Solidarity

In solidarity with the Ukrainian people I’ll be walking us through the national dish of Ukraine, Borscht.

Borscht is a hearty stew that uses beets to create an earthy, fruity broth that will give you the strength to make it through winter.

This recipe makes 6 servings. I’m breaking out all the stops for this one to do the dish justice.

4 hours before

Combine ½ cup of sliced beets

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp white sugar

I slice my beets by peeling them and cutting off the greens. Then I lay the beet on where I cut the greens off and I halve them then taking the halves and slicing them into thin chunks

This will make a slightly pickled beet to toss in your borscht to give it a fruity tang. You can skip this and still have a lovely borscht. 

Get started

When you are ready to start cooking break out your large dutch oven or stock pot and add,

• 12 oz beef  -i used lean chuck but in my opinion anything on sale will do
• 7 cups of water
• 8 oz of bacon
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 4 sprigs parsley
• 1 tsp fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried marjoram

Let this simmer on the stove for about 2 hours to let the beef tenderize stirring occasionally, after 2 hours add:

• 1 cup leeks
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cups beets
• 6 cups cabbage which will be about half a head
• 1 lb of smoked sasuage like polish sausage
• 5 carrots cut to preferred size

Let this simmer for another 30 minutes, the beets will start turning white and your broth will become a beautiful red, similar to the color of red wine, Salud and Slava Ukraini.

Prices of ingredients when I purchase them in US dollars, Each price is figured down to the weight that’s used which is why some of these prices may seem very low.

Recipe cost 

Lean Beef Chuck $5.71 
Beets $2.44
½ pound of bacon $2.18
Fresh parsley $.49
Fresh basil $.99
Leeks $2.55
Onion $.54
½ head of cabbage $.82
Polish sausage $3.98
Carrots $.50
Recipe total cost $20.20