I have to say I had two different encounters with borscht.
The first one was years ago, when I saw some documentary on Russian cuisine. Among other famous dishes, they also mentioned borscht, but as the film was in Russian, I could barely understand something. So I had to "judge" according to the appearance. And I was convinced it's some kind of tomato soup, which is not something I like. Ok... Next recipe, please!
The second encounter made me change my mind. It was recently, when I finally had the chance to actually taste borscht. We were visiting some family, and my cousin's wife who is Russian, she had made some borscht as a part from the menu. At that time I still thought it was tomato soup, but I didn't wanted to offend the cook with not tasting it at all, so I gave it a try. And I was absolutely delighted with the very first bite! To begin with, tomatoes were not the base. As a matter of fact, it was beetroot that gives the soup that wonderful color! What a pleasant surprise for me! I liked it so much that I helped myself to another serving! And of course, I had to ask her for the recipe!
As I said in the introduction part, borscht is considered a national dish in many Eastern European countries, with the recipe varying between regional cuisines. Some may include meat, most often beef or chicken. The vegetables used are also different, but cabbage, potatoes, beetroots and onions are among the "standard" ingredients. The recipe I'm going to share with you now is the one I got from my cousin, so it may be considered as Russian borscht, or some variant of it. It inspired me to create the Borscht Pizza I posted recently, and it was a real treat.
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And this is what you'll need to make 6 servings:
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- Prepare the vegetables: peel and grate beetroots and carrot, finely dice onion and cabbage, peel and dice potatoes.
- Heat oil into a suitable pot and add onions and cabbage. Cook stirring often until vegetables soften and start getting brownish color.
- Now, add potatoes, carrot and beetroot, sprinkle with some salt and pepper, add dill and bay leaf, and pour in the broth or water. Vegetables should be fully covered with liquid.
When it comes to boiling, reduce the fire to low and cook with the lid on until all vegetables are soft and tender. At this point there shouldn't be much liquid left, so no thickener is used. - Discard the bay leaf. Doctor the soup with some more salt and pepper, if necessary, and add some lemon juice or vinegar to taste. I used 1 tablespoon of vinegar only to get a slightly sour flavor, but you may like it different.
Divide borscht between soup bowls and put a few small scoops of sour cream on the top. You can sprinkle with some more dill if you wish.
Serve warm, with some of your favorite bread. Stirring the cold sour cream into the warm soup will give you a splash of divine aromas and an incredible flavors. However, if prepared for vegans or during fasting days, you can omit sour cream. Enjoy and bon appétit! |