Russian borscht

Classic Russian borscht.

The meat used for the borscht is usually the beef soup bones – a large slice of bone surrounded by some meat.  Place in the large 8-qt pot, sprinkle with coarse salt and add cold water up to the 4-qt mark.  Boil it and remove the scum / foam with the slotted spoon. 

Add root vegetables: 2 onions, 3 parsley roots or a celery root, 3 carrots, 2 leaks.  Add green parts of the leaks on top to absorb the remaining foam.  Cook on low flame for about 3 hours.

Place 3 – 4 un-peeled beets in a 3-qt pot with cold water, cook for 1 ½ hour.  When done, place beets under cold water and slip with skin off the beets. 

Take the root vegetables out of the soup, squeezed the juice out of them with the slotted spoon and pour the juice back into the pot, throw away the used vegetables.  Finely chop 2 smaller onions or a few shallots and 2 – 3 carrots and add to the soup.  Shred ½ cabbage head, 3 small or 2 medium potatoes and add to the soup.  Add 32 oz tomato juice and squeeze ½ lemon into the soup.  Shred the cooked beets and add to the soup.  Add 1 cup frozen peas.  Cook another 15 min.  Then add fresh minced cilantro and dill, add paprika, cumin, black pepper.  Taste the soup, add more salt and 1 or 2 teaspoons of brown sugar if needed.