Russian Borscht

[Lifter]

8 cups water
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
3 medium beets
2 carrots
1 tellow onion
a tablespoon or so of lard
2 medium red potato's
1 cup shredded tomato, deseeded
1 cup sweet cream
1 Tbspn flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel and finely shred beets, carrots and onion.

Add water, and bring to a low boil

Add lard, S+P and continue to cook until vegetables are tender.

Add cubed potato and tomato.

Mix flour in a bit of cold water and stir in with cream.

Serve with sour cream...

Health food from the Prairies...

 

[Audeo]

Wow. That looks good, Lifter! Using peas is an interesting idea!

Growing up, a Ukrainian mother lived next door and made her borshch always with a smoked meat (beef and ham as I recall) and cabbage, in addition to beets and beans and potatoes, and maybe even mushrooms...not too sure about that. There were so many vegetables in the soup that you could stand a wooden spoon upright in the pot, which I remember her doing when pronouncing the dish done.

I do love a good Borscht!

 

[Alix]

To throw in a variation of what looks like a FABULOUS recipe, we use a beef stock base, and use all the veggies listed above, but add in shredded zucchini as well. We are usually overstocked with the danged things. We also do not put in any cream. Then when we serve, we put the big tub of sour cream on the table for people to add their own. It cools the soup off to an edible heat right away.

 

[Lifter]

From a "classic" point of view, borscht is a peasant's dinner soup, and so would not contain meat of any description...mind I do have a recipe that calls for minor amounts of veal stewmeat...

Lifter

 

[Konditor]

Lifter: This substantial soup can be served hot or cold. Serving it cold, I like to bind it with sour, rather than sweet, cream. A small amount of brown sugar can help to counterbalance the acidity of the beets. For an extra-hearty version, I use beef stew meat, beef stock, white cabbage, carrots, parsnips, and tomatoes. And allspice berries add impact to the overall beef flavour. Nevertheless, the version you have offered is excellent in itself, and would certainly make for a complete meal, particulary when served with, for example, the pirozhki, mentioned below.

Russian-style black bread is often the de rigueur accompaniment for Borshch as an appetizer soup or lunchtime dish. It is also very suitable to broaden its satisfaction by serving it with pirozhki (beef, chicken, or veal pies), vatrushki (savoury cheese tartlets), or kasha (a type of buckwheat pancake). A robustly fortifying meal – especially in the dead of winter.

 

[buckytom]

mmmmm, i love borscht. my mil was from slovakia, where they made a clear borscht. i guess there were no beets. it kinda looked like dishwater, with bits of eggs and bread floating in it, but it was really good, it was usually served around easter. has anyone ever heard of this type of borscht, and might you have a recipe?

 

[Alix]

buckytom, was it chicken based broth? I have one that has a chicken based broth, whipped eggs cooked into it and we also put thinly sliced onion in it too. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Don't know if this is what you want, but will post it if you do.

 

[buckytom]

ok, thanks alix. but i think yours is different. i don't think it was a chicken broth, and the eggs were hard boiled first, then sliced into the soup.

 

[homecook]

mmmmm, i love borscht. my mil was from slovakia, where they made a clear borscht. i guess there were no beets. it kinda looked like dishwater, with bits of eggs and bread floating in it, but it was really good, it was usually served around easter. has anyone ever heard of this type of borscht, and might you have a recipe?

Hi everyone!! I just joined and hope to post some good recipes and also to find some new ones. This really looks like a great site.
I happened to be lurking through all the different topics and saw this one. This is a recipe my Babcia (grandma-Polish) used to make every Easter.

Polish Easter Baszcz (Ham and Sausage Borsch)

3 quarts ham or sausage cooking liquid
3 T. flour
1 cup water
3 T. white vinegar (or to taste)
1-1/8 cups cooked ham (cut in 1-inch pieces)
6 pieces (3 inches each) cooked smoked sausage
6 eggs, hard-cooked
6 slices rye bread
6 tsp. prepared horseradish

Chill 3 quarts liquid reserved from cooking ham or sausage. Skim off all fat; measure 3 T. and return these to liquid. Heat. Blend flour and water; stir into hot liquid. Add vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, place into each large, individual soup bowl: 1/4 cup ham; 1 piece sausage, cut up; 1 hard-cooked egg, sliced; 1 slice rye bread, cut in 1-inch pieces, and 1 tsp. prepared horseradish. Pour hot soup overall. Serves 6.

Brings back memories. My grandmother is still with us, she is turning 96 next week, she's just not able to do much cooking any more.

Barb

 

[buckytom]

THAT"S IT!!!!!! thanks so much homecook/barb. my mil is slovakian, my fil is polish so it was an easter tradition in their house. i would really like to make it next year. me lost my mil in august, and now have taken in one of her best friends to live with us since she was about to lose her house, and we had the room. she is from slovakia also, and married a german/pole. getting a whole new bunch of recipes and traditions to learn from her, it's great.
lol, she wanted to make chicken soup for us since we were sick last week, and went out to my herb garden for some parsley to put in the soup. when it was done, it was very tasty, but very different. we couldn't for the life of us figure out what was different, but i noticed it tasted an awful lot like a thai soup called tom yum. then i realized she couldn't tell the difference between the cilantro and parsley, and put cilantro in it. my wife is going to try to reproduce the mistaken chicken soup tonight it was so good...

 

[Audeo]

Way to make an entrance there, homecook! Your recipe looks delicious..and it's obvious you've made buckytom's day with your post!

Welcome to the site! I shall look forward to many more of your posts! And a very special Happy Birthday wish to your grandmother.

 

[kitchenelf]

Welcome homecook!!!! Thanks for giving buckytom the recipe he was looking for!!! How exciting to find something that you've been searching for. Hope to see you around here often!!

buckytom - has anyone told you lately that you are a good man. Well, you ARE a good man.

 

[buckytom]

thanks elfie, that's nice of you. trying to make up for a misspent youth, and late teens, and early 20's, and late 20's, and 30's. lol...

 

[kitchenelf]

It's never too late and the most unexpected things can make us feel good. Just hearing what you are doing is my "feel good" today.

 

[mudbug]

You've succeeded, buckytom! (and bravo to elf for officially pointing it out). You make me laugh every time you post something.

 

[buckytom]

uh oh, they're not ALL supposed to be funny mudbug...lol.

 

[homecook]

buckytom, glad I could help! It is a wonderful thing you are doing.

I've got lots of recipes from my grandmother that I have been experimenting with the past few years. She is just a wealth of information! She has taught me so much about the recipes I remember her making when I was a kid. It was quite some time ago too. lol I hope to share more with everyone soon.

Barb

 

[CharlieD]

This came up as a link for Borscht, of course this thread is so old but I still have to say. There is no way no how, no one in Russia would put pees into Borscht. You can call it whatever you want, but it ain't no Borscht.

 

[YT2095]

agreed, When I stayed in Russia, I was given this several times by different families I stayed with, and it never had peas in it either

although I did try a sort of Hybrid of Borscht, and Shii (I don`t how to transcribe the word in to english correctly) but Shii (like she) is sounding correct.

 

[Claire]

This is so funny. My husband's mother was Slovakian/Russian, his father Slovenian (both born in the US), and to him borsht means beet soup, which he claims to hate, so I've never tried to make it!