Day 20: Blood Red
So vampires are all the rage these days, right. And what looks more like eating blood soup than beet soup. And what's a better way to prepare beets than that classic communist concoction, borscht! The best part is I didn't even have to make it. Maybe its cheating, but after 19 days of cooking soup I was glad to have a night off. Our friend Leah (the in shape one) invited us over to borscht night and it was a surprising treat. Sweet and savory, bright and warm its no wonder 300 million people survived on it. This recipe is from the cookbook, The Soup Bible:
Borscht!
1 onion chopped
3 cups peeled, chopped beets
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 large apple, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups peeled, chopped beets
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 large apple, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 quarts stock
1 tsp ground cumin
Punch of dried thyme
1 tsp ground cumin
Punch of dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Place the chopped vegetables and apple in a large saucepan with the butter, oil, and 3 tbsp stock. Cover and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Stir in the cumin seeds and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining stock, thyme, bay leave, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil, cover the pan and lower the heat to a slow simmer. Cook for 30 minutes. Strain the veggies and reserve the liquid. Process the vegetables in a food processor until smooth. Return the processed veggies to the rinsed pan and add reserved stock and reheat. Check seasoning and serve with a garnish of sour cream.
Jay review:
4 yums (out of 5)! Much better than FD&C Red No. 32!
