BS: Borscht

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BS: Borscht

11 Apr 09 - 06:00 PM (#2609399)
Subject: BS: Borscht
From: Joe Offer

Well, it's Holy Saturday, and my Polish wife and her 94-yr-old Polish mother have finished making the cheesecake and are now making the borscht in Polish, barszcz). This, I find, is one of the many advantages of being married to a Polish woman, because her borscht (with a large dollop of hoseradish) and a couple of beers are enough to send a man to heaven.

So, I was wondering what Borscht recipes and customs others might have. Here's Christina's heirloom family recipe:

Borstch

(mom's spelling)

Simmer

Grind

(but Christina, being an Organic Woman, uses fresh beets)

Bring

Blend

Cut Up

" "

(we now add it at the table, because Grandma doesn't like the hot stuff like she used to)

So, that's it. With the mixture of meat and dairy, it's certainly not Kosher. With the Kielbasa, it's certainly not organic or vegetarian - but Christina claims Kielbasa is a Polish vegetable. Any other recipes?

-Joe, preparing to feast-

11 Apr 09 - 06:30 PM (#2609413)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Leadfingers

We could always sing ' Borscht a song at Twilight' I suppose

11 Apr 09 - 06:38 PM (#2609421)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: John on the Sunset Coast

Hi Joe-

There are several borschts (my family's spelling, too). Beet Borscht, Cabbage Borscht, etc. In my Jewish experience (not necessarily the exemplar for Jewish food) borscht is a vegetable soup, usually served cold, and in the case of the beet borscht usually served with a dollop of smetena, a fancy schmancy word for sour cream...not the composer

While I like soups in general...four or five times a week like them..., I have never seen a reason for existence of Beet Borscht. It is, for me, the James Taylor of soups. How-some-ever, if I ever decide to like it, I'll try your recipe.

11 Apr 09 - 06:54 PM (#2609429)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: artbrooks

Sounds good, Joe - especially the beer and kielbasa part. My first experience with borscht was my wife's Grandma Masha's...which was enough to send anyone off to the cupboard for a can of Campbell's chicken noodle. That looks good - but it also looks like enough to feed a small army.

11 Apr 09 - 09:09 PM (#2609470)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Joe, I have a Ukrainian Barszcz recipe that I took down verbally from a Ukrainian cook whose parents homesteaded close to the Hudson's Bay river 'lot' we once had near Smoky Lake, Alberta. Ukrainian settlers are dominant in that part of Alberta (Some Poles also settled in the area, but they mostly have moved to the big cities of Edmonton and Calgary). Most of the Ukrainians came from what once was called Bessarabia, an area now mostly Moldova.

This recipe is a bit incoherent; I don't have my wife handy to help me, but your wife and others might find something of interest in it.

The basis is a 'soup stock.'
6 cups soup stock, which was prepared as follows:
2 pounds brisket, or other meat
10 cups cold water
A marrow bone
3 carrots
1 celery root
1 parsley root
1 large leek
1 1/2-2 medium onions (baked!)
1/2 head savoy cabbage (optional)
3-4 dried mushrooms (gathered locally, not those white things)
Salt, pepper, to taste.
1 tbs fresh chopped dill, (or parsley)

The soup-
6 cups of the soup stock, with pork meat, dried mushrooms and beets added.
2 beets, preferably cut in fine strips (or more)
1/2 head savoy cabbage
5 medium tomatoes, quartered
2 strips raw bacon
1/2 medium onion, grated
1 tsp fresh dill
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp butter 2 hard-cooked eggs (optional)
1/4 pound diced sausage (optional)
Season to taste.

The local smoked sausage from there is heaven, very meaty and low fat.

12 Apr 09 - 05:27 AM (#2609571)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: The Sandman

other ingredients which improve borscht,are spinach/sorrel,and caraway seeds.
my stepmother was russian jewish,and our borscht was a vegetable[not meat soup].it also improved if left a day .

12 Apr 09 - 12:54 PM (#2609717)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Yes, many of these soups (stews), chili, etc. seem better the second day.

I remember a fellow who kept a chile pot going for weeks by adding ingredients to keep it full. It was pretty bad, and needed a few bottles of XX on the side.

12 Apr 09 - 09:00 PM (#2609924)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Joe_F

If you order borscht in a U.S. deli, you'll generally get a little dish of shredded beets with a dollup of sour cream. Nothing wrong with that, but I have had some success with the following meal-in-itself Russian version, from the N.Y. Times Cookbook:

1 lb lean beef, cubed
1.5 qt water
1 T salt
1.5 c shredded raw beets
0.75 c shredded carrots
0.75 c white turnips
1 med onion, chopped
2 T tomato puree
2 T vinegar
1 t sugar
2 T butter
0.5 head cabbage, shredded
Fresh-ground black pepper
2 bay leaves

Simmer the beef, covered, in salted water until tender, about 1.5 h.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan simmer the beets, carrots, turnips, onion, puree, vinegar, sugar, & butter, covered, 15 min. Stir frequently. Add the cabbage, & cook 10 min longer.
Add the vegetable mixture, pepper, & bay leaves to the meat & broth. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
Serve with sour cream.

12 Apr 09 - 09:43 PM (#2609937)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Joe, if you are still watching, how many beets does your wife use? And what size?

Some recipes are heavy on the beets, and in some, the beets are just one vegetable among many. Joe's recipe seems like it is heavy on the beets.

12 Apr 09 - 11:58 PM (#2609967)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: open mike

i have never used any kind of meat or meat broth or sugar or cabbage,
and i usually blend the soup to make it smoothe.

i never thought of adding thickener such as corn starch,
or horseradish, but have used golden beets, and alway
a "dollop" of sour cream...

i usually boil beets, onions and garlic (and maybe a carrot or two)
til soft, then whirl in a blender, and
eat. I see bottles of borscht in the store
in the kosher shelves at certain time of year.

beets or beet juice is also great in pickled eggs...

13 Apr 09 - 04:56 PM (#2610432)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Bill H //\\

AH! Borscht. How I love a good beet borscht. My daughter, who loves to cook, made a whole batch for me recently---thick and tasty from fresh beets. The only thing it should carry a warning label that you are not bleeding when you urinate---it is the beets.

Store brought Borscht (Golds- Manishewitz-etc)are nothing but a watered version---a Beet drink if you will. The proof of that is you will have no fear of going to the bathroom and until you get the thick stuff (and real thing) you really do not know what it tastes like.

By the way---a nice boiled potato in a cold bowl of real borscht is great.

Now let us get to the next course---some nice cheese blintzes---and more sour cream. We will clog those arteries as quick as we can.

Bill Hahn

13 Apr 09 - 08:54 PM (#2610607)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Joe_F

Q: As I have no wife, I cannot answer your question directly. However, the number of beets it takes to make 1.5 cups of shredded beets depends on the size of the beets. One big one will do it.

13 Apr 09 - 11:16 PM (#2610675)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Janie

Borscht is an aquired taste that I have not been able to acquire.

for that matter, beets are something for which I have never been able to acquire a taste. I love pickled eggs, and that is as close to a beet as I can stand to be.

14 Apr 09 - 12:14 AM (#2610690)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Jim Dixon

Peter Ostroushko wrote a great song called BORSCHT. The song contains a complete recipe. See the lyrics in the DT. You can hear it in an archived radio program: click here and then skip to 34:45 (that is, 34 minutes, 45 seconds from the beginning of the file).

14 Apr 09 - 03:07 PM (#2611141)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: ClaireBear

My first exposure to the concept of borscht was a childhood friend's mother who remembered borscht from her own childhood and wanted us kids to experience it.

However, not having any beets handy, she substituted canned tomato soup for the beet-infused broth itself; and not having any sour cream either, she garnished each bowl with a generous dollop of Kool Whip.

Joe, your wife's recipe may have given me the courage to try again.

Claire

14 Apr 09 - 06:34 PM (#2611293)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: GUEST, Ebbie

I have a Polish friend who has served borscht a number of times. It may be an acquired taste for some but I think I have loved it from my first taste. On the other hand, I also love just plain beets.

14 Apr 09 - 06:42 PM (#2611297)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Bill H //\\

AH---Beets and Borscht. I shall try to get the recipe from my daughter and post it.

Claire: Given your experience I would have sworn off food altogether---gosh---koolwhip vs sour cream tomato soup for beets surprising that the lady did not suhstitute spam for veal and any chef boyardee product for real food.

Bill Hahn

14 Apr 09 - 07:33 PM (#2611324)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: ClaireBear

Bill, she probably did -- I learned not to eat there much, after that day!

I am actually rather a good cook myself, and I might not be so conscientious about my ingredients were it not for that horrific culinary experience, which 45 years later is still deeply etched into memory.

Experience is, after all, what you get when you don't get what you want.

C

16 Mar 10 - 10:44 PM (#2865739)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: GUEST,yelena

yes. this is how i cook my borch. i also add potatoes. and try to put a marrow bone with meat. I dont cut meat into small pieces. Meat cooks for a long time and is much more tender if cooked as big chunk. I was born in kiev, ukrain. Also great way to eat this is with buttered european rye bread and row garlic wich one dips in salt (look for it in russian deli). Put little sour cream in borch when serving. very very good. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Joe_F
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 09:00 PM

If you order borscht in a U.S. deli, you'll generally get a little dish of shredded beets with a dollup of sour cream. Nothing wrong with that, but I have had some success with the following meal-in-itself Russian version, from the N.Y. Times Cookbook:

1 lb lean beef, cubed
1.5 qt water
1 T salt
1.5 c shredded raw beets
0.75 c shredded carrots
0.75 c white turnips
1 med onion, chopped
2 T tomato puree
2 T vinegar
1 t sugar
2 T butter
0.5 head cabbage, shredded
Fresh-ground black pepper
2 bay leaves

Simmer the beef, covered, in salted water until tender, about 1.5 h.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan simmer the beets, carrots, turnips, onion, puree, vinegar, sugar, & butter, covered, 15 min. Stir frequently. Add the cabbage, & cook 10 min longer.
Add the vegetable mixture, pepper, & bay leaves to the meat & broth. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
Serve with sour cream.

17 Mar 10 - 09:11 AM (#2865973)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Charmion

Thanks, GUEST yelena. It's nice to have the opinion of an expert.

17 Mar 10 - 04:40 PM (#2866299)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: open mike

yum--i am getting hungry for this...

also for a steamed pot of brocolli, onion, carrot, celery, potato..
it might be good with hollandaise on top!

17 Mar 10 - 04:41 PM (#2866302)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: Charmion

Anything with hollandaise on top is good.

18 Mar 10 - 06:56 AM (#2866706)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: GUEST,leeneia

I'm here to represent the other side.

My husband loathes beets. When we were first married, I served beets for dinner and he went into a major sulk. Turned out he assumed I would know that beets are vile and that it is an insult to be served them.

One summer I grew beets to have for my own lunches, but he objected to the way the house smelled from the cooking.

Later I read in a book that this hatred for beets is a rather common phenonenon in males. I can only conclude that they must taste and smell different to different people.

A wise host or hostess would check with guests before serving them beets.

18 Mar 10 - 07:37 AM (#2866728)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: GUEST,Charmion's brother Andrew

Beet root makes me gag; didn't like it as a boy, still do not enjoy it. Beet greens, however, are quite good if prepared like spinach.

18 Mar 10 - 12:36 PM (#2866919)
Subject: RE: BS: Borscht
From: robomatic

Russian and Ukrainian alphabet has this wonderful letter that looks like a W with a descending serif on the right end, it is prounounced "shch" and in those languages it is the final letter of the 4-letter word: BORW pronounced 'borshch'.
Yiddish/ German has no such letter so the best they can do to approximate the pronunciation is to add a 't' sound at the end:
borsht.

For those of you old enough to remember the shavers and blades made by Wilkinson, there used to be an add on US television with two swishing blades, and the sound effect was "SHH" "SHHCHH" which was how I learned to pronounce my Russian shibbilants.