The temperature rose to the mid 90s today and is going to be within a drop of sweat of 100 degrees tomorrow. I hate it. It is nasty. However, I did find a way to make it enjoyable.
On Monday evening I went to the Penacook Farmers’ Market and picked up two pints of blueberries and a nice bunch of beets. I bought the beets on a whim. They were beautiful but I had no clue what I was going to do with them. I just liked the way they looked. They would have looked good in a still life; they were that pretty.
Anyway, I got it in my head that I needed to make cold borscht. I have never made borscht before but figured it had to be easy. Being too lazy to get go through all the cookbooks, I Googled recipes. Low and behold there as many borscht recipes out there as there are little old ladies with blue hair. The recipes ran the gamut from Lithuanian to Polish to just plain borscht. It was confusing. Some had hardboiled eggs in them. I moved on from those quickly. Others used carrots. Yuck! A few had cabbage in them. I like cabbage but I didn’t have any and I wanted to make the soup for tonight’s dinner. Some used vinegar, some used lemon juice, one even used lemonade! I decided to take what I needed from the recipes and come up with my own. Here is what I ended up doing.
I cut the greens off the beets leaving about an inch of stalk, washed them and put them in a pot. I covered them with water. Once the water was boiling I turned it down to a simmer and emptied the dishwasher. I let them simmer until I could stick a fork in them without them breaking apart. I put the beets in a wire strainer and ran cold water on them while I cut up a large red onion and took out my frustrations with my Pampered Chef chopper. Bam! Bam! Bam! Boo ran and hid; which was good because she was convinced I was going to open a can of tuna at any minute and was getting underfoot.
I cooked the onions in a saucepan in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t ask me for specific measurements because I don’t cook that way. I just throw in what is handy. When the onions were translucent, I poured the remains of an open carton of veggie broth I had in the fridge and about two-thirds of another carton. I added one large potato, cubed. I brought it to a slight boil and then let it simmer while I putzed around the apartment and took a shower. I turned the heat off when the potatoes were cooked but still very firm. I added some freshly ground pepper and about a tablespoon of herbs de provence (only because it had dill in it and it sounded like a good idea at the time).
After all that, the beets were cool enough to peel and that was very easy. I just cut off the little stalks and rubbed them under cold water and the skins just slid off.
Since I work in the field of domestic violence and needed to get some more frustrations out I used the chopper again to chop up those beets. Bam! Bam!! Bam!!! It didn’t work very well. I probably could have done a better job with a cleaver or a butcher knife. Jab!!! Jab!! I added them to the soup and they turned the soup into a beautiful beet red (What? It was! It did! I wasn’t going to say maroon!)
The beets went into the pot with the onions and potatoes and I let those cool while I talked to my friend, Barbara, on the phone. At bedtime it was all cool enough to pour into a big stainless steel bowl. I covered it tightly and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
This morning before I left for work I added a peeled and cubed burpless cucumber and the juice of one lemon. The fact that I actually did that first thing this morning was momentous. I have a hard time getting out the door as it is without adding a new task to the routine. AND – Boo was still waiting for that can of tuna. She doesn’t give up!
When I came home tonight, dinner was all ready to be ladled into a bowl and I just added a little salt. Some people may want to add a little sour cream or plain yogurt as a garnish. To each her own. It was very tasty and I am looking forward to having more. Next – Gazpacho!!
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