Borscht Recipe

Here is the official recipe I use and my "cheats". 

Borscht
1 1/2 pounds of meat (I like to cut up a beef roast or pork but cheat #1 is use canned chicken)
10-12 cups of water

Salt to taste

6 potatoes peeled and diced

2-3 cups of cabbage shredded (cheat #2 use a bag of pre shredded coleslaw)

1 onion chopped (cheat #3 use frozen chopped onion - saves the eyes!) 

1/2 cup celery - thinly sliced (my boy hates celery so I skip this)

3 beets - peeled and grated (cheat #4 buy them grated in a can) 

Parsley (fresh or dried)

1 clove of garlic crushed (cheat #5 use pre minced stuff in a bottle)

1 cup of tomatoes or juice (cheat #6 I use a can of diced tomatoes)

1 6 ounce can of tomato paste

1 vegetable bouillon cube (I usually throw in whatever bullion cube I have?)

1 red bell pepper shredded or diced (I usually don't have one and skip)

paprika  

1 Tbsp of prepared mustard

dill and chives

2 Tbsp of lemon juice

Sour Cream and a sprinkle of more dill for garnish

Bring the water and meat to boil in a big pot. Remove foam as it accumulates. Add the potatoes. Then after about 10 minutes add the cabbage. While that continues cooking,  sear the remaining vegetables one at a time in a large frying pan in a little butter or oil and add the veggies as you go to the pot. (I've skipped this step before and it turned out fine)  I like to add the beets last and watch the magic happen - it's beautiful. Add the lemon juice last and then serve with a dollop of sour cream and an additional sprinkle of dill. 

Now, I've yet to mess this up. I've skipped ingredients add others. Stuck it in a crock pot.It's pretty resilient.(like Ukraine!)  It's just a matter of what you have or your family likes? And it's the vitamin bomb!! I like to make it on cold rainy days and serve it with homemade wheat bread. 

Great warmed up the next day or two too....we always have leftovers since my home grown kids aren't huge fans. 

Here's a link with pictures of the first time we made borscht:

http://blessedwitharichhart.blogspot.com/2010/01/borshcht.html