This recipe was reconstructed from the 'fuzz's memory, and various unreliable WWW recipes. We wanted a borscht that involved no meat, and that was light and refreshing for summer. Apparently it's not rocket science.
Cut tops from 6 or so beets, scrub clean, and simmer in 1.5 qts water until beets are starting to become fork-tender (maybe 1.25 hr). Remove beets from liquid and let them cool a bit.
Add to the beet water 1 bay leaf, 1 med onion cut up a bit, a quarter of the (washed, coarsely chopped) beet tops, 1 tbsp vinegar, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp peppercorns, (and maybe 1 tsp sugar or honey) and simmer till you have soup (maybe 1 hr). Strain the soup through a cloth to remove all solids. Add peeled, finely chopped beets back in. (Note how easily cooked beets peel themselves.) You won't necessarily want to add back in all the beets you cooked originally. Simmer a bit more. Near the end, adjust seasoning, and maybe add a bit of honey or sugar if necessary. Remove from heat and chill.
Serve the soup cold with sour cream, and chopped dill, cilantro, and parsley. For added fun, let your guests add their own shredded raw carrots, sliced, hard-boiled eggs, chopped radishes and cucumbers.
This soup is often served as a creamy emulsion of broth and sour cream.
ReplyDeleteAnother popular addition is hardboiled egg (1/2 or 1 per serving). Eggs are well-known for their high choline content.
This sounds much better than sauteeing organic canned choline, which is usually how I get enough of it in my diet.
ReplyDelete'fuzz: are you making fun of lisa h's inability to read the last sentence of the post, or do I need to have you committed?
ReplyDeleteI got confused by the carrots and cilantro. They always do that to me.
ReplyDeleteThe 'fuzz's friend Zina makes this by boiling beets, potatoes and carrots initially, and grating all of them into the final soup.
ReplyDelete