For a half gallon Borshe (6-8 servings)
prepare:
(1) Lean beef on the bone (thigh,
T-bone, leg, tail) – 0.5 to 0.75 pound, alternatively pork or chicken or
mixed meat of such upon your taste.
(2) Carrots – 2 (medium size)
(3) Red beet – 2 (medium size)
(4) Onion – 1 (standard size)
(5) Tomatoes – 3 (medium size)
(6) Cabbage – (half of the
medium size head)
(7) Sunflower oil – a few tablespoons
(8) Spices – Black pepper (non-ground),
celery, parsley, real garlic (not powder), bay leafs.
Cook in the following sequence:
A. Boil beef in fresh water (no
salt, add 2-3 bay leafs). Remove any protein flakes appearing on the surface.
B. While boiling, cut carrots, onion,
beet, tomatoes (remove skin if possible or use tomato paste instead), cabbage,
garlic and celery roots (two).
C. When beef is fully cooked, remove
bay leafs and meat from the bowl and filter the broth. Separate meat from
the bones and cut it into a Stroganov’s size bits. Put aside.
D. Add beet into the broth, add
salt and celery roots. Boil until beet is soft.
E. While boiling the beet, use frying
pan oiled with the sunflower oil to stew onion and carrots. When ready,
add tomatoes and stew again for a couple of minutes until it starts bubbling.
F. Put meat back into the bowl,
add the stewed vegetables, more salt if needed, black pepper, some parsley,
garlic (two teeth cut bits) and cabbage. Boil until cabbage is soft.
When serving and if so desired add 1-2 teaspoons of sour cream
per serving.
You do not have to eat it all at once. It’ll taste even better
the next day.
Optional: For the best result put
a glass of Vodka and a pickled cucumber on the side.
Optional: Tell the story how a wife
in a far Russian village hit her husband in the head with a ladle for questioning
the amount of salt she added into the Borshe.
Footnotes:
1. First try may not work but will help to gain some experience
in Russian style cooking.
2. If you feel like it takes too long, have some vodka, beer
or wine. It will make the time pass quicker.
3. Russian families with low income cook a gallon or two for
the whole week. It saves some money for buying more Vodka. |