Question by karen_faustino: Help with borscht?
Mainly I am wondering how to prepare the beets. I am using fresh beets as opposed to canned ones. Some of the recipes I have looked at call for grating the beets, others call for julienned beets, etc. If you have made borscht with fresh beets before, how did you prepare them? Any other suggestions on how to successfully prepare delicious borscht? Oh, and I do plan to include beef as well. Thanks.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Adam B
Both grated and julienned beets work. I prefer grated, but use a very coarse grater to do it. You want people to be able to get nice sized pieces of beet.
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
jonflatt says
I take the beets, cut the tops and bottoms off of them, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about one and a half hours. The larger beets I cut in half so they cook in roughly the same time as the others. The beets should be firm, but not undercooked, this will ruin the borscht.
Meanwhile I start the rest of the soup.
After the beets have cooked, I let them cool to the point where I can handle them while wearing gloves, and peel them. Then I cut them into a small to medium dice and add them to the soup.
Then I let the borscht simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes more, season it, and put it in the fridge overnight. This lets all the flavors come together and lets the color of the beets leech out into the soup to make that fantastic color.
Reheat, check the seasonings, maybe add a little vinegar, then pour into bowls, top with crème fraîche and a little dill and serve with some good bread.
Edit: Spelling
Rob R says
When the beets are grated, they tend to disintegrate if you cook the soup for a long time. Julienne beets will retain some texture so it is not a thin soup, but both will taste the same. I prefer to actually do some of each. If this is the first homemade borscht you will ever have, you're in for a treat… it's really good. I have used a baking potato before with good results and once tried it without dill. I used a head of fennel instead of dill. The flavor was very different and in some ways I liked the licorice flavor. I put in 1 TBSP of fennel seed as well and it took on the flavor of a sausage soup. Use more beets and less tomato products for a deeper flavor and I added a cup of dry white wine (like a pino grigio) once with good results. Soup is a dish that can be very personal so use what you have and what you like. Good luck!