Several things about myself that influence the foods that I cook and love are likely to be familiar to you as well. One, I prefer to spend my time doing something other than dishes and so if I can cook it all in one pot, that makes me happy. Two, I love local produce and that means in the winter, it’s root crops like potatoes, beets and carrots, onions, garlic, and produce that I either grew in my garden and stored or purchased at the co-op from local sources. Third, I’ve been known as the soup lady for some time now and even though I've moved on and sold my business The Art of Good Food, I still identify with art, good food, and soup because it fits all my criteria.
With my new found freedom this winter, I’ve gone back to some of the recipes and cook books that I’ve used in years past. This weekend, I dug out a cookbook written by Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet On our Immigrant Ancestors, copyright 1990.
I’ve actually made this recipe before and a number of other recipes represented in this book, but it’s been many years. I was thinking about borscht last summer when I peeled, chopped, and froze a few quarts of Detroit Red beets that I grew in the garden. (I’ve never frozen beets before and they came out amazing, with good texture-like fresh cooked.)
I forgot to mention that I don’t cook from recipes. I almost always use them as a jumping off point to do my own thing with what I have on hand. I am an artist and that translates into cooking as well as all other areas of my life. Below is the recipe as Jeff published it, and how I put it together with my comments in italics. You can follow Jeff, me, or use it as a jumping off point to do your own thing.
Russian Borscht
According to Jeff, he got this recipe from Father John, a Russian Orthodox priest and he claims it is the best soup imaginable. (It is delicious for sure!)
Jeff's
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
1 pound of lamb stew meat chopped
1 medium onion
1 1/4 cup green cabbage cored and chopped
1 ½ pound ripe tomatoes diced
2 pounds red beets peeled and diced
3 ½ quarts beef stock
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
juice of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Mine
3-4 tablespoons olive oil (I don’t measure)
3 large cloves garlic peeled and minced
I did not use meat
1 large onion chopped
½ of a 6"green cabbage cored and chopped
1 pint of canned tomatoes or a 14oz can
3-4 cups chopped beets (I had peeled, chopped, and frozen the beets in a quart bag last summer.)
4-5 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon-Beef with enough water to cover veggies
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 large bay leaf
2 tablespoons lemon juice
I skipped the salt because of the bouillon
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Heat a heavy stockpot and add the oil, garlic, and lamb. Brown the lamb and add the onion. (If you are browning lamb or meat, it is best not to add the garlic until just before you finish with the onions.) Saute until the onion is tender and then add the cabbage, tomato, beets, stock, vinegar, bay leaves, lemon juice, salt and pepper (all of the rest of the ingredients).
Bring it all to a boil and simmer covered for 2 hours. (You could do this in a crock pot for the day too.) Add additional salt and pepper to taste. (Mine was fine with the salt from the bouillon.)
Jeff recommends dishing the soup into bowls and passing the garnish of sour cream and fresh chopped dill. (While my soup was simmering, I stirred together a teaspoon of dried dill weed with about ½ cup of sour cream and put it back in the refrigerator until serving time. For my taste, the sour cream or you could use Greek yogurt is essential to the soup.)
I also whipped up a loaf of pumpernickel bread to serve with my soup for dinner. I have 3 more quart bags stuffed with beets in my freezer and so I think overall, this was an excellent use of my summer harvest.
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