Borsch

Ingredients

• Pork/Beef: 1lb (more if you have a bone in the meat, which is prefered)

• Water: approx. 1 gal.

• Onions: 2

• Beets: 1-2 (preferable diameter: 2.5in)

• Potatoes: 3

• Carrots: 2-3 (slightly less than beets) Reserve 1/2 carrot for broth.

• Cabbage:1/2 (preferable diameter: 6in)

• Red Pepper (sweet): 1 (avg. size)

• Great Northern Beans (14 oz can) - drained

• Tomato juice: 10 oz.

• Vegetable oil: 2 tbsp

• 3-4 sprigs fresh dill

• 1 Tbsp. vinegar

• 1-2 cloves garlic

• bay leaf: 1-2

• Sugar: 1 tablespoon (12 grams) - only if borsch is a bit too sour due to tomatoes

• Salt to taste

• Sour Cream: 1 teaspoon per serving (must have!)

Instructions

Use preferably 1 1/2 gallon pot when preparing Borsch. Place the meat into the pot and cover with water (approximately 1/2 gal.). Bring water to a boil, wait 5 mins and then pour it off (it should have some unappetizing white/grey protein deposits in it that you want to throw away).

If you notice a lot of white/grey deposits on the meat, take it out of the pot and rinse it under cold water.

Place meat back in the pot, add one whole onion, 1/2 carrot sliced in half, and bay leaf.

Salt the water generously and continue boiling.

Boil until the meat is almost ready to serve, approx. 2h for pork, 2 1/2h for beef (add salt to your taste).

Discard the onion before you begin adding other ingredients.

In the process add water so that the whole volume is constant at about 1/2 of the pot’s volume.

While the meat is boiling grate the carrot and the beets.

You can slice up some of the beet by hand to have larger chunks in borsch (preferable, in order to give borsch more texture).

Slice up the red pepper as well.

Finely chop 1 onion and combine with carrots and vegetable oil (or butter) in a frying pan.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Fry in a thin layer of vegetable oil for 4-5 mins.

Add beets, pepper, and freshly crushed garlic and continue frying for 2-3 mins.

Add tomato sauce to the pan, fry for 1-2 mins then add 1 Tbsp. vinegar which will preserve the redness of the beets.

Splash a bit of broth from the pot into the frying pan with the aim to simmer the veggies, reduce heat to low and cook for another 3-5 mins under a lid stirring occasionally.

Give the vinegar some time to evaporate to reduce its bitter taste.

Make sure to sample the mixture to see if it needs more salt or pepper.

Before adding other ingredients to the broth, remove the meat to a cutting board, slice into small edible chunks while it’s still hot and then add back to the pot.

Prepare cabbage and potatoes by chopping them into small chunks.

Prepare dill by tying together 2-4 sprigs with a twine.

When the meat is 30 min away from being done, add potatoes, cabbage and beans.

If necessary, add some water to the pot.

Boil for another 10 mins then add the vegetable mixture and dill.

Also, add one tablespoon of sugar and salt to you taste if the borsch is too acidic.

Boil for another 5 mins to mix all the juices together then take off the heat.

Add one teaspoon of sour cream to each plate when serving.

Make sure to mix the sour cream with borsch.

Note: the amounts of ingredients are not fixed.

Feel free to experiment with the ratios to fit your own taste.