – borsch or otherwise some times known as beet soup, borscht, borshch, borstch, barszcz and who knows what else is a vegetable soup that is based on beets. The beets can be chopped, diced, sliced, pureed, made into fermented kvass, or just boiled to extract their juice which is used as a “stock”. Cabbage is an option no matter what people say.

For a good comparative selection of borsch recipes go to ukraineorphans.net. The recipes are most excellent, proudly selected by me if I must say so. Look in the World’s Best Borsch tab and you will find guaranteed authentic recipes. Enjoy! D

In case the URL police are watching – this is my twenty second post so I’m legal! J D
 
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