What Do You Get When You Cross a Russian with a Polish Person? Damn Good Borscht
My background is Russian. My husband is Polish. Needless to say we both have an opinion when it comes to how a proper borscht should be made. My husband thought it was really strange when I told him I needed a turkey bone to make borscht. He ventured to say that I didn't know what I was talking about.
I silenced him with one cold, hard, Russian stare......
I love how delicious and nutritious borscht is. It is essentially a soup made out of a bunch of vegetables. It really doesn't require that much effort to make, and it freezes so well. I never feel guilty pulling out some frozen borscht for a quick and easy dinner that can easily be accompanied by some store-bought perogies or a quick batch of biscuits.
Call it anxiety of authorship or blame it on my ridiculous Aries behavior, but I never want to make anything exactly the same as someone else made it. So I've made my own borscht borrowing from the traditions of both our families. My Dad makes a really simple borscht with turkey, green cabbage and tomato. My Father-In-Law makes his borscht with a wider array of vegetables, purple cabbage and sausage.What I have created drawing on both our Polish and Russian backgrounds and traditions is a beautiful violet colored borscht with a gentle sweetness enhancing the natural flavours of the vegetables, softly complemented by the flavour of the meat.
I hope you enjoy my cross-bred, multicultural borscht. I have a feeling C.B.C. Radio would love my borscht, and if not the actual borscht I'm sure at least they would find my "borscht as cultural mosaic theory" fascinating. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think anytime Jian (Love Q!).
Russian Polish Borscht
Turkey leg or breast
5 small peeled and sliced beets
3 sliced carrots
1 red pepper diced
2 spears sliced celery
1 turnip diced
1 small head red cabbage (cut like coleslaw)
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
1 can diced tomatos
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP dried basil
1 TBSP dried dill
Cubed ham (optional)
1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Simmer turkey and bay leaves for two hours to make stock, or until skin begins to gently all of the bone (occasionally skim the fat from the surface).
2) Remove turkey bone. Remove all meat from turkey bone (until it is a stringy texture). Add to soup and continue to simmer.
3) Sautee onion until transluscent. Add pepper, celery and garlic and sautee for 2 more minutes. Add to soup along with 1 can diced tomatoes
4) Add carrots, beets, turnips and cabbage and simmer for 45 minutes.
5) Remove bay leaves. Add sugar, dill and basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add cubed ham if desired.
6) Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving, or preferrably overnight.
7) Garnish with sour cream
