Aunt Hattie's Beet Soup in the Polish Style (Barszcz)

Aunt Hattie’s Beet Soup (Barszcz)

My sister, Felicia, an outstanding cook, was here for a few days so I suggested we make beet soup together using beets from my garden. The soup was delicious. You can make this soup with or without the beef stock. I like it with the meaty flavor. You can use either beef bones or some spare ribs. I used 3 beef short ribs. I also like to make the broth the day before, so that you can remove the fat the next day.

Beet soup in progress

INGREDIENTS

Beef Stock for Soup

3 short ribs

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ onion cup up

1 carrot cut up

1 stalk of celery including the leaves, cut up

6 cups of water

INGREDIENTS FOR SOUP

4 medium beets, roasted, then quartered and sliced fairly thinly

3 medium potatoes, diced

2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons dill, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS FOR BEEF STOCK

In a large saucepan, heat oil. Add short ribs and brown on all sides. Add onion, carrot, celery and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 90 minutes. Strain vegetables, reserving stock. Refrigerate overnight and skim off fat when ready to use.

DIRECTIONS FOR SOUP

Place beets in a pan lined with tinfoil and a half cup of water. Seal with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Test for doneness with a fork. Remove from oven. Allow to cool. Remove peel. Quarter and thinly slice beets and set aside.

Boil potatoes until done. Sprinkle with dill and chive. Set aside.

Add lemon juice to soup. Reserve about 1 cup of soup.

Bring remaining soup to boil. Whisk together sour cream and flour with the reserved cup of cold soup. Add sour cream, flour, and soup mixture to soup pot. Whisk occasionally. Heat just till boiling. Add sliced beets. Add salt to taste and additional sugar to taste.

Serve with boiled potatoes.

Note: you can also reserve 4 tablespoons of sour cream and 4 sprigs of dill to put on top of the soup before serving.

Serves 4-6.

(Pictures, except for the picture of the finished soup, were taken by my sister Felicia, and are used with permission)

I love comments!! Please let me know what you think!--Adam

Great Northern Bean Soup (Zupa Fasolowa)

Ham for Christmas usually means that there is a nice ham hock along with some scraps of leftover ham ready to be made into a delicious soup. I used to use Navy beans for this soup, but I found the Great Northern bean be a nice substitute because of the way the beans hold their shape. I like to serve this soup with a lightly buttered deli rye bread on the side. In Polish, this soup is known as Zupa Fasolowa. I can't say if this is truly a Polish recipe, but it was a common recipe that my mom made when I was growing up in Michigan.

Great Northern Bean Soup (Zupa Fasolowa).

Basic Ham and Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 pound dry Great Northern beans

8 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 ham bone

1 generous cup carrots, coarsely chopped

1 generous cup celery, coarsely chopped

1 generous cup onion, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon marjoram

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 generous cups ham, cubed

Salt to taste

Directions

Rinse the beans, sorting out any broken or discolored ones. In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and the beans and remove from heat. Let beans sit in the hot water for at least 60 minutes. Alternatively, soak beans overnight. Rinse before using.

After the 60 minutes of soaking, return the pot to high heat and place the ham bone, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, marjoram, bay leaves, and white pepper in the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 60 more minutes.

Stir in the chopped ham and simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove ham bone and discard.

Season with salt to taste.

Optional: Serve with lightly buttered deli rye bread on the side.

Traditional Polish Easter Soup (Biały Barszcz)

Meats, cheese, bread, and eggs for Easter Soup.

People from Poland probably would not consider this as the basis of an Easter meal, but rather as a meal for Easter Monday--a time to use up the leftovers from Easter Sunday! It is, however, our family tradition because our Polish ancestors in Michigan had to go to work on Monday. It was not a holiday as it is in Poland.

This recipe comes from my sister, Barbara

Traditional Easter Soup - White Borscht (Monday Soup)

2 links smoked Polish sausage (Kielbasa)

1/2 smoked baked ham

1 quart water

3/4 cup sour cream

1 raw egg

2-3 tablespoons flour

Salt and pepper

5-8 tablespoons white vinegar

10 hardboiled eggs, diced

1 loaf light rye bread, cubed

Farmer's white cheese, cubed

White or red horseradish

In large pot, cook kielbasa with enough water to cover. Cook about one hour piercing skin to release juices. Remove sausage. Reserve stock. 

In a bowl, fork-blend 3/4 cup sour cream and raw egg with 2-3 tablespoons flour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Blend 1 cup of warm broth and cream. Blend that into pot of stock. Cook until a gentle simmer. Do not boil (this will cause the cream to curdle). Add vinegar to taste. This soup should definitely be on the tart side so be sure to use enough vinegar. 

The white barszcz should be served over a bowl of diced ham, the kielbasa from which the stock was made, hard-boiled egg slices, diced farmer's cheese, cubed rye bread, and a little freshly grated or prepared horseradish to taste.

Happy Easter!