We were first introduced to this amazing soup by our fabulous and much missed neighbors. 2 winters ago, not too long after we moved in to this wonderful old corner property, we had a pretty good snow storm. At 0 dark hundred, I poured out of bed, slapped on my glasses, popped on my ridiculous big green woolly hat (with ear flaps and a braid out the top) and got started on our 160+ feet of sidewalk. I wasn't even a quarter of the way done before a similarly bespectacled & hatted chick showed up with a shovel professing that she's from Utah and loves to shovel snow. Turns out she lived across the street and followed up her heroic shoveling with a dinner invite - Sunday night for some beefy borscht....and so a chapter began.
I've adapted Marcy's killer recipe just a little bit - and offer some easy ways to make it vegetarian (sub meat for mushies) or vegan (um...leave out the meat, cheese and butter). This soup is killer on a frigid winter night, I'm also going to revisit in the spring to take a swing at a light sweet spring beet version of it too - so check back!
Yield: 6-8 servings
Total Time: 3 hrs
Ingredients:
6 medium fresh beets, tops and roots trimmed, scrubbed clean
4 T olive oil
2-3 lbs bison stew cubes, cut into spoonable pieces and lightly seasoned with S&P (or portebella or beef or lamb)
2 leeks, carefully cleaned and finely chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 T tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 - 1 head cabbage, chopped
10 cups water
2 t dried rosemary or 2 T fresh rosemary
5 T cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/3 c packed brown sugar or wild honey
S&P
4 oz soft fresh goat cheese
Method:
I've adapted Marcy's killer recipe just a little bit - and offer some easy ways to make it vegetarian (sub meat for mushies) or vegan (um...leave out the meat, cheese and butter). This soup is killer on a frigid winter night, I'm also going to revisit in the spring to take a swing at a light sweet spring beet version of it too - so check back!
Yield: 6-8 servings
Total Time: 3 hrs
Ingredients:
6 medium fresh beets, tops and roots trimmed, scrubbed clean
4 T olive oil
2-3 lbs bison stew cubes, cut into spoonable pieces and lightly seasoned with S&P (or portebella or beef or lamb)
2 leeks, carefully cleaned and finely chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 T tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 - 1 head cabbage, chopped
10 cups water
2 t dried rosemary or 2 T fresh rosemary
5 T cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/3 c packed brown sugar or wild honey
S&P
4 oz soft fresh goat cheese
Method:
- Place the beets in a large sauce pan, cover with water by at least one inch, lightly salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until fork tender, about 40-60 minutes, depending on size. Skim the foam off the top of the water as necessary. Once cooked, drain (reserving 3 cups cooking liquid), cool, peel and dice into a spoonable size.
- In a large, heavy bottomed soup pot, heat 1 T oil until rippling, add 1/4 of the meat or mushies and brown on all sides. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, and repeat the process until all meat or mushies are cooked.
- Add leeks and carrots, sweat until soft and beginning to color. Stir frequently an scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add tomato paste and incorporate well. Cook 2 minutes, add garlic and rosemary. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add beet juice, meat or mushies, maters, cabbage, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer and cook mostly covered until the bison melts in your mouth....about 90 minutes.
- 5 minutes before serving, add beets, brown sugar / honey, vinegar and S&P to taste.
- Serve in warmed bowls topped with a disk of goat cheese, a sprig of fresh rosemary and a grind of pepper.
