GF Red Borsch

Ingredients:

8 oz chuck beef, cut into bite sized pieces

7 cups water

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups, 2-3 gold potatoes, cut into ½ in cubes

2 cups, cabbage

1 medium onion, minced

1 small carrot, shredded

2 ¼ cups beets, peeled and julienne into 1/8 inch

1 cup water or tomato juice

1 cup diced or crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

3 garlic cloves, minced

dill to garnish

sour cream

In a small pot, place the beef and pour in enough water to barely cover meat. Season with salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 1-1 ½ hours, until fork tender, while cooking the borsch.

In a large pot, bring the water and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add potatoes and cabbage.

Meanwhile, melt 1-1 ½ Tablespoons butter on medium heat in a skillet. Add onions, season with ¼ tsp salt, cook until translucent, about 3 min, stirring frequently. Add carrots, season with ¼ teaspoon salt and continue cooking until soft, about 4 min. Add to the soup.

Julienne beets. In the same skillet that you used for the carrots and onions, combine beets, water (or tomato juice), tomatoes or tomato sauce, lemon juice and sugar. Season with 1 ½ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp ground black pepper. The lemon juice will keep the beets a beautiful, vibrant red and I also love the slight tang that they give the borscht. The sugar balances out the acidity of the lemon juice. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on med heat for 25-35 min, or until beets are tender. Add minced garlic cloves.

When the potatoes are tender, add the beets and beef to the borsch. By this time, the beef should be fork-tender.If you like the consistency of the soup, drain the beef, if you like the soup to be thinner, drain the beef through a fine mesh sieve and add the beef liquid to the soup as well. Season with salt and pepper. 

Garnish with finely chopped fresh dill and a dallop of sour cream.