BORSCH for the Whole Family!


Ingredients to make about 24 litres:

    3-4 kgs of beef soup bones
    1-2 kgs of stewing beef
    dozen large carrots
    half dozen large parsley roots (with tops)
    1-2 kgs medium sized onions
    dozen small to medium red beets
    2 kgs potatoes
    half head of cabbage or sauer kraut
    3-5 heads of garlic
    1 bunch of fresh parsley leaves
    2 bunches of fresh dill weed
    half dozen bay leaves
    half litre of sour cream
    

Create the Beef Stock:

    Bring about 18 litres of water to a boil, and add onions, carrots,
    parsley, and soup bones; boil over low to medium heat for 1.5hrs.
    Remove bones and large items before straining the stock.  Meat on the
    bones may be removed and added in the next stage.  As well, the
    vegetables can be pureed and added back in later.


Next prepare the ingredients for the borsch:

    Add water to the beef stock to make about 20 litres.

    Trim the the stewing beef carefully and brown in a pan with butter
    and  a couple cloves of garlic.  Add it to simmering beef stock.

    Shred about six to eight carrots, and three parsley roots.  Chop about
    1kg of onions, and four large heads of fresh garlic.  Add this to
    the simmering pot.

    Boil about ten medium beets for about 45minutes or until they are soft
    enough to peel.  Allow to cool, but before they are quite cold, peel
    them and break them into a warm pan with a small amount of butter.
    Break beets as small as practical and heat in pan stirring frequently.
    Add a half litre of tomatoe sauce to the beets as you are heating
    them.

    Add a few spoonsful of vinegar while stirring, followed by an equal
    amount of sugar.  Adjust the amounts until you achieve a sweet-sour
    taste.  Cook this way for about 15 minute, until you notice the
    mixture is starting to become dryer -- do not let them dehydrate.
    Add the fried beets to the simmering pot.

    Peel and finely dice about 2kg of potatoes.  Boil until tender
    crisp.  

    Cut about half a large head of cabbage into thin strips.  This can be
    fresh cabbage or sauerkraut. Add the cabbage and the potatoes
    together with the water they were boiled in, into the simmering pot.

    At this point, allow the pot to come to a slow boil for about an hour.
    If you are using fresh cabbage you need to allow an extra half hour
    or so to the cooking time.

    While the pot is boiling, prepare one bunch of parsley leaves and
    two bunches of dill weed, finely chopped.  A bunch is a cluster
    where the stems gathered are about 1.5 centimeters. 

    Once the contents of the boiling pot has reached a consistency where
    the beets and onions are not individually distinguishable, then
    add about five bay leaves and the chopped dill and parsely leaf.
    Add about 250ml of coarse pickling salt.  Turn down the heat and
    simmer for one-half hour.

    Allow to cool overnight.  The borsch will keep for up to about five
    days in a cold room during the winter (at about 3-7C).  Any longer
    and I would recommend splitting into meal-sized portions and
    freezing in deep freezer.  

    Add a small amount of water and bring to a slow boil, and remove
    bay leaves before serving.  Serve with freshly chopped dill and
    sour cream.  For the adventuresome a head of freshly pressed garlic
    into 0.5 litre sour cream makes an excellent and healthy spread for
    fresh bread.  

    
    This recipe originates from the head of Ed Schroeder, all I did was
    taste and transcribe  (Ed is really a fantastic cook).

    Copyright (c) 1999 - 2001, E. J. Ritzmann