What is Borscht

Borscht is a quick and easy beet root soup that is easy to make and has as many variations as there is grandmas making it.

This project was inspired by my son who needed to do a school project on a modern* Israeli food. I was pleasantly surprised when he chose to try Borscht. First off it is easy secondly it is so good.

Warning!!

Because Borscht is made with cooked beats you must take extreme cation not to get it on anything that you do not want to turn a vibrant shade of pinkish red. Also we will be using a blender that cares little if it is blending beets or you hand.

Be careful!

*edit 11/10/10 Added the word Modern to help clarify this recipe.

Step 1: Gathering Supplys

There are many variants of Borscht this is possibly one of the quickest and easy versions for it you will need:

Ingredients:

4 cups of chilled sliced beets (two 16oz cans)
1 1/2 cups of beet juice. (conveniently that is about the amount of juice that will be in the canned beets)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream

Tools:

Blender
Tbsp
Glass measuring cup (to prevent staining)
Nice serving bowls
Can opener

Step 2: Open and Drain.

Open and drain off the beets saveing the juice.

Step 3: Into the Blender.

Place the drained beet in the blender along with lemon juice and sugar.

Step 4: Time to Add the Beet Juice.

Add the beet juice.

Step 5: Cover and Blend.

Cover blender and blend until smooth. Oh and do not open the blender while it is going to check consistence. There is nothing beets would like better than to escape and change the color of your cabinets.

Step 6: Plating

Place in bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream. Serve with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 7: Serving Suggestions and Tips.

Borscht is nicely complemented with fresh dill or green onions. At a little restaurant i use to go to it was served with a warm boiled potato.

To chill the soup I cheated buy refrigerating the beet in the can before opening .

Also I heard that you can skip putting in the lemon juice and let the soup set in your refrigerator for two or three days. This allows it to sourer on its own. I have not tried this myself so if you have let me know how that works.