Beef Borscht – You Really Can’t Beat This Beet Soup

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This delicious and vividly colored beef borscht is the firstsoup I can ever remember eating. Every summer, we’d drive to New York City tovisit my father’s side of the family. His father was Ukrainian, and his motherwas Polish, and like the pierogis they’d have ready for us, this beef and beetsoup was always a very welcomed part of the trip.
It was also this soup that started my lifelong love ofadding sour cream to things. The way the tangy, rich cream melted into the hot,beefy broth was a wonder to behold, and unlike any other soup I’d eat the restof the year. Speaking of beefy broth, I only used one measly piece of shank,but you are welcome to add one or two more to make this even more awesome.
Of course, there are a thousand versions of borscht, and asusual I have no idea how authentic this is, which is fine since, well, it’ssoup for God’s sake. Beside what vegetables to add or delete, there is also thequestion of temperature.
Word on the street is that the Ukrainian/Russian versionsare served piping hot, and that the Polish versions are served chilled.However, there does seem to be a general agreement as far as beverage pairingsgo. I’ll let one of my YouTube followers, Afterapplepicking, explain:
“Hot, beefy, red, Russian borscht is only to be served with copious amounts of beer orvodka. Which is quite a distinction from the cold, vegetarian, pink Polishborscht, which is only to be served with copious amounts of beer or vodka.”
Well said! Anyway, I hope you give this blast from my soupypast a try soon, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients (amounts not critical!)2-3 quarts of beef broth(to make your own: simmer a well-browned beef shank or twoin 3 quarts of water for 4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone,and completely flavorless)1 bay leaf1 cup chopped carrots1/2 cup chopped celery1 onion, chopped3 cups sliced beets2 cups chopped cabbagesalt and pepper to taste1/4 cup white vinegar, or to tastesour cream and dill or chive to garnish
*This soup doesn't require a lot of thought. Simply simmer everything until tender!