I want to put in a good word for Gabrielle Hamilton's White Borscht, which is easily located on the NYT site. Apparently it was a great comfort and a reasonably priced winter soup for her when she was an impoverished chef-to-be living on the lower east side, where Polish food had a foothold. I grew up on the upper west side, and we didn't know from white borscht, only red.
Anyway, I made the recipe almost to the letter, although I halved it. It's a soup that makes its own gravy so to speak, so you don't have to start with labor-intensive stock or remember to unfreeze any. The stock itself is simply made with smoked kielbasa and cooks for only half an hour. I know kielbasa is ubiquitous but I've never eaten it before, and it's good! I had to buy the kielbasa and some russets, but I already had some leeks and creme fraiche. The only change I would make next time is to add more potatoes and not use so much of the cooked sausage in the final soup. Her version is meatier than I like. Also she adds more salt than is necessary, but for me that's almost always true. Yes, russets do need salt, but the kielbasa broth has plenty; salt is so personal. It was just as good the next day leftover. Really nice to have a new kind of soup!
