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tylikI promised to post the borscht recipe from last night... a few explanatory notes first, though. This isn't a traditional family recipe. As far as I remember, I never had borscht as a child. I'd eaten it as a college student, though, and both enjoyed it in the simple straightforward happy tummy sense, and in the somewhat more abstracted good local seasonal food sense. It is all about late autumn or winter.
I liked having a soup course with Thanksgiving. I mean, hey, it's late November, don't you want soup? Maybe it's just me... So we tried a few different things. The tortilla soup was awfully tastey, though indifferently to non- seasonal. The salmon chowder... well, that's another story. Maybe I'll post that recipe next.
Anyhow, eventually I came around to trying borscht for Thanksgiving, and that really works for me. I mean, culinarily, seasonally, nutritionally... good stuff.
Borscht of no particular lineage
One bunch beets*, chopped into cm cubes
One to two onions, similarly chopped
One leek, chopped against the grain (optional, but I like leeks)
Half a large red cabbage, or all of a small one, chopped
One good sized bunch of carrots, also chopped.
Some vinegar
Salt
Put all the vegetables except for the cabbage into a pot and just barely cover with water. Heat to a gentle boil.
Add the cabbage a double handful at a time. Mix in carefully -- it will shrink a lot as it gets cooked, so don't worry if it doesn't seem to fit at first.
Cover, and simmer for at least an hour (two is also fine, borscht is sturdy stuff)
When all the vegetables are tender, and everything is beet colored, add a glug or so of red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or whatever you have on hand) and salt to taste.
This is traditionally served with a dollop of sour cream. (I don't do dairy, however, and I think it's just fine without.)
* If you have the beet greens, they also can be chopped and added into the borscht. Ours from last night were so ravishing that we sautee'd some garlic in a little olive oil, threw in the beat greens, and then a little red wine and had them as an afternoon snack.
I liked having a soup course with Thanksgiving. I mean, hey, it's late November, don't you want soup? Maybe it's just me... So we tried a few different things. The tortilla soup was awfully tastey, though indifferently to non- seasonal. The salmon chowder... well, that's another story. Maybe I'll post that recipe next.
Anyhow, eventually I came around to trying borscht for Thanksgiving, and that really works for me. I mean, culinarily, seasonally, nutritionally... good stuff.
Borscht of no particular lineage
One bunch beets*, chopped into cm cubes
One to two onions, similarly chopped
One leek, chopped against the grain (optional, but I like leeks)
Half a large red cabbage, or all of a small one, chopped
One good sized bunch of carrots, also chopped.
Some vinegar
Salt
Put all the vegetables except for the cabbage into a pot and just barely cover with water. Heat to a gentle boil.
Add the cabbage a double handful at a time. Mix in carefully -- it will shrink a lot as it gets cooked, so don't worry if it doesn't seem to fit at first.
Cover, and simmer for at least an hour (two is also fine, borscht is sturdy stuff)
When all the vegetables are tender, and everything is beet colored, add a glug or so of red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or whatever you have on hand) and salt to taste.
This is traditionally served with a dollop of sour cream. (I don't do dairy, however, and I think it's just fine without.)
* If you have the beet greens, they also can be chopped and added into the borscht. Ours from last night were so ravishing that we sautee'd some garlic in a little olive oil, threw in the beat greens, and then a little red wine and had them as an afternoon snack.
