December 29, 2005
Borscht - Improving the Original
Sometime mid-week last week, I felt divine inspiration to cook and toss all my daily tasks to the wind. I suspect that sudden burst of energy and desire were prompted more by the chilly weather and gusts of wind than by any deity tapping me on the shoulder with a whisk or a baster. Fondly recollecting my mother’s soups – for she claims the title for best soup-maker – I phoned her to get a recipe for one of my childhood favorites, and thus a Russian standard – borscht.
Many an American has wrinkled his nose when a beet is introduced into a conversation. Growing up in a suburban America, I was always defending root vegetables. Turnips, carrots, beets, radishes. I was labeled a weird eater, an immigrant. And I grew up thinking that not only beets were uncool (albeit tasty), but they were also a form of lower-income diet. Imagine my surprise when my monthly issue of Martha Stewart Living arrived (I must have been the only 16 year old with a MSL subscription) and I found a salad of beets and chevre beautifully displayed as one of the recipes. Either beets were gaining ground or Martha was going back to her Polish roots. Either way, beets broke out of their stigma.
Nowadays you find beets in most prestigious restaurants. They’re in salads, in vegetable arrangements, served as elegant side-dishes. Their deep, rich color and sweet earthy flavor and texture are both filling and surprisingly light. They smell of the earth, of winter and of hearth. And despite their lowly upbringing, they’re quite elegant and sophisticated.
The soup takes a few hours to make if only because you want the flavors to deepen and blend together. It is not a complicated soup to make provided you have patience to chop everything and stir occasionally. When completed and ready to eat, it will warm you up from a cold wintry day and satisfy your hunger. As intense in its flavor as it is hot, borscht really exemplifies Russian cooking – hearty, warm and flavorful.
1. Wash and cut beets in half. Place on a roasting pan, pour half a cup of water and cover with foil. Roast at 350F for 25 minutes or until beets are soft to pierce with a knife.
2. When the beets are done, pull the out and set aside to cool.
3. Place the meat on a roasting rack and roast for 15 minutes at 350F. This is great for bones – improves their flavor.
4. Meanwhile, in a sauté pan, sauté finely chopped garlic and diced onions. Add 3 tsp salt.
5. Add in tomatoes, celery and carrots. Continue to sauté until the vegetable medley gets softer and more translucent.
6. When the meat is done, pull it out and place in a stock pot. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Remove any foamy whiteness that forms while the water is boiling.
7. Add the vegetable medley to the pot.
8. Grate the beets with a coarse grater and add to the pot.
9. Add the cabbage and the sauerkraut. If you feel that you need more liquid to balance the “stuff” in your soup, add some water or more stock, if you have it on hand.
10. Lower the heat and continue to simmer the soup. After half an hour, taste and add salt and pepper to suit your preferences. If needed, add sugar.
11. Simmer for another hour and continue to taste for flavor.
12. Serve with chopped dill as garnish.
This soup can also be made as a vegetarian version. Just omit everything to do with meat and use vegetable stock instead.
Sauerkraut can be easily purchased, however, it can also be easily made. A recipe for a homemade sauerkraut, Russian-style, will appear shortly. Maybe in a few days.
