Ukranian Peasant Borscht Recipes

UKRAINIAN RED BORSCHT SOUP

Steps:

• Crumble the sausage (if using) into a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until no longer pink. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Fill a large pot halfway with water(about 2 quarts), and bring to a boil. Add the sausage, and cover the pot. Return to a boil. Add the beets, and cook until they have lost their color. Add the carrots and potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, and the can of diced tomatoes.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the tomato paste and water until well blended. Transfer to the pot. Add the raw garlic to the soup, cover and turn off the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Taste, and season with salt, pepper and sugar.
• Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with sour cream, if desired, and fresh parsley.

BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a large pot, add the water and bring it to a boil.
• Immerse all the pieces of meat and 1 bay leaf in simmering water. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
• Then lower the heat and cook over low heat for 1 hour, skimming off the foam that could eventually form.
• Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage and mix well.
• Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic, half the parsley and half the dill.
• Cook over low to medium heat and covered for 15 minutes.
• In a Dutch oven over medium heat, sweat the onion and add the beetroot and mix the two well. Sauté for 2 minutes and add this mixture to the pot.
• Add the sugar, and the second bay leaf and mix well.
• Cook for 2 minutes, covered, then add the lemon juice and the tomato paste and mix well.
• Cover and cook for 10 minutes over low heat, stirring regularly.
• Turn off the heat and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving with smetana on top.
• Sprinkle the rest of the parsley and dill.

UKRANIAN PEASANT BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, brown bacon and render fat.
• Add beef and brown.
• Cut the onion, carrot and celery in half cross-wise and add to pot with beef.
• Also add beets whole with skin, shredded cabbage and water.
• Add pepper corns and bay leaves.
• Bring to boil, then turn heat to medium low, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
• After an hour of cooking start boiling potatoes whole (skin on or off your choice) in a separate pot until soft (45 minutes).
• When soup is ready turn off heat, with a slotted spoon remove the celery carrot and beets.
• Discard celery and carrots or use for something else.
• Leave beets on a separate plate or bowl until cool enough to handle (10 min).
• Peel and grate beets back into the soup pot.
• Add grated carrot.
• Bring soup back to boil.
• Add vinegar and lemon juice.
• Cook 5 minutes longer.
• To serve place a boiled potato in bowl and ladle soup on top.
• Add a dollop of sour cream to each bowl.
• Enjoy.

REAL RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN BORSCHT: CLASSIC RECIPE

Steps:

• A good start to any soup is the meat. In this case we are using a good piece of chuck ON the bone. The bones give the borscht a ton of flavor and I actually like to get some bones without any meat on it. Hubs loves the marrow ???? Your butcher will have some for you if you just ask.
• You want to cut it up into slightly larger than bite size pieces. And place it into a heavy bottomed large pot.
• Cover the meat with cold water and brink up to a boil. Leave about 4 cups of room at the top.
• While your meat is coming up to a boil, get your veggies ready. Peel your carrots, onions and beets.
• Now at this point you have 2 choices. You can shred all the veggies (except the potatoes and cabbage) in a food processor or hand shredder.
• Or you can do what I do...and use the wet chop on the Vitamix. Just throw your veggies in the vitamix... cover with water and pulse, pulse, pulse. For me, this is the go to method because it is a lot quicker and gives the soup a ton of texture.
• Set aside. Cut up your potatoes slightly larger than bite size. Otherwise they will fall apart in the soup. I also really like to use Yukon Gold potatoes. I love how soft they get and they remind me of the potatoes we used to use back in the old country.
• Now, if we pay attention to our soup, you will notice all the scum has come on top. DO NOT LET THIS BOIL. Otherwise the scum will just spread throughout the soup. You want to carefully remove it with a slotted spoon. Your other option is to to strain it like I do with my chicken soup. Strain the soup and then start fresh with clean meat, bones and water. It does take a bit longer, but if you are anal like me and like a super clean soup...it may be a better option.
• Once you have a clean soup, (regardless of which method you use). Here is the reason why you left some room at the top. You are going to pour in your entire Vitamix of veggies WITH the water into the soup along with the potatoes.
• Add in your tomato puree as well.
• Add in a nice helping of red pepper flakes. Hubs and I like it with a kick ???? Add in salt, pepper, sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
• In the meantime slice up your cabbage. First you cut the head of cabbage in half. And remove the core.
• Then you slice it thinly with a nice sharp knife. Again feel free to do this in a food processor. I do not however like the texture it gets if you do it in a Vitamix.
• Add it into your soup. Also, add in 3 tablespoons of chopped dill and the garlic. Allow to simmer for about 15 more minutes.
• Once the cabbage is nice and soft, taste the soup for flavor. We like it sweet and a bit sour. So feel free to add in more lemon juice, pepper, sugar, salt, whatever your heart desires.
• This soup actually tastes better the very next day. If you decide to serve it the next day, you can also remove any extra fat that has solidified on the top after being refrigerated.
• Serve with a nice dollop of sour cream, nice sourdough bread and as my hubs prefers, with a sweet red onion on the side ????

AUTHENTIC RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN BORSCHT

Steps:

• To a large pot (I use 8qts), add the meat and enough water to fill up the pot to halfway.
• Remove all froth that comes up from the meat.
• Continue to boil on med-high until no more froth comes up.
• Reduce heat to low and add consomme mix, whole onion, dill, beats, cabbage, and tomato sauce.
• Fill with water, cover partially with lid, and let cook for 90min.
• After that hour and a half of cooking, make sure meat is soft - then add the carrots, and squeeze all the juice you can possible juice from the lemons into the soup.
• You can add the rice and/or potatoes at this point, if you like.
• Cook, partially covered, for another 30-45 minutes, until making sure the potatoes and carrots are tender, and the rice (if you put any in) is ready.
• The soup is great on day 1, but tastes much better on days 2-3.
• Enjoy the soup while it's very hot.

BORSCH (((AUTHENTIC UKRAINIAN CLASSIC BORSCH)))

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the diced bacon or panchetta in a Dutch oven or stockpot and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, until the fat begins to render, about 3 minutes.
• Add the beef and continue to cook, stirring, until the beef is brown on all sides, about 6 minutes.
• Remove both meats from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• Add the onions and carrot to the fat in the Dutch oven or stockpot and stir to coat.
• Cook until soft, about 4 minutes.
• Add the garlic, oregano, dill seeds and bay leaves and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the red wine vinegar and stir to deglaze the pot.
• Return both meats to the pot and add the water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beef is tender, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, place the beets on a baking sheet and brush with the oil.
• Roast until tender and can be pierced easily with a fork or knife, about 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• When the beets are cool enough to handle, trim the stem and root ends and remove the skins.
• Coarsely grate or chop and set aside.
• When the meat is tender and falling apart, add the beets, potatoes, cabbage, parsley, tomato paste and celery salt or seeds and simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes.
• Season with additional red wine vinegar, salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar to taste.
• Ladle borsch into bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of fresh dill.
• Also, serve with Russian black bread.

UKRAINIAN BORSCHT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown ribs, 3 to 4 minutes per side; set aside.
• Add 1 onion, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Return ribs to Dutch oven, and add wine; simmer for 1 minute. Add chicken stock; bring to a simmer, and season with salt and pepper. Cover; transfer to oven, and roast until ribs are tender, 3 hours.
• Shred ribs, discarding fat and bones. Strain stock through a sieve, and skim off fat. (You should have 2 cups.)
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add remaining onion and the garlic; cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add celery root and carrots; cook for 4 minutes. Add reserved stock, the cabbage, beets, water, and tomato paste. Cook for 30 minutes. Add meat; cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice and vinegar; garnish with parsley.