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Poppy’s Borscht

December 7, 2008

Borscht-making is J.’s job, and this is his grandpa’s recipe. I have a copy of an email Poppy sent me in 2002, passing this recipe on to us. I love that we have this email from him preserved as part of our cooking and family history.

The problem with making borscht is that it can be very, very messy. We were lucky this time — nothing dropped, splattered, or otherwise altered our very white kitchen from its natural state. We also use the recipe just as a guide: we wanted to use up all the beets from our farm share, which was probably about double what the recipe called for (I had two almost melon-sized beets from a couple of weeks ago, plus this week’s share). With that quantity of beets, three fresh lemons provided the right amount of zing.

We served this soup tonight with pumpernickel bread my parents brought from Rockland Bakery, plus boiled potatoes from our farm share and plenty of sour cream. It was delicious, as always. We’re freezing the rest to serve at our Hanukkah party later this month.

Poppy’s Borscht
Attributed to Mama Grossinger of the Borscht Belt

10 large beets, peeled and grated
2½ quarts water
1 onion, minced
2½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 eggs

boiled potatoes and sour cream (optional, to serve with it)

Combine the beets, water, onion, and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over low heat for about an hour. Using an immersion blender, puree beet mixture until almost smooth. Add sugar and lemon juice. Cook an additional 10 minutes and adjust seasoning.

Beat eggs in a small bowl, and temper with the hot borscht to prevent curdling. Then add egg mixture to the pot of borscht, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool. Chill thoroughly before serving (overnight is best).

Serve with cold, boiled potatoes and sour cream.

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Filed under: CSA,Holidays,J. Cooks,Veggie Mains,Veggie Sides

Tags: cooking, eggs, farm share, Poppy Borscht, recipe, Rockland Bakery