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The Beautiful Soup: Borscht
Posted by Launie Kettler in Arts & Culture
Launie Kettler makes heaping bowls of red deliciousness: Borscht!
I love beets and I love cabbage. Sadly, my husband doesn’t like either of them. So, it was a letdown for him – and a boon for me - when we received both of those vegetables in our winter CSA last week.
I wanted to really showcase the beautiful beets, so I decided to make a borscht. There are endless variations on this Eastern European Jewish favorite, but whether you prefer your borscht with meat, potatoes, cabbage, all of the above or none of the above, there is one thing that’s certain.
Borscht is the most beautiful soup you can make.
Borscht
4 medium beets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 small cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of fresh dill
5 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons of worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
Sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Thoroughly scrub the beets and cut the tops and bottoms off. Place them on a large sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Fold the aluminum foil tightly and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until fork tender. Remove the beets from the oven and and let cool.
While the beets are cooling, add the diced onion and carrots to a soup pot. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil over them and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and cook on medium low heat for 15 minutes, or until they are soft.
Slide or cut the skin off the beets and dice them. (Beets are much easier to peel once they are cooked.) Add the beets, dill and cabbage to the soup pot. Pour in the chicken stock and worcestershire. Simmer covered for half an hour on low heat. Just before serving, add the apple cider vinegar and stir well so that it’s incorporated. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.
Serves 4. (Or 1, for 3 meals of delicious leftovers.)
Launie Kettler is a native Vermonter who abhors nature and finds refuge cooking in a very small kitchen. Her recipes and photos have been featured on Salon, Open Salon and Photograzing (Serious Eats.) She believes that wine and a mandoline can coexist but only with a very good safe guard. Launie’s cooking blog is: www.teenytinykitchen.com
