....if Masha is cooking: Borsch

Dalop of sour cream added to hot soup

This is probably as ethnic as it gets. You think Eastern Europe (Russia or Ukraine) - you gotta think beet soup a.k.a. borsch. I cook it really frequently and my family loves this soup. Borsch is a meal not at all a first course and I have never been able to make a small pot - it is always the largest pot I have. There are a lot of little anecdotes I have about borsch. I even have some disagreements with the wiki article that I liked above. For example, there is no 't" in borsch and it is a soup that is always hot and usually meat based. Cold beet soup that the article mentions is not a borsch but just that - cold beet soup. This was my other cultural shock. When I just came to America I lived in NY and to make ends meet I worked 3 jobs. My boss was kind enough to let me work for her friend who was a chef and had a small cafe and catering service. I did not know how to cook then but I knew that whatever cold purple soup they were selling, was not borsch. The funny thing is that the owner (my new boss) and her main chef went to the same culinary school, but each was convinced that their version of the soup was correct. They were constantly arguing and correcting the soup behind each other's back. This was truly funny to me, but since I was so low on the totem pole and not so confident about my vocabulary, I dare not speak. However, my thoughts were "They have no idea what borch is, and I wish they tried my mom's or grandma's soup".

Here are ingredients

1. Saute onions

Borsch's main ingredient is beet. That is what gives it the amazing color. It is usually made with beef, chicken or pork stock. The soup is full of vegetables and very thick, in fact Russian saying describes that in a good borsch the spoon will not fall but will remain standing like a fork in a piece of meat. I do not think a woman is ready for marriage if she can't cook borsch and most every family has their own method of cooking and recipe that slightly varies between regions. One common theme is that the beet usually precooked before being added to the soup. My grandma cooked it in the stock with beef bone and then shredded it in the soup. I saute it prior to adding to liquid. In fact I saute all of the vegetables first. Sometimes I add beans if I make it with vegetable stock, but usually I make it with chicken stock.

2. Add celery

I start by sauteing onions, then add carrots, beets and seasoning. Finally, I add the liquid - stock and tomato juice. I add chopped dill and parsley at the end and turn of the fire. It is very good hot with a spoonful of sour cream and it is even better on the second day.

Ingredients are

2-3 tbs oil for sauteing

1 Large diced onion

1 celery rib sliced

2-3 shredded carrots (depending on size of it)
2-3 shredded beets (depending on size of it)

1 pepper diced (sweet, I have yellow pepper here)

2 potatoes cut up in cubes

1/3-1/2 shredded cabbage (depending on size of it)

about 4 cups of stock (vegetable or beef, chicken)

Tomato juice (2-4 cups) or small can of plain tomato sauce and/or 2 tblsp tomato paste

4-5 sliced garlic cloves

3. Add shredded carrots

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or 1 dry chili pepper

3 cloves

1-2 tsp of all purpose vegetable seasoning

salt and pepper

several sprigs of dill and flat leaf parsley chopped

3-4 green onions sliced added once the soup is done and removed from the stove. As the soup cools but is still very hot the herbs give most of the flavor. A clove of garlic pressed may also be added for an extra punch.