“Borsch reminds me of being reunited with friends and family, because it the first thing my mum cooks when I return to Russia. Now I share it with my family and friends in Bristol too!”
Stage 1 (The stock)
Ingredients:
1 shin of beef with bone still in
3 bay leaves
½ tsp pepper
1 carrot roughly chopped
1 onion peeled
3.5 litres of water
2 tsp salt
Method:
- Place the beef, onion, water and salt in a large pan and place on a medium heat.
- Keep skimming the scum from the top of the pan.
- Just before the stock reaches boiling point, add the rest of the ingredients, turn down the heat and simmer for 3 – 4 hours until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. Remove the bone.
Stage 2 (The soup itself)
Ingredients:
2 medium onions diced
2 medium potatoes (preferably waxy) diced into bite size pieces
2 medium beetroots (julienne cut)
2 medium carrots (julienne cut)
1/4 of a small white cabbage shredded
The juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 tbsp of tomato puree
A bunch of dill
Method:
- Place the beetroot, water and lemon juice (which helps the beetroot to keep its colour) in a pan. Cover and simmer until soft. Leave to one side.
- Put the oil, carrot and onion into a frying pan and sweat on a medium heat without colouring. Once soft, add the tomato puree and maybe a little water to loosen it. Cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Leave to one side.
- Take the beef from the stock and shred it into chunks. Put to one side.
- Strain the stock and put it into a clean pan with the potatoes, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and leave to simmer until cooked.
- Finally, add the beetroot and the carrot and onion mixture and bring to the boil. Add the finely chopped dill.
- Turn off the heat and let the flavours infuse for five minutes before serving.
