Lost in Panslation - Borsch

Please bear in mind that I Google translated the Russian recipe and then interpreted the translation...

Serves 4 generously.

Ingredients

Beef broth:

• Beef bones (preferably with meat on the bone) - I think the butcher gave me rib bones, around 5 big chunks...

• A couple of bay leaves

• A carrot or two

• A pinch of salt (remember the stock reduces though so don't go too hard initially)

Borsch:

• 1 large and 1 medium beetroot cubed

• 1/4 cabbage head sliced

• 1 chopped carrot

• 1 handful of chopped parsley

• 3 medium potatoes peeled and cubed

• 1 finely chopped medium onion

• 2 cloves grated garlic

• 2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

• A spoonful of beef fat (from roasting the bones or skimmed from the broth) or lard

• A knob of butter (around 25g)

• 2 tsp sugar

• Small pinch of allspice powder

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

Garnish

• Sprig of dill

• Sour cream

Recipe

Beef broth (you can do this the day before if you please e.g. if it's a cold day and you want to heat your house):

1. Roast the bones at 180 degree celsius for around 40 minutes (smear them with a little veg oil to get them going, I just use my hands)

2. Place bones in a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot (set aside the fatty oil aside to use later) and cover with cold water, throw in a few carrots and bay leaves

3. Let it come to a boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer for about 4 hours or however long you can go really... (top up with water if it's reduced a lot)

4. Skim off gross white frothy bits as they emerge

5. Try to get off as much meat as possible and throw away the bones

In terms of amount of broth - there was enough for one big tupperware (used this for the borsch which made 4 portions, I topped up with some extra water when making the actual borsch) and one medium one (for the freezer)... so whatever that is in ml.

Borsch:

1. Put the cubed beetroot in a bowl and mix with the sugar and white wine vinegar - set aside for around 15 minutes

2. Whilst that is sitting, sauté the parsley, onions and carrots in the butter until just soft and then set aside

3. Heat the beef fat or lard in the pan and toss in the beetroots and 2 tbsp of tomato paste, (and season with a pinch of salt) let that soften for a good 20 minutes - then set aside

4. Heat up the beef broth until a gentle boil. Toss in the potatoes and cabbage and let that simmer for around 15 minutes

5. Then add in the beetroots and let that go for another 5 minutes

6. Then add in the scraped off beef, carrots, parsley and onion, grate the garlic and add a pinch of allspice. Taste and add more salt. If it's looking a bit more like stew, add a bit more water

7. Let that all simmer together for another 10 minutes or so

8. Ladle into bowls, garnish with sour cream and dill

9. Enjoy with a chunk of rye or sourdough bread with garlic spread all over

10. Get sweaty