Borscht (Russian Beet Soup)

Borscht

Ingredients:

5-6 Beets (I usually use 4-5 large beets about baseball size).

5 tbsp butter

2 medium onions, thinly sliced. (I just dice them fairly small)

3 carrots, thinly sliced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped. (I never seed them I just dice them).

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp sugar (I never add the sugar. Beets and tomatoes are already sweet).

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bouquet garni- 3 fresh parsley sprigs, 2 fresh thyme sprigs, and 1 bay leaf tied together. (I just throw in a pinch of thyme, parsley and 1 bay leaf...nothing fancy).

5 2/3 cup basic vegetable stock (I always use beaf broth).
1 pound fried ground beef seasoned with salt to taste (can use stewing beef if you want).

salt and pepper to taste.

Sour cream and chopped fresh dill to garnish. (I never had dill to use but it sounds good).

1.) Thoroughly wash and cut of the stems of your beets. Coat in olive oil and individually wrap in tin foil. On a lined cookie sheet roast your beets for 1 to 1.5 hours at 350 degrees, or until you can slide a fork through them easily. (This will save you hours of cooking time).

Let your beets cool some before removing the skins. The skins should peel off fairly easily.

Dice your beets. You could also cut them into strips if you prefer. (Like shoe strings). I like to dice mine so the soup is fairly chunky. 

2.) Melt the butter in a large pan. (I do this right in my soup pot so I don't have to transfer). Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the beets, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for about another 5 minutes.

3.) Increase the heat to medium, add the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and bouquet garni, season with salt and pepper, and stir well, then pour in the basic vegetable stock and bring to boil. (At this point I would add the 5 2/3 cup of hot water and add the beef bouillon according to the directions, stir it in until it dissolves). Add ground beef. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour.

4.) Remove pot from heat and let it stand for about 10 minutes. It will be very hot.

Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a spoonful of sour cream, sprinkle with dill if you want to and serve immediately.

And then eat the entire pot because its stinkin' delicious!

Tips:

1.) There is a brand of bouillon at Costco that is much better tasting and so much better for you. It comes in a jar like a jelly rather than cubes and contains no MSG or artificial flavoring. It is called Better than Bouillon, low sodium. Look for it!)

2.) If you don't roast your beets first this soup will literally take 5 hours. Beets are very hard and starchy, they will take a looooooooooooooong time to soften in the soup.

3.) You can really add whatever kind of meat to this soup. I have only ever used ground beef but you can try anything. There are hundreds of ways to make this soup. Try stewing meat if you are up to it, also any other vegetable such as shredded cabbage.

4.) DO NOT WEAR WHITE while preparing or while eating this soup. You will have pink fingers so plan accordingly if preparing for children!! (Beets stain!).

ENJOY!