Borscht (Polish Style Beet Soup)
Farmer John sent back some beautiful beets with lush beet tops. Two different varieties one bright red and the other a candy cane strip. The first thing I think of is to make my Grandma’s Borsht, a Polish style beet soup. Secondly I think of my niece, it has always been her favorite. When she was a toddler and said, “When I have a birthday party with my friends I want to have pink soup, cauliflower with crumbs and chips”. Needless to say we did not serve that at her 5th birthday party. Now she is ready to get her driving temps and still loves the soup. I invited her over to teach her how to make it and she’s also my taste taster to make sure I get the final seasonings just right. Now we didnt have much of a recipe, we just knew how to make it. Finally, I wrote down measurements. Family, does the recipe sound right?
Borscht (Polish Style Beet Soup)
1 bunch of beets with tops
Pork or veal neck bones (optional), beef or pork broth, beef boullion
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon dill seed
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ cup fresh chopped dill
1 -8 ounce container sour cream
Cut tops off of beets and set aside. Scrub beets, place in a pot, cover with water and simmer until easily pierced with a fork. When cool enough to handle, peel beets and shred on the larger holes of the grater. Set aside.
My grandma’s recipe calls for pork or veal neck bones, something I usually don’t have on hand. I tried it with the beef bones I had, which tasted fine. Sometimes my Mom and I will use beef broth or beef bouillon in place of the bones. The bones with bits of meat does make a more flavorful and satisfying soup. If using the bones, season with salt and pepper and sear in a hot soup pot. Brown all sides, then cover with 8 cups of water, bring to a boil, simmer until tender. Remove bones; when cool enough to handle shred the bits of meat off the bones. Return meat to soup pot. Add water to bring back up to the 8 cup mark. Add onion, garlic, dill seed, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste.
Thoroughly wash beet tops, chop into one inch pieces. Add to soup along with the shredded beets. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until beet greens are tender.
Add 3-4 Tablespoons of cider vinegar. This is where my taste tester niece comes in, she gets the taste perfect. Also add salt and pepper if needed. At this time you may want to add a pinch of sugar if your beets weren’t sweet. Again my taste tester will let me know. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1/3 cup of cold water. Bring soup to boil, add cornstarch and stir until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add fresh dill.
There are two different methods of adding the sour cream. First let the soup cool for about 15 minutes. Place sour cream in a large measuring cup, whisk in some of the hot soup to temper the sour cream. Pour sour cream mixture into the soup stirring until thoroughly combined. If you add the sour cream directly into the hot, boiling soup it will curdle. We also found that you must use regular sour cream; low fat and nonfat did not combine with the soup and curdled.
The second option is to serve the soup in a bowl and top with a dollop of sour cream and stir at the table. You could serve the borscht without the sour cream but, it’s not as good. If you want to freeze the soup do not add the sour cream beforehand.
Our family serves the Borscht warm. I have seen recipes that say to serve chilled, I have never tried it that way, let me know if yo.
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Are those nails new? Or do U have a new recruit 2 the kitchen? Beets are great in the Garden because they need so little care, and yield so much! And the nutrition is off the chart. And U can ferment them, to make a Robust! country wine!!
So are you making some beet wine? Those nails are my teenage niece’s nails. She’s a wonderful asset in the kitchen and we had fun.