Borscht Recipes?

[Knicke]

I've been blessed (cursed?) with more fresh garden beets than I know what to do with. Thankfully, I'm also on the lookout for a borscht recipe that's a keeper.

Do you have one you'd be willing to PM to me, or post here? Can you point me to one you like and use? I've found three or four so far (including some in RecipeGullet), but since I have so many beets to use up, I figure this is the best time to try a bunch of different recipes and find the one I like best. Extra points for recipes which can be served hot OR cold (most are better one way or the other).

Anxiously awaiting the infinite wisdom of eGullet...

[Gifted Gourmet]

This is a particularly good one! Russian Palace's Vegetable Borscht Recipe Enjoy!

[Pam R]

I've been blessed (cursed?) with more fresh garden beets than I know what to do with. Thankfully, I'm also on the lookout for a borscht recipe that's a keeper.

I could point you to my book for my favorite recipes... but... I'll ask a couple of questions first:

Do you like a borscht with meat or vegetarian? Do you like a sweet and sour borscht? Just sweet? Just Sour? Neither? Or are you just open to anything we throw at ya?

Edited August 1, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[mizducky]

I've been blessed (cursed?) with more fresh garden beets than I know what to do with. Thankfully, I'm also on the lookout for a borscht recipe that's a keeper.

Do you have one you'd be willing to PM to me, or post here? Can you point me to one you like and use? I've found three or four so far (including some in RecipeGullet), but since I have so many beets to use up, I figure this is the best time to try a bunch of different recipes and find the one I like best.  Extra points for recipes which can be served hot OR cold (most are better one way or the other).

Anxiously awaiting the infinite wisdom of eGullet...

←

Well, if you've checked RecipeGullet you've probably seen my borscht recipe already, but just in case you didn't, here's the link. I enjoy this one both cold and hot, by the way.

[Knicke]

Pam, thanks, those are great questions. I like borscht with meat and without. I like sweet and sour or just plain sour borscht best. But maybe I just haven't found the right sweet recipe yet?

Anyhow, I'm pretty open to anything you have to throw at me! I asked this question mainly b/c I'm intrigued by how many VERY different borscht recipes are out there. It's like lasagna, everybody's mom has a recipe, and there's a wide range of soups called "borscht".

So yeah, lay it on me - I have few-to-no preconceived notions here.

[bloviatrix]

My standard, basic borscht recipe is:

1 bunch beets, about 1 pound, roasted. Skins removed and diced small

1 onion, chopped,

1 potato, medium dice

dill, a nice handful

4 cups liquid - chicken, beef or vegetable stock, water

olive oil, s&p

Heat olive oil. Add onion and sweat. Add potato, dill, and liquid. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Add diced beets, simmer another 10 minutes. Puree and season to taste. Let chill. Creme Fraiche or sour cream is optional.

I also make what I call "new wave borscht". Replace potato and dill with fresh ginger and an apple - preferably granny smith or crispin.

[sanrensho]

Great thread. I've also been looking for a borscht recipe to try out.

I would be very interested in finding out the regional origins of everybody's favorite borscht recipies, as I understand that there are some differences by country/region.

[jackal10]

Borsht is a complex subject.

There are many regional variations.

At one end it is a crystal clear beetroot flavoured consomme, at the other a chunky stew soup meal with many good meats and chunks of veg. Someher in the middle is a cream soup, or a veloute thickened with egg yolks.

Some like it aggrsively sweet and sour, others just a hint.

Then there are the garnishes and accompaniments. For some sour cream is a must. Other pareve or fleishig versions have a boiled or fried potato. Not forgetiing the pieroshki or pierogi. And the glass of vodka.

My version starts with a couple of pounds of raw beets, peeled and grated, a carrot and and onion also grated and about 2 quarts of duck stock for 8 people. If you can't use duck then chicken or even just water for a vegetarian version. Boil the grated vegetables in the stock for 20 minutes or so. Strain, and reserve a few beetroot threads for garnish. Bring back to the boil and add 2 Tbs of sugar and half a cup of malt or pickling vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Check the taste- you may need to add more vinegar or sugar, and the vinegar taste will change as it boils. Taste from a spoon, as the vapours are powerful. Garnish with the beet shreds, and if you like some cubes of cooked duck breast, and of course the sour cream (and chives) (or a boiled or fried potato). Good hot or cold.

Edited August 1, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Pam R]

In our family, borscht was always served sweet and sour - what we know as Russian style. My mother has been known to order borscht in a restaurant and then add packets of sugar to it!

Having said that, I'm going to tell you how I like to make meat borscht. I won't give specific quantities (copyright), but as I always say about soup - it's a fluid thing.

You need to start off with some beef shortribs. In a pot, with lots of water. Simmer the ribs, skimming off all foam and shmutz. Simmer them long and slow - until the meat seperates from the bones. Strain the meat and bones from the broth (don't toss anything!). Chill the broth - then remove excess fat. Discard all of the bones and any chunks of fat that may remain. Leave the beef in chunks as large as you can.

Return to the broth and meat to the stove and add peeled, chopped beets (yes chopped! None of this shredded stuff for this recipe) - I like them chunky. Also add peeled chopped onions (anything you have), some celery, some carrots. shredded cabbage. Try for a ratio of 3 beets to 1 of everything else. Now, my grandmother would have added a can of Manishewitz tomato soup - I often add some canned, diced tomatoes.

Let the soup simmer for a while... I don't know, maybe half an hour. It's not done yet. Then add some sour salt and sugar. You're going to have to taste it to check the flavour. It needs to continue simmering until the vegetables are tender (but not mushy) - timing will vary depending on the size you cut everything. Season with salt and pepper.

Optional ingredient is potato - I never put it in a meat borscht. The best part of a meat borscht by the way, is the meat.

edited to add that I think in my recipe in my book I use lemon juice instead of sour salt. I don't like vinegar in my borscht.

Edited August 2, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[markabauman]

This sounds very much like the borscht my grandmother used to make. It would often contain marrow bones and possibly some flanken. There would be loads of sliced garlic and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Beets were very chunky. Usually contained both meat and potatoes together. It would make you sweat.

[Pam R]

ooooooooooh yah... marrow bones. Definately a good borscht addition.

[SobaAddict70]

The borscht I'm familiar with has shortribs, carrots, beets, onions, turnip, sour cream, dill and black bread. You spoon some sour cream into the borscht and eat it with the accompanying bread.

I've never had one with apples though. Sounds delicious.

[Majra]

Congratulations on your crop of beets. My favorite borscht recipe is based on this one from epicurious, although I double the cabbage and beets, and add a big handful of chopped fresh dill. My husband and I eat mass quantities of it, sometimes making back-to-back batches.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/5109

[Gifted Gourmet]

I would be very interested in finding out the regional origins of everybody's favorite borscht recipies,

←

essentially a dish of E. Europe, this region being taken to include Russia, Lithuania, Poland (where the name is barzcz) and, most important, the Ukraine. Ukranians count it as their national soup and firmly believe that it originated there. There are more kinds of borshch in the Ukraine than anywhere else; these include the versions of Kiev, Poltava, Odessa, and L'vov. Borshch, which is also counted as a specialty of Ashkenazi Jewish cookery, can be made with a wide range of vegetables. However, the essential ingredient is beetroot, giving the soup its characteristic red colour.

The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 89)source for quote

[sanrensho]

The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 89)source for quote

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Thanks, but I'm most interested in hearing where everyone's favorite borscht recipes come from, so I can get a feel for the regional variations.

I'll try the Russian Palace recipe this week.

[Alinka]

Being Russian, I was almost afraid to read this thread. Problem is, there are as many versions of this dish as there are cooks, and everybody feels theirs is the only correct one. What can I say, we Russians feel strongly about our most common dish . So inevitably, in each Russian culinary forum I've been to, these discussions quickly turn ugly... But you guys are a friendly bunch .

I can say, though, that everyone agrees on the list of the basic ingredients: beets, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions. It can be made with or without meat. Carrots, garlic, and dill are often added. The red borsch is always served hot (there is also "green borsch" made with sorrel or spinach - this one can be eaten cold) with a dollop of sour cream (or mayo in my weird family ). More often than not it's thick and very filling, especially when accompanied by rye bread and "salo" - salted pork fat.

When I first came to the States, I was very surprised to see jars with cranberry juice-looking substance on the supermarket shelf. Then again, Russia is not the only country claiming borsch as its national dish .

[Pam R]

The red borsch is always served hot (there is also "green borsch" made with sorrel or spinach - this one can be eaten cold) with a dollop of sour cream (or mayo in my weird family ).

In the Jewish kitchen, the green, sorrel one is called Schav.

Instead of making a meat borscht, we make a similar one with just water - making it vegetarian. This one is often eaten with sour cream.

The cold stuff in the jar is very popular - especially around Passover time. It's trained of all veggies though, and often had as a cold drink.

Edited August 2, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[Alinka]

In the Jewish kitchen, the green, sorrel one is called Schav.

I can see why - the Russian word for sorrel is "schavel". It's interesting to see how many regional versions of the soup there are, and especially how the recipe was transformed after being brought to the New World.

[cakewalk]

I have wonderful memories of my grandmother's borscht. Unfortunately, I don't have her recipes. I remember that it was sweet/sour, I do remember that it had a bite to it. But, just to respond to the request for regional differences, I remember that in our house borscht was a drink, not a soup. We drank it cold from the refrigerator, in glasses, and the best part was getting to the sliced beets on the bottom, which were eaten with a fork. I was an adult and out of the house before I ever heard of people eating borscht as a soup! (But I now love it that way as well.) We usually had it with dinner, which was invariably meat, so we never added sour cream or yogurt to it. (I love to do that now, mostly because of the magnificent magenta color it creates.) My grandmother was from Poland, the city of Plonsk, which is not far from Warsaw.

[saskanuck]

Mmm, borscht. No one in my household likes it except me, so I don't make it often.

This is my mom's recipe, tried and true. It's a meatless, potato-less version.

6-8 largish beets, peeled and diced

as many of the beet greens and stems as you like - about 3 cups worth

good handful of chopped dill

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup green peas

1/2 cup corn

1/4 cup diced onion

1 cup green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces.

1 clove chopped garlic

salt and pepper

You can vary the amount/type of vegetables in this; it's a very flexible, forgiving soup.

Put the above mixture in a dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to boil and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until beets and carrots are tender. If you wish to add sour cream to the soup, let it cool to prevent curdling. A dash of vinegar is also good in this.

This soup is good hot, cold or room temperature. we always made it on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year, and boy howdy, it would make you break a sweat.

Another thing my mom used to do is to add a small handful of rice to the soup if she wanted it to be a bit thicker or if she didn't have enough fresh vegetables.

Now I want borscht, that beautiful creamy fuchsia-colored nectar. It's good for your health too, although if you eat too much, you may get a surprise after visiting the bathroom later on.

[Knicke]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my plea so far. As expected, lots of variations here! I can't wait to get started trying these recipes out. They all look great.

[Katie Meadow]

After four years this topic deserves a little love. I've never made borscht. My mother didn't like it and wasn't much of a cook and my dad was happy with the jar.

I think I could come up with something reasonable using what's in the fridge. I'm going to roast a bunch of beets today and use a few for a salad, but the rest I can use for soup tomorrow. I have the usual suspects: onion, celery, carrot, cabbage and even one lonely russet, although I can't decide about using potato. And I have some nice home-made beef stock in the freezer. No meat, but that's okay.

I've looked at some recipes and many of them just put all the veggies in the stock and cook it without a saute first, although I'm used to sauteing the onion, celery and carrot first before adding the stock when I make soups. Some recipes call for pureeing a portion of the soup, others don't. I don't think I want to puree.

Any suggestions or simple recipes using what I've got? Should I get some fresh dill? Other than adding tomatoes or going on an involved shopping errand I'm open to anything.

[Pam R]

Katie, did you make your borscht?

I've never sautéed the vegetables before adding them to the soup, but I'm sure it would be fine. Nor have I ever pureed borscht -- in fact, I like my borscht chunky. Lots of recipes call for grating the beets, but I like to cut them in 1/4s and then slicing them.

[Jaymes]

There's a brand of jarred beets that my mother really loved. She'd often stand there with a fork, spearing the beets and eating them right out of the jar.

She'd hide the jar in the far back of the fridge, so the rest of us wouldn't get them. It was her special treat.

And after the beets were gone, and only the juice remained, she'd put a nice dollop of sour cream into the jar, close the lid tightly and shake shake shake.

And then stand there and drink it all down.

I miss her.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Jaymes (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I miss your mom too. She sounds hilarious.

Yes, I did make my borscht, and it was good. My husband liked it better than me, and dropped large dollops of sour cream into his, even though it was hot. It was chunky and rustic, very simply. The weather turned surprisingly warm in the afternoon and I felt nostalgic for that cold stuff out of the jar, although I can barely remember what it tastes like and it might be better just to leave it a memory. I miss my dad.