Quick-and-Dirty "Borscht" Cook-along, or How to Trigger

>>9081892
looks fucking promising let's do this

>>9081892
ПEPECTAHЬ ПИДOP EБAHHЫЙ CУКA БЛЯTЬ EБAHЫЙ ПИДOOOOP

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>>9081892
So first lets get the stock. As you can see I've kept the pot roast in the fridge, there's plenty of liquid, and the fat has congealed out of the stock. I'm going to use this to my advantage to strain a lot of the grease out, since I'm not a fan of greasy soups. I'm also going to strain out the spices and bits of whatever so we have a nice, clean, flavorful broth.

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>>9081930
Here you can see how dark this stuff is. Funny, the pot roast has basically turned the questionable store-bought beef stock I cooked with into legit homemade stock with meat drippings, spices, and vegetables getting their essence all up inside it. I'm going to strain about two cups for this 'borscht'.

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>>9081939
Into the pot it goes on low, so it can simmer while I process the vegetables.

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>>9081944
The juice from the canned beets goes in too, it's the cheatcode to get a deep red color without simmering for hours and hours.

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>>9081968
The beets themselves looked so good on my cutting board I had to snap a pic. Look at that nice ruby red!

>>9081976
Listen, I like canned beets as much as the next guy, but you're really shorting yourself on flavor if you don't use fresh beets

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>>9081976
They're already quite tender from being canned, so they're easily chopped and added in.

>>9081988
I'm sure, but frankly I'm doing this specifically to get rid of the canned beats. Plus I want dinner soon.

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>>9082017
Now I added the beets in and chopped up a large carrot, which went in too.

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>>9082021
Next goes in the cabbage, chopped up roughly.

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>>9082028
Finally, some yellow onion.

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>>9082034
Now I'm gonna mince a garlic clove and throw that in. I'm going to try out the salt and knife method because I haven't tried it before. So first we cut off the woody bit.

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>>9082039
Add sea salt(closest I have to kosher salt).

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>>9082044
Then you chop with a rocking motion. The idea is the salt helps grind the garlic a little and draws out some moisture, I think. My knife is fucking shit, but it seems to get the job done here at least. God I need to get a job already so I can afford nicer utensils.

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>>9082057
When minced, simply slide it on the knife and then slide it into the pot. My hands barely touches the garlic the while time, so my fingers don't smell. I usually don't care, but this seems to annoy some people so I thought I'd demonstrate the technique.

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>>9082077
Now some spices. I added a little more sea salt, black pepper, and a couple pinches of Hungarian paprika because I'm a loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules.

>>9081892
fuck I haven't read past the first three posts and I'm already giggling like an idiot

>>9082088
>it's a real cooking thread
man

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>>9082086
Finally, a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

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>>9082096
Bring her to a rolling boil for 15 minutes or so.

>>9082099
Then reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer until it's done. I'm probably going to wait around 30 minutes.

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>>9082102
Gah, I always forget the pic at least once.

>>9082103
I make mine almost exactly the same except I use fresh garden beets which I roast until tender and use fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of vinegar.

>>9082122
Does the lemon juice make it sweeter in your opinion?

>>9082122
Good to know the recipe I was working off is accurate. How do you feel about my use of Hungarian paprika? I figure the sweet taste would compliment the dish, but it seems like a non-traditional ingredient based on my research.

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>>9082103
Final product plus a couple slices of toasted and buttered pumpernickel from a local bakery.

>>9082277
Damn, this turned out better than I expected.

>>9082285
Thanks for the tip anon, gonna have to try that on the 4th of July.

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Fuck me, this is straight up comfort food. Why have I never done this before? With fresh beets this must be ORGASMIC.

>>9082331
burger here with bulgarian parents, vegetable soups with beets that are fresh are 10x better than beets that are shit. I grow my own beet and you have a good start but you have overcomplicated it a bit. try les ingerdianst with less salt and more finely chopped ingerdianst and homw grown beets and then you will be true slav

>>9082401
Definitely agree on the salt part, the broth was just too salty. I'll keep your advice in mind next time, thanks.

>>9082421
My family was irradiated by Chernobyl and basically cant digest meat or most dairy. Im 95% vegetarian and making a good vegetable beet soup that takes a lot of time to make and is slow cooked can be almost as savory as a steak. sucks that I dont have much time on hand and i mostly eat buckwheat/oatmeal/redquinoa

>>9082277
nice. but one concern i have with it. this is not even close to pumpernickel. greets from germanistan and keep up the good work

>>9082460
I hate american pumpernickel. Russians make some good shit tho

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>>9082460
Guten tag meine Deutscher Freund, es ist Amerikanisch Pumpernickel.

>>9082490
I live in Asheville!

>>9082490
i see now. but hey, if you like it then eat it even if it's not the real deal. that's kind of a slogan for me (shitty translated though but i think you'll understand what i mean)

>>9082505
Well shit, so do I. I highly recommend Annie's Bakery, it's a significant step up from most American bread and not much more expensive either. I usually buy it from Hopey & Co. grocers because they sell it a little cheaper than elsewhere. Gotta be careful though, most of what they sell is near the expiration date(hence the reduced price), and sometimes I've seen a little mold starting to grow on the bread.

>>9082510
I understand, a very respectable opinion.

>>9082172
>accurate

Lol, I'm not slav, I'm white and grow a big garden. I'm just a guy who scours recipes all the time and puts together what I think I'd like.

>>9082505

>Asheville
what a coincidence
i started reading the collected stories of thomas wolfe yesterday. titled 'Tod, der stolze Bruder'

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>>9082552
OP here, as a further coincidence I happen to have a copy of "Look Homeward, Angel" I've been meaning to read in more depth for a while. Let's get a /sci/entist in here to calculate the odds.

>>9082331
Russian guy here. I usually roast the carrots, cabbage and onion before I add them to the stock. I also use diced potatoes, meatballs, soup meat and a little bit tomato paste. Add a spoon of creme fraiche to your serving so it will taste even better!

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>>9082590
>Add a spoon of creme fraiche to your serving so it will taste even better!
AH! I FORGOT! I BOUGHT SOUR CREAM SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS RECIPE, HAD IT IN THE OP PIC >>9081892, AND I STILL FUCKING FORGOT TO ACTUALLY PUT IT ON THE SOUP AT THE END!

>>9082093
makes u think

Looks good. Would eat / 10.

I always use a well browned finely chopped mirepoix as a base to impart flavors, and then add additional larger chopped veggies to simmer down and provide some mouth texture.

For that, I'd do finely chopped onion, carrot, and bell pepper, saute until onion is browned, then add garlic till fragrant, deglaze, and then add the rest of the stuff and simmer.

Well done, regardless.

>>9082600
I think that your sour cream is a little bit different from our smetana. It's thicker and has more spices. But creme fraiche comes pretty close. Here in germoney we use sour cream mostly as a dip for our potato wedges.

>>9082651
I don't think sour cream has any spices in it, but it is common to mix spices in when you use it as a dip. We Americans use it pretty much like you do. Creme fraiche probably is closer, but it's stupidly expensive around here because it sounds foreign and exotic.

>>9082331
good work OP

>>9082590
>meatballs
never.
>creme fraiche
maybe

otherwise seems to be good advice. now i am going to the dreamland. germany out....

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>>9082651
oh hey i am the germanistan poster. where are you study?