Soup Kitchen
Since the weather is currently returning to winter-esque conditions after this weekend’s near record-breaking sixty degrees and sunny vibe, I decided to do a little soup experimentation. I have been into borscht ever since I first had the cold version of the jewel toned beet soup at a random visit to Veselka, a wonderful 24-hour Polish diner in Manhattan’s East Village. I am a fairly recent convert to beets; the tough and dirty exteriors never attracted me to cook them until just a few years ago. Now I am in love with their earthy taste and vibrant color. Roasted in a super hot oven until practically burnt, but deliciously caramelized to lock in their inherent sweetness, is my preferred method of cooking them so this soup will be a departure from my usual roasted beet salad or roasted beets as a side dish.
Today on the subway ride home, I decided to make borscht since I have had some beets in the fridge for a week patiently awaiting their turn on the dinner stage. Because the train ride was long and boring, my mind wandered and I decided to add to the new soup challenge and make a second soup, a creamy broccolini soup. Why you ask? Because my boyfriend likes to go to Whole Foods once in a while and gets so many vegetables and herbs at one time that we inevitably have to toss some because they go rotten. Well, wasting food is one of my tiptop pet peeves so I am determined to make sure not a single leaf nor bulb nor stalk nor root of this crop goes in the trash.
So I am going to “live blog” these two soups simultaneously and attempt to write the recipes from scratch at the same time. In between chopping I am tapping away on the keyboard so hopefully I forget nothing. Luckily we just finished a redecorating project this weekend, which resulted in an additional kitchen prep workspace that should make the juggling of the multiple veggies easier to manage. YAY! The perk of successfully preparing two soups at once, or so I hope, is that we will have soups all week for lunches and some to freeze. Let’s get this party started!
BORSCHT
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup sliced mushrooms
¼ head white cabbage, finely shredded
½ tsp. caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ red skinned potato, cubed
4 cups beef broth (or vegetable or chicken stock)
1 cup water
4 medium beets, scrubbed and grated
3 tbsps. red wine vinegar
1-2 tsps. salt
pepper to taste
½ tsp. honey
2 tbsps. dill
sour cream for topping
Heat large pot over medium high heat. Add butter and oil to melt. When bubbling lightly, add onions and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until softened, the liquid is released and they begin to shrink in size about 3 minutes. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add shredded cabbage and cook until softened slightly, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and caraway seeds stir for a minute before adding the beef broth and water if a more brothy soup is desired. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes. Gently add the beets and the red wine vinegar. Add honey and 1-2 teaspoons salt (beets love a generous salting) and turn heat to low. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until beets are tender and begin to melt into the liquid.
Check for salt and pepper, and season to your liking. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with a generous dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill.
CREAMY BROCOLINI SOUP
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
¼ cup carrots, chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
½ red skinned potato, cubed
4 cups vegetable broth (homemade)
2 cups broccolini, chopped
bunch of thyme leave on stem
4 tbsps. basil leaves, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
basil infused olive oil to drizzle (optional)
1 tbsp. toasted pinenuts for garnish
Heat large pot on medium high heat. Add butter and oil to melt. When bubbling slightly add onions and sauté until softened about 3 minutes. Add celery and carrots and sauté another 3 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, garlic and salt and cook one minute. Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and broccolini and lower to a simmer. Place bunch of thyme on top of bubbling vegetables and sprinkle the basil on top. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables and potatoes are tender. Remove thyme bunch. Working in small batches in a blender or with an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. Return soup to pot and simmer a few minutes more. Slowly stir in grated Parmesan cheese. Ladle into bowls and serve with toasted pinenuts and a generous drizzle of basil infused olive oil and a sprinkling of finely shredded basil leaves.
As per usual, I had to make do with what I had available. Most everything I explained here was accurate except in the Brocolini Soup I did use toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) because we didn’t have pine nuts. Usually I don’t have pine nuts anyway because they’re so damned expensive but I think they would complement the Italian flavors of this soup nicely—so use ‘em if you got ‘em. I happened to have a fancy schmancy basil infused olive oil because a wonderful friend of mine got it for me as a gift. Otherwise, I would just use my usual olive oil as a garnish or perhaps a sprinkle of Parmesan or even a dollop of plain yogurt.
Tonight we dined on the Brocolini Soup which I forgot to photo the end result—I’m new to this ok?! And we are saving the Borscht for lunches and freezing some for another time to serve with pierogies. Hopefully when I write that entry I will remember to photo the end results.
So Keith has started up a food blog. He takes the photos himself. Like him, it’s delightful.
Can’t wait to try the borscht recipe!
