Day 23 - Russian Borscht

Borscht,borsht or borshch is a Eastern European vegetable soup well recognized for its purple color, because it is traditionally made with beets. There are many variations of borshct, depending on the country of origin. Some are eaten hot, some are cold. The Ukrainian version has tomatoes added to it, the Russian version has cabbage, meat and sometimes potatoes, and the Polish version sometimes doesn't include beets at all.

This soup takes forever to cook (compared to my other soups), but your patience will be rewarded. From start to finish it took 3hrs. It tastes great with a dallop of sour cream and some chives.

We went to the Rockefeller center in the evening to see the Christmas tree all lite up in it's glory, and topped with a swarvoski crystal star. There was some rapper T.I playing (who Darien and I had never heard of) at the Rockefellar center, so it took a little negotiating around the crowd to get a good view.

After we saw the tree, we walked to one of our favorite restaurants Tao on 58st and Madison. It has a giant Buddha, a pond with koy fish, and amazing lychee martini's. We had some Peking duck spring rolls, pork pot stickers with ginger sauce, shrimp tempura with chili sauce and pad thai. We are never disappointed with the food there, and the atmosphere is lounge meets the Southeast Asia.


Russian Borscht
Source: Adapted from Recipe Zaar

1lb beef tenderloin
3 Carrots
3 onions
2 big beets (peeled and halved)
3 medium potatoes
1 small head of cabbage
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
sour cream and chives for garnish

Directions
Season meat with salt and pepper, and then sear meat in a stew pot with olive oil over high heat. After the meat is seared, add the red wine and then add water to cover the meat. You may need to keep adding more water, so that the meat is completely covered. Simmer for 2 hrs. Take meat out of the broth and put aside. Shred the meat (I used two forks to pull the meat apart).

Add the beets to the broth and boil until soft. Meanwhile, sautee the onions and carrot in olive oil until onion are soft. When beats are done, use a fork to break them up into chunks. Add meat, onion, carrots, cubed potatoes and cabbage to soup. Bring to a boil. Adjust water level (the amount depends on how thick or thin you want the soup). When potatoes are cooked. Add 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar and adjust salt and pepper.

Serve with a dallop of sour cream and chives.