Borscht

I am exploring red beets these days. Until a couple of weeks ago I literally never had them. 

My first try was a salad. I was not to sure about the textures and taste. Now before I put them  into the category "I don't like them", may be a different preparation might be a good idea. 

I remembered, I stayed at a Courtyard downtown Austin a few years ago. Behind the hotel in a small side street was an authentic Russian restaurant named the Russian House. My friend Sue is always game for some fun food experiences. So we ended up there a couple of times. She had borscht there and she liked it.

I am lucky that my colleague Larissa is into cooking as well, so I asked her for a good recipe. She gave me the link to a Russian website and translated it for me. Larissa, you are such an angel. Despite me taking a few liberties as I couldn't get some of the things, it turned out to be a home run. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Larissa.

For the broth

• 1 bag of frozen bones for soups and stock
• 1 1/2 lbs of chuck roast ( they are usually 80/20)
• 1 small onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 2 bay leaf
• peppercorns
• salt
• 2 tsp of Knorr chicken bullion (my addition)

Step 1:

In a big stock pot add the bones and the chuck rost and cover with water about up to 5 fingers above the meat/bones. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to medium and remove all the foam and then cover.

 

 

 

Peel the onions and carrots, cut them in half length wise and roast them in a frying pan without any oil until they are golden. Then add them to the broth as well as the remaining things to the broth and cook for 2.5h.

 

 

Step 2:

Remove the chuck roast and set aside.  Strain the broth.

Step 3:

• 1 large or 2 small red beets
• 1 large onion
• 1 cup of ready to eat baby carrots
• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 medium bell pepper (I used an orange one, the red ones were not looking good in the store)
• 1/4 of a small head of cabbage
• 4 ripe medium tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• margarine for frying (veggie oil is fine as well)

 

 

Peel everything that needs peeling. I chopped the beets and carrots finely, like 5x5mm in dimension and 5mm thick. Chop the onions finely. I chopped the cabbage smaller then I usually do into about 1cm x 1cm pieces.

Step 4:

In 2 frying pans, melt some margarine  and then add the beets to 1 pan and the onions in the other one. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and bell peppers to the  onions and the apply cider vinegar to the beets. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the beets from the heat and add the tomatoes to the onions and carrots. Cook for another 5 minutes

Step 5:

Bring the broth to a boil, add the potatoes, cook for about 10 minutes, add cabbage, cook for 5 minutes.

Then I opted to add everything else except for the parsley. The remaining cooking time for me was until the potatoes are almost done. Add the copped garlic and 3/4 of the parsley and finish cooking until the potatoes are done.
I added 1 tsp of vinegar to my serving and a tbsp of sour cream.

Yummy, Yummy...

-Mahlzeit-