Beet Borscht Blog

I will begin this blog at the end of the story.  It has been a very busy week!  This past weekend I wanted to do something that felt renewing.  Something besides work, worky, work!  So two things aligned for a perfect bit o relaxation~~~I was gifted a bag of beets and the weather outside for mid November Maine was fantastic!   

So made some borscht and a campfire!

Here is my recipe for Whole Beet Borscht~~WARNING~~I am a by the seat of your pants sort of cook....so this is my tweeted recipe with a happy mistake to boot!  My favorite cookbook (besides the internet) is my old copy of Laurel's Kitchen.  I bought my copy at the co-op in the Seattle U-district when I was 19 years old~~~that would be in 1978!  It was a big purchase at the time for me but one I have never regretted.  The amazing thing is that I still have it after all these years!

My Tweeking of the Original Recipe

I use your average 8 quart pot filled about 1/2 full of water or veggie broth or water with veggie broth powder added

6 medium potatoes cut into chunks

2 medium Onions coarsely chopped

1 bulb of Garlic

Big Splash of Tamari

Heaping Tablespoon of Paprika...here is the "boo-boo"  I grabbed the wrong jar...the chili powder...don't know why I did that the chili powder jar has for years been the one shaped like a dinosaur.   But oh well...now added the paprika and a heaping spoon of dill  weed too.  I let all of that simmer while I prep the beets.

 Garlic is done only one way in my house~~large quantities!

I had a garden "sabbatical" this year (I'll tell you about it sometime) but I did grow my 40 foot double row of Garlic!!

Preparing beets involves cutting off the roots and the top. Then put them in a sauce pan to boil for easy peel removal.  I save the tops to add to the borscht at the end.  If you don't have enough tops or they have been in the bag too long, frozen spinach is a great substitute.

Soup Simmering and Beets Boiling

 Beet Greens and Frozen Spinach

 Peeling Beets is FUN!  Simmer until they are tender.  Then cool them with water.  I give them a bit of a squeeze and slip the skins right off.  Save the peels for excellent compost!

I add the Beets and simmer for another 30 minutes.  Then I smash the soup a bit with a potato masher.  Right at the end I taste and add salt and the juice of one lemon.  Then at the very end I add the greens.  Give it a few minutes.  Then serve with a big dollop of plain yogurt...YUM!

Paired with my Homemade Crackers~~~double YUM~~~Crackers will be another share sometime.

Autumn is coming to an end here in Maine.  It is the time of long cold dark nights.  So it was great to spend an afternoon with a burst of color and heat...speaking of heat...the chili powder is a keeper...we think it was the best borscht ever!