Question by lorentzium: hot borscht – russian variation – how to make?
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Answer by depp_lover
CLASSIC RUSSIAN BORSCHT
2 quarts beef stock
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup potatoes, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1/2 cup juice (from can of beets)
1 cup cooked or canned beets, diced
1 teaspoon vinegar
chopped dill or parsley (for garnishing)
sour cream
In a large heavy pan, melt butter and lightly sauté cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery and onion for approximately 5 minutes. Add beef stock.
Blend canned tomatoes or press through a sieve until fine. Add pureed tomatoes and beet juice to stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until vegetables are firmly tender but not soft.
At this point, add the chopped beets and vinegar. Season well with salt and pepper and remove from heat before the beets begin to lose their color.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill or parsley over each bowl.
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Rедиска says
1-1/2 lb non-lean beef with some bones (e.g., shanks), cut into pieces that can fit in a tablespoon;
12 Roma tomatoes (I use only fresh tomatoes, never canned)
10 cups beef broth (home-made, canned, or in cartons — not from cubes or essence)
1 bunch small beets, peeled and shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 Spanish onion, chopped
2-3 baking potatoes, peeled, cut into halves and immersed in cold water
1 cup pickled cabbage with its juice (available at Russian stores), or 1 cup sauerkraut (but pickled cabbage is really better here).
1 small head of PREFERABLY white cabbage (available at Russian and sometimes at Asian stores), or green cabbage with green outer leaves removed; cut into strips slightly wider than you would make for cole slaw or other salads
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 bunch dill, minced (tough stems removed)
4-5 cloves garlic, mashed
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of ground cayenne pepper
vegetable oil
1. Bring the broth to a boil in a large stockpot. Immerse the tomatoes, add bay leaves, and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and, using a wooden spoon, push them through a sieve to make sauce. Discard the skins, seeds, and tough stem parts that remain in the sieve. Cover the tomato sauce and set aside.
2. Add 1/2 tbsp salt to the cabbage and mix, squeezing it with your hands. As you continue cooking, turn and squeeze the cabbage every 5-10 minutes, for a total of about 4 times. Then, transfer the cabbage to a colander and let drain. This will get rid of bitter juice.
3. Add meat to the broth and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Skim off scum, add potatoes, and cover.
4. Warm vegetable oil in a large, deep skillet and saute the beets, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring them every few minutes. Add the beets to the broth.
5. Add more vegetable oil to the skillet and saute the onions for a few minutes, until they soften and become slightly translucent. Add the carrots and the bell pepper, mix and cover. Cook covered, stirring from time to time, for about 20 minutes. Add tomato sauce, mix, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove potatoes from the soup and coarsely mash them with a fork or masher. No need to make a puree here, the potatoes should be in tiny pieces. Return the mashed potatoes to the soup. Add the tomato-sauce mixture and the pickled cabbage at this time. Cover the soup and let simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add drained fresh cabbage, stir, and let simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. DO NOT cook the borscht for more than 5 minutes after adding the cabbage! It should still be slightly crunchy when the borscht is served.
8. Remove the borscht from heat. Take small amounts of mashed garlic and minced dill and pound together in a mortar. Add to the borscht. Add the rest of the garlic and dill. Stir. Adjust for salt and pepper and add some cayenne to give the borscht just a hint of spice. The borscht should be very thick (the expression goes that a large spoon should remain upright when inserted into the pot), and rich red in color.
9. One final step: cover the borscht and put it into a small enclosed space which retains heat well (such as an oven). There is no need to heat the oven — the large stockpot will warm it just enough for the borscht to shvitz to perfection. Leave it there for about 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. Gently rewarm before serving.
Serve with dark rye and sour cream on the side. Borscht keeps well in a refrigerator for 3-4 days.
DISCLAIMERS:
(1) There are LOTS of recipies for borscht, which vary from region to region, town to town, and family to family. Ukrainian borscht, for example, incorporates "salo" (i.e. solid pork fat), whereas Russian borscht does not. People from Jewish enclaves traditionally use more beets and even add sugar; non-Jewish Russians prefer a more sour borscht. People in southern regions add bell pepper (as do I), whereas those living further north prefer mushrooms. Be that as it may, although my version of the borscht is quite conservative and traditional, be aware that it is probably the umpteen-trillionth version that can be encountered on the Internet and elsewhere.
(2) Real Russian borscht must be sour, not sweet. Russians disagree on methods to increase the tartness. Some people just add lemon juice or even vinegar, but I advise you against it — it's not the right kind of sour and it ruins the color. I use my father-in-law's trick, which consists of combining raw cabbage with the pickled kind, and pickled-cabbage juice. My mother scoffs at this as "non-traditional" and uses tomato paste instead. It helps if you know what real borscht tastes like; then, you can improvise.
(3) DO NOT, under any circumstances, add sour cream to the borscht as part of the cooking process. Sour cream is always served on the side and added by individual diners.