The weekend I made borscht the weather was unusually cold for Austin,TX. I was thinking of making some sort of soup and was looking for recipes when I realized that this was the perfect time to make a national dish that was a soup.
Borscht seemed like the perfect soup to make. Like many popular dishes, borscht is made in many different countries so I made sure to use a recipe that stated it was Ukrainian Borscht. I was sold on the recipe I used by this introduction paragraph which amuses me greatly.
Borsch is the most popular soup of Ukrainian cuisine that got its name from the most important ingredient, beets, called in old Slavic, borsch. There are numerous recipes for making borsch, but this recipe is as authentic as they come. My maternal grandmother, Anna Buhal’tsev (Bell) Mersky, came from Smila Gubernyia, which is near Cherkassy and Kyiv in the Ukraine. TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT THIS IS AN AUTHENTIC RECIPE BROUGHT TO THE U.S. WITH MY GRANDMOTHER FROM THE UKRAINE! If you wish to e-mail me you can e-mail me at: leonetti00 at aol dot com
He even included his email address written as aol dot com, hilarious. All joking aside, this was a great hearty soup. What distinguishes this recipe from just being a standard beef soup is the addition of beets.
I have never cooked with beets before so I had to make sure I roasted them correctly. They are a pain in the ass to peel even after spending time in the oven but they add a beautiful red color to the dish and a nice subtle sweetness.
Other than that it was a pretty standard beef stew. Another thing to note as well is you do not need anywhere need a half cup of dill, one package from the store will suffice, don’t make the same mistake I made. In addition, make sure to get some Rye bread to enjoy alongside to the dish.
The taste was very good and the recipe makes a ton of soup so make sure to invite some friends. As for me, I just ate borscht all week long.
Recipe(with hilarious intro) is here.