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Beetroot Ideas, Please

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Suffs » Tue May 05, 2020 11:48 pm

Real Borscht is an entire meal rather than simply a soup ... sometimes it is eaten as two courses ... first a strained broth sometimes with pierogi, which is then followed by the beef and vegetables which were cooked in the broth.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Suffs » Wed May 06, 2020 11:09 am

I ought to explain that by ‘Real Borscht’ I mean the borscht as defined and served by Russian ex DIL who is of Tatar heritage. ;)

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed May 06, 2020 1:39 pm

Well well. Look what Felicity's done this week!

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/m ... asterclass

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed May 06, 2020 2:06 pm

That looks pretty good
Tempted - the veg boys had nice bunches of beetroot last time I looked

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Luca » Wed May 06, 2020 5:45 pm

Suffs wrote:I ought to explain that by ‘Real Borscht’ I mean the borscht as defined and served by Russian ex DIL who is of Tatar heritage. ;)

Hi Suffs,

My son spent a year in Russia at university and grew to love borscht.... He has promised to make some. Do you have the recipe? He said it was indeed a veritable feast.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Suffs » Wed May 06, 2020 7:07 pm

I don’t I’m afraid ... this is the nearest I can find to the meal DIL made for us .., she used slices of beef shin on the bone and served the meat separately with some of the vegetables after we had a bowl of the semi-clear red broth.

https://natashaskitchen.com/borscht-recipe-with-meat/

But of course there are many correct versions of the real Borscht :lol:

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Luca » Wed May 06, 2020 7:15 pm

Thanks Suffs. I think everybody must have their favourites. I’ll pass it on. The university placed their students with professors or their families. My son stayed with one of his Russian tutor’s mother. She served it for breakfast to feed him up. Not that he needed feeding up as well over 6 ft and a fitness devotee!

I love slightly warm beetroot as a salad with melting goat’s cheese and rocket.

Some lovely recipes here.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby miss mouse » Wed May 06, 2020 9:06 pm

Pepper Pig wrote:Well well. Look what Felicity's done this week!


You seem to do this every time someone asks for a recipe PP, your powers are astonishing. What shall we challenge PP and Felicity with next?

Edit to add it looks lovely BTW. Is anyone old enough to have gone to 'The Borsch and Tears' resto? Oh dear, that poor lamenting singer, did he ever find happiness?

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby karadekoolaid » Wed May 06, 2020 9:53 pm

Is anyone old enough to have gone to 'The Borsch and Tears' resto?


Was that the one down the Fulham Road? Or somewhere around there?
We used to LURV going there! :gonzo

Back on topic, however! MariaKK had a recipe for Polish Borscht, with little tortellini. It´s really, really good - even if you don´t want to faff around making the "uska" - tortellinis.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Luca » Wed May 06, 2020 10:03 pm

You’re quite correct KK. I just did a search on WF. I found the thread but weirdly there is an empty post of hers with no recipe. Recipe for the little pierogi there.

The thread also reminded me when I was once offered chilled beetroot Vodka shots. Tezza had posted about beetroot consommé.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Amyw » Wed May 06, 2020 10:15 pm

Chilled beetroot vodka shots sound delicious and very stylish

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby MariaK » Thu May 07, 2020 1:46 pm

Luca wrote:by Luca » Wed May 06, 2020 9:03 pm

You’re quite correct KK. I just did a search on WF. I found the thread but weirdly there is an empty post of hers with no recipe. Recipe for the little pierogi there.


Although one can access the site quite a few posts have disappeared:I'll dig it up and post here.
Or perhaps we should have a Barszcz / Borshch(t) thread. The history is quite interesting and not very well known. Although it's now associated with red beetroot, the name has nothing to do with beetroot which, in Poland, took over in the 18th century. A little later in other countries.

If anyone's interested I can write something.

Suelle

Do try this recipe for Onion Bhajis
http://wildfood.info/viewtopic.php?f=12 ... b6#p276658

Kara, hope you don't mind my posting the recipe here, in case it also does a disppearing act

y karadekoolaid » December 22nd, 2013, 1:28 pm

I had plenty of beetroot left over from making Marja´s consommé, so I decided to use it to make some bhajis.
I grated about 200 gms of the cooked beetroot,added equal amounts of cooked potato, a Little onion, fresh coriander and some spices (cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper and chile powder), then added about 1/3 cup of Besan (chickpea) flour. Mixed together and formed into small patties.
Then I made a fresh tamarind and date chutney which I served with the (deep-fried) bhajis. That was yesterday´s lunch!


But do look at the original post: lovely photos.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Luca » Thu May 07, 2020 3:15 pm

@Amy. They were rather good! I might try to reproduce them. There was definitely an element of horseradish in them which was a great touch, cutting through the sweetness.

@Maria. Yes please! I’d certainly find it interesting. Thank you.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu May 07, 2020 6:08 pm

I think a borscht thread would be good

Unfortunately for the bhajis there’s a bit of a gram flour shortage locally, due presumably to all the Ramadan iftar cooking

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby MariaK » Mon May 11, 2020 12:05 pm

Luca
Here's the recipe that went missing

Aunt Ela’s clear barszcz – beetroot consommé

Ideally a clear Polish barszcz should be made with fermented beetroot (sliced beetroot, warm water & a crust of rye sourdough bread). Until relatively recently the last ingredient was not available in UK unless you made your own bread and even then rye flour was hard to come by, so my aunt developed this recipe, taught me in the early 1960s and I’ve made it ever since. Much less faff.

For the beetroot juice
1 kilo beetroot
1 1/2 litres water
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar (or cider but not Malt, please)


Vegetable / beef stock
Use your favourite recipe. Should have parsley root, but as this is not easy to obtain I use lots of parsley stalks. If making a veg stock add a few dry mushrooms if you have them. Never use celery.

Beetroot "juice"
Wash beetroot thoroughly, peel and slice fairly thin (you can use food processor slicing disk for this )
Put the sliced beetroot in a large pot (not aluminium) and cover with 1 1/2 litres boiling water.
Add the vinegar (no salt at this stage)
Bring to the boil, simmer 1-2 minutes, turn off heat source and let it sit overnight.

Day 2:
The liquid will be a wonderful deep colour
Bring to the boil and simmer till beetroot's tender. Cool slightly. Place colander over a large bowl, strain beetroot "juice" and reserve in large glass jars (fruit juice bottles with lids are perfect).

This can be kept in fridge for a few days. It also freezes well.

Making the barszcz:
1 litre beetroot "juice"
2 – 3 cups veg/beef stock
2-4 tbsps. lemon juice*
1 - 2 tsp sugar*
salt and - at last minute - a little freshly ground pepper

Bring juice to a simmer and add half the stock and a little of all the other ingredients. Taste.
Add more stock if it tastes too beetrooty.
You have to juggle the lemon/sugar. Impossible to give exact quantities as it depends on the flavour of the original beetroot and your taste, but it should definitely have a mildly acid edge.

Serve in consommé bowls if you have them. I prefer to put the sour cream in a bowl on the table and let people help themselves.

On Christmas Eve this is served with "uszka" (ush-ka) - minute pastries stuffed with wild mushrooms. Can be baked (traditional in my father’s family) or boiled. They look a bit like Tortellini.
The rest of the year the clear barszcz is often served with baked paszteciki made with a flaky yeast dough or krokiety – deep fried, breaded, stuffed pancake rolls. Polish paszteciki are similar to baked Russian piroshky / pierogi – though they look like British sausage rolls. The fillings are much the same as for pierogi

[b]Cheat's version[/b]
If you are really pressed for time and absolutely must have some barszcz:

Grate 2-3 beetroots – raw if possible - and put in pan
Pour over 2-3 cups of veg/beef stock
Simmer for a few minutes & set aside to get max flavour/colour.
Strain and return liquid to pan.

Add sugar and lemon juice to taste. Good grind pepper.
It's not the same as the real thing, but....

Or, even easier, buy a bottle of the beetroot juice if you have a Polish shop near you


Stokey Sue

Pity about the chickpea flour shortage - Perhaps you could use a different flour, or even fresh bread crumbs.

P S
Sorry about the delay, wrote this a few days ago, clicked Submit and it vanished. Been rather busy since

Barszcz origins /history thread

Will sort out my notes and try to write something.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Luca » Mon May 11, 2020 8:29 pm

Super! Thanks Maria. Appreciate it.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby ZeroCook » Tue May 12, 2020 9:13 am

Thanks for posting great recipe, Maria

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue May 12, 2020 10:13 am

That look very doable, thanks Maria

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby halfateabag » Mon Sep 14, 2020 11:37 am

i stole this idea 4 beetroot from a shop bought pack and i think baking the br in the oven in its skin concentrates the flavour of the br. when cooked (i did mine in foil) slide off the outer skin whilst warm. cube the br and sprinkle with lime juice and a chilli sauce of your choice, turn the br over and maybe a tad of evoo. we like it.

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Re: Beetroot Ideas, Please

Postby KeenCook2 » Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:52 pm


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