[Intro music]
Borscht. Borscht is a Russian dish
probably the most famous of them.
It is a soup made of beetroot and other vegetables.
The beetroot gives it a beautiful, nice red colour
which is very typical to that soup.
To make the borscht, you will need
sour cream, red wine vinegar, pepper,
salt, butter, bay leaf, paysanne of turnip,
sugar, beef cut in small cubes,
caraway seeds, chopped onion, dill, parsley,
beef stock or beef broth, paysanne of carrots,
green cabbage- here I am using Savoy cabbage; but you may use regular green cabbage,
and uncooked red beets that have been peeled and shredded.
Heat a pot.
Try to get a big pot because we are going to
put a lot of ingredients in that soup.
Melt the butter.
So you want to bring the butter to a high temperature
but you don’t want to burn it
or you don’t want to colour it.
So make sure it is totally melted.
Wait 10 seconds after it has been melted totally.
Then add the beef.
The beef that have been cut in quarter inch cubes.
So spread the meat into a thin layer.
And do not stir.
Give it a stir.
Alright. Then add the carrots,
onions and turnips.
Turn down the heat to medium.
Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes
or until tender.
The carrots are tender.
Then add the beets,
the broth, the vinegar, the bay leaves,
the sugar, the caraway seeds- you may place them in a cheese cloth
or here I like to use a tea bowl- it's convenient, it's easy
and we will be able to pick it up when we want to take it out.
And at the end, add a pinch of salt and pepper.
Give it a stir.
Make sure that all the ingredients are in the liquid.
Perfect!
Bring it to a boil, then simmer the soup
for about 45 minutes. See you later.
So I just washed my parsley and dill.
Put it together, cut off the base of the stems
because it is not very nice.
Then with a piece of string, you are going to make
a bundle of herbs.
So hold it and tie it up pretty tight.
It will get loose as it will cook.
So do a triple knot-1,2,3.
Lets add it to the borscht along with the cabbage.
The soup has been simmering for 45 minutes.
Then add the bundle of herbs.
That will add a lot of flavour to the soup.
Tie it up to the side of the handle.
Then add the cabbage.
So for the cabbage, make sure not to use the core of the cabbage.
Use only the leaves.
Wash them and slice them in small paysanne.
Bring the soup to a boil
and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Our borscht is finished.
It's cooked.
If the soups reduce too much, add a little bit of
beef broth or water.
And give it a stir.
Then taste it.
Rectify the seasoning, so salt, pepper
and I am going to add a little bit of red wine vinegar;
about 2 tablespoons.
Because I want to taste little bit of sourness
from the vinegar.
After say about if you have the chance
or the time to make the borscht a day before
it will taste better.
Taste again.
Very nice!
It's sweet a little bit from the beet and the sugar,
we taste the seasoning and little bit of sourness.
Great! Let's plate the soup.
Serve the borscht.
So first of all, I am going to remove the caraway seeds.
Then the bay leaves if I find them.
Ok, I don’t. So I would do that later.
And for the bundle of herbs,
I am going to leave it in there because
all this soup I am not going to eat it tonight
and tomorrow, when I will reheat the soup with the bundle of herbs,
it will bring more flavour, because it will continue to infuse.
And it will be much better.
So serve the soup.
Here we go; one bay leaf.
Great!
Then add some sour cream.
You could put more if you want.
Usually when I serve the borscht,
I serve a little bit of sour cream on the side;
then people can have a little bit more if they want.
Add a little bit of parsley or dill.
Little bit of black pepper.
Borscht. Bon appétit!
I know a little bit of Russian cuisine and
Ukrainian cuisine
because years ago, in Montreal,
when I was living there
through the winter times, I worked in a Russian restaurant
on Crescent street in Montreal, called La Troïka
and I was incharge of tasting the caviar- hard job huh!
and the appetiser section.
And it was a great place.
I have very good memories.
included that Russians are very crazy with vodka.
But the Borscht was excellent.
And this is the Borscht that was served at La Troïka
Bon appétit!