burya buryakiv (a storm of beets)

{i like shadows & poppy teacups}

Yesterday Bryna & I made borshch for her friend Dawn, who had been estranged from beets for quite some time. But now, thanks to this recipe, I am happy to report that Dawn & beets are friends again. My baba would be proud of that, & also of the purple-brown rings of juice still staining my fingertips.

Borshch of the most traditional sort

- 1 large onion, chopped
- a couple cloves of crushed, minced garlic
- ½-1 cup of fresh mushrooms
- some vegetable oil, or butter
- 2-3 cups of beets, diced (if you want to be really fancy, you can grate them, but I like to make very chunky, hearty borshch)
-1 cup of diced carrots
-1 diced potato (or more, if you like it chunky)
-2-3 cups shredded cabbage
-lots of freshly ground black pepper
-some (hungarian-style) paprika
-salt if you like
-8-9 cups of water (can used half vegetable broth too, it really brings out the flavours & you won’t need to add salt)
-lots and lots and lots of fresh chopped dill!

First, sauté your onions and garlic in vegetable oil or butter until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until just tender.

Next, cover the beets with just enough water and cook until barely tender, with the lid on. I like to call this ‘sweating’ the beets! Then add the potatoes and carrots & cook until tender as well & all is full of buttery sweet root-vegetable perfection...

Add a little paprika to taste, along with freshly ground pepper, and salt (if not using broth) and then the cabbage. Add the rest of the water (to your desired consistency) Cook until cabbage is barely tender.

Squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice (not too much, just a little for a bit of tartness) and add all of the chopped dill. Bring to a boil and then simmer until all vegetables are as tender as you wish.

Serve with sour cream (or thick plain yogurt) on top! Add extra dill to taste.


July Borshch

essentially the same ingredients as the above version, but use:

- ½-1 cup long green beans,
- 1 diced sweet apple, and
- ½-1 cup of fresh garden peas (unless this repels you too greatly... apparently it does for some)

and leave out the cabbage and mushrooms.

Add these ingredients when you’d normally add the cabbage, and cook until beans are tender. Use a little less paprika and pepper.