Borscht - the real deal
I love elegant food, but sometimes - just like today, I crave a whole lot of hearty home-made goodness. Also, I wanted to finally introduce
Borscht - the real deal
to friends everywhere. On a personal note, I made this dish solely by my taste memories, against the grain of cookbooks and popular misconceptions. This soup tasted very good at the end.
This picture could have been taken in my Granny's kitchen well over thirty years ago, and it would look exactly the same. Traditionally, borscht is made with braised meat ( back in the days of the former CCCP it was not always available, but when it was - it would give an every day meal a certain aura of festivity), cabbage and tomatoes. Other ingredients vary greatly from region to region, and from family to family, which is why there are "Green Borscht", "Beet Borscht", "NAVY Borscht" and my personal favorite - Ukranian Borscht (pictured above). Noteworthy, my Granny would throw a few potatoes in her borscht pots, whereas her daughter (my Mom) would almost never do that - creativity of a cook is not to be disputed, I guess.
OK, so I browned beef chuck ( shoulder) with salt and pepper, and used a pretty traditional mise-en-place from that point forward. I would like to point out though, that before borscht broth is made aromatics and root vegetables should be sauteed with tomato paste, for the sake of both color and taste. The borscht simmered on the the stove for a few hours for the meat to become fork-tender, which is when I added cabbage and extra tomatoes, and left it simmering for another 20-25 minutes.
I served my borscht with sour cream, parsley and crusty bread and a few garlic cloves on the side ( garlic is typically rubbed on the bread crust and eaten with the broth).
The most amasing thing to me still - borscht I made today tasted exactly like how I remembered it. Is there anything that can beat the taste of one's childhood? I don't think so....
Borscht - the real deal
I love elegant food, but sometimes - just like today, I crave a whole lot of hearty home-made goodness. Also, I wanted to finally introduce
Borscht - the real deal
to friends everywhere. On a personal note, I made this dish solely by my taste memories, against the grain of cookbooks and popular misconceptions. This soup tasted very good at the end.
This picture could have been taken in my Granny's kitchen well over thirty years ago, and it would look exactly the same. Traditionally, borscht is made with braised meat ( back in the days of the former CCCP it was not always available, but when it was - it would give an every day meal a certain aura of festivity), cabbage and tomatoes. Other ingredients vary greatly from region to region, and from family to family, which is why there are "Green Borscht", "Beet Borscht", "NAVY Borscht" and my personal favorite - Ukranian Borscht (pictured above). Noteworthy, my Granny would throw a few potatoes in her borscht pots, whereas her daughter (my Mom) would almost never do that - creativity of a cook is not to be disputed, I guess.
OK, so I browned beef chuck ( shoulder) with salt and pepper, and used a pretty traditional mise-en-place from that point forward. I would like to point out though, that before borscht broth is made aromatics and root vegetables should be sauteed with tomato paste, for the sake of both color and taste. The borscht simmered on the the stove for a few hours for the meat to become fork-tender, which is when I added cabbage and extra tomatoes, and left it simmering for another 20-25 minutes.
I served my borscht with sour cream, parsley and crusty bread and a few garlic cloves on the side ( garlic is typically rubbed on the bread crust and eaten with the broth).
The most amasing thing to me still - borscht I made today tasted exactly like how I remembered it. Is there anything that can beat the taste of one's childhood? I don't think so....