Vegetarian borscht!!

[Jeff G.]

Trying to reduce my meat intake I have started cooking some vegetarian dishes. Mainly soups so far. The potato soup and the vegetable soups were great but the Borscht!! now that was really something..

I placed some butter in a heavy pot, melted it down and added chopped leeks, I dropped in some shredded carrots and chopped celery. Sauteed those while I ran the peeled beets through the food processor. Put the beets in with the other veggies and poured in organic vegetable stock, salt, pepper, a little Tony's cajun seasoning, a couple tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, a little soul food seasoning a little fresh basil. Brought it up to a boil and let it simmer for 2 hours.

Served with a dollop of sour cream..wow, fantastic! It's the first time I made borscht but it won't be the last!!!

 

[Wyogal]

extra good with reduced balsamic drizzled over the sour cream...

 

[CharlieD]

Sorry, what you made may had beets, but that's No Borscht. Nothing personal.

 

[Wyogal]

There are as many ways to make borscht as there are cooks... maybe it's not how YOU or your neighbors make it, Charlie.
nothing personal.

 

[CharlieD]

There are as many ways to make borscht as there are cooks... ...

I will agree about this part, but there are still basic things that go into borscht making. For that to be borscht.

 

[Wyogal]

authentic borscht recipes - Google Search
here are some varieties...

 

[GrillingFool]

my tongue has holes in it.

 

[CharlieD]

Listen you can call it whatever you want, in all the truth it doesn't matter, and I should have not started with this.

A side note whenever somebody calles their version of Borscht authentic, that is a clear sign to stay away from such a recipe.

Name doesn't matter, what matters is the taste.

 

[Wyogal]

check out the links... there are plenty of great, authentic borscht recipes listed. There are special ones for Christmas Eve, as well as regional specialties, which are quite varied.

 

[CharlieD]

Gosh, I tried to appologies, ok in my own, not very obvious way, but I did.

What advise, you like what you made. You do not need my advise. What I make is my version of Ukranian borscht, definitely not authentic. My recipe is in Ukranian recipe thread. Here is the link:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f21/charlie-ds-ukrainian-recipes-13160.html#post145079

 

[Janet H]

Perhaps we can simply agree that there are many kinds of Borscht.

I spent some time in Russia and Ukriane and found that it was really variable.. That said, it almost all had meat or meat stock in it and a lot of it had something called sourovetz which is a fermented buckwheat bread slurry that both thickens and flavors the soup. I note in the OP mentions Worcestershire sauce.. most brands are made from anchovies although there are a few veggie versions out there.

 

[Wyogal]

Yep, I've read about the "souring" of the soup by using buckwheat, or other grains. Here's an interesting link for a Christmas Eve borscht, which typically contains no meat (from what I've read).
Christmas Eve borsch and uszka
and like I said earlier, there are as many ways to make borscht as there are cooks!

 

[CharlieD]

Good thing thihs is not russian/ukranian forum, by now there would be 300 + posts insisting that their borscht is the real borscht and everything else is a parody.

 

[Jeff G.]

Not a problem Charlie... there are thousands of Borscht recipes. Call it beet soup if you must. It was still based around beets, and was very good..

 

[bigdaddy3k]

All I know is that ANYTHING Jeff makes is on my good list. Thanks for the recipe Jeff!!! Did you serve it hot or cold?

 

[Jeff G.]

All I know is that ANYTHING Jeff makes is on my good list. Thanks for the recipe Jeff!!! Did you serve it hot or cold?

Thanks..
I served it hot. Lots of beets!!!

A true vegetarian friend of mine loved it. She is small and had 2 BIG bowls!