#realcomment, I've always made borscht with beets thinking that was the ONLY way to make it. I've been set straight and will try this recipe. Have you used "Better than Bullion" products and wonder how it would compare to homemade beef stock,? Our household just doesn't eat that much beef anymore and I don't want to make a special trip to the butcher just to make stock.
Bernie Kida , I’m ukrainian and borscht is the staple food ))) . I bet making a stock the way Rene does it ll adds a nice flavor but I can assure you that a ready made “bullion” can give u a great result as well.
I don't make a special trip to the butcher. Most supermarkets carry both the shins and the bones. you are certainly use store bought stock or even water and make it vegetarian. I love Oksana's idea of adding beans. If you cook them yourself, you can use the bean liquid as your stock.
Made the Borscht today, substituted Ox Tail for the Beef Bones, and Brown Sugar for the Molasses. Turned out extremely tasty. Thank you For me this is one of the best Borscht recipes I have found.
Super idea! :o I also found that if you add just a bit of liver you can't taste the liver (unless you really try ;)! This is great because liver is so healthy and cheap and yet no one in my family likes it.
Something that's real tasty that if the recipes I read were correct is a Ukrainian way to eat borscht is that you spread sour cream over your slice of bread and sprinkle a bit of dill over it. It's absolutely delicious dipped in the borscht. Also I can highly recommend taking a bite out of a raw clove of garlic between bites of borscht another Ukrainian tradition when eating borscht.
Ok ok. I’ve been watching your content for a few weeks now. You may possibly not be an aunt. But watching these feels like standing at a kitchen island while your aunt explains how to make stuff it’s so relaxed and funny and great information!!!
I just made my first Borscht last night and then woke up to see this video today. I used a little bit of port in place of the beer, and it was lovely and rich.
I made this last night, and it was delicious. I modified it quite a bit based on what I had, but I think I captured the essence of this soup. The sour cream and dill at the end made a big difference, when I mixed it in like you said. Thank you for the recipe.
Brings back memories of my Russian 'Bubby' (grandmother). Her red borscht; her beef borscht; her barley soup; her mama liga (cornmeal mush); her Gefilte fish; her prokas (stuffed cabbage); her pit-za (calves foot or chicken foot jelly); her muhn (poppyseed) cookies... I wish I could cook & eat with her again!!!
Helen, you are incredibly enjoyable to watch, listen to, and learn from. I've made borscht a few times (friend from Ukraine), but definitely going to try your recipe now!
My Polish grandmother fed her family well during the Great Depression here in the US by using up every bit of edible food, and one of the things my mother remembers is a borscht made with the tops of the beets. It was a white soup and we have looked for years to figure out what she had done. Any thoughts? She was a pretty spectacular and inventive cook so it may have been her own creation. I wish she'd left a recipe. Thanks so much for another terrific recipe for me to try!
In the summer when the tops are young and tender, I love to add them. here is a recipe from Olia Hercules that uses the tops and not the roots: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/15/borscht-recipe-ukraine-food-olia-hercules
Like Helen said, borscht doesn't have to contain beets. Try looking up borscht recipes that don't contain beets and that will rule out all the red borschts.
I have a 1st generation Russian-American friend I met, named Igor, when I worked at an auto shop. His parents were, of course, from the old country. They made me and my niece some great borsch when we came by for Igor’s daughter’s first birthday. I made this the other day and it was incredible! Half of me wants to share it with Igor’s parents but the other half reminds me that I’m Puerto Rican!
I would make it for them and bring it over to the family as a gift, in Russian culture it's a custom to bring over a gift when you go over to someones house, this is of course if you don't know them too well, but hey it won't hurt to bring a gift, you could say you loved theirs so much you wanted to make some and bring it to them
I lived in Ukraine as a teen and haven't had good borsch in sooo long. I'm gonna make this for dinner tonight. My beef shanks are currently simmering. Hopefully it'll turn out well :)
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Taste just like how they make it at my favorite Russian restaurant. I used oxtail for my meat and followed your recipe exactly except I didn’t have pomegranate molasses. Thank you I will be sure to check out your recipes.
I made this to the letter and couldn't get that wonderful unified colour through the soup. Potentially because I was using non-stick cookware, or my pans were too small for the amount of sofrito to properly brown. Next time I'll have to try smaller batches. It was as delicious as you promised though! And restorative. I felt better two hours after eating this soup than I had all winter long. It is definitely going be a favourite recipe for the cold months. I hadn't tried making beef stock from scratch before either. It was so wonderfully gelatinous and flavourful, I'll never be satisfied with cartons of pantry stock again. Thank you very much for the learning experience and putting weights along side your volume measures . -With love, from Australia
you speak like a poet. thanks for the wonderful recipe. its cold and rainy here in China and going out is not an option right now and we are tired of the usual dishes. this was an excellent choice.
I absolutely adore you and your videos! You're explaining every little step with so much passion, so heart warming! Every of your dishes is such a taste adventure 😋
Thank you very much for this recipe! I made something similar (as similar as possible) and the results were excellent. Totally worth 3 days working on it. 🥳 Never had these many layers of flavor on a single dish before!!
I have never had borscht My father in law brought over some whole beets the other day. I saw your vid and had all the ingredients on hand. I must say I love borscht! LOVE IT! The 2 modifications I did to this recipe were Instead of cabbage I use homemade purple sauerkraut and boxed beef broth. Holy snikies this is freaking good.
we make borscht a few times a month, its pretty much a staple. I recently started a low carb diet and started making my own bone broth with all the beef/pork/chicken bones/scraps. After watching your vid I decided to make a borscht and made the basic beef broth (approx 3 liters). I skim the broth and once cool de-grease. I make my borscht with 3 large beats (grated)along with onion/carrot and cabbage (all fried before adding to the broth). I ended up adding the last quart jar of bone broth (which was extremely thick with collagen - you could cut it with a knife). I could not believe the end result -- it was smooth and creamy like silk. I would love for you try adding bone broth to your stock and get your opinion. The change is subtle but makes for a velvet like broth. Using both the beat root and beat green stems gave it an amazing color as well. Сердечно дякую!
Thank you! Made this for my mom and brother and it was a massive hit!!!! I did use the short ribs as the beef base- Also used some beef bacon rather than pork bacon with the garnish Thank you!!
Made this recipe with canned sofrito, diced carrots, no cabbage, and parsnip/broccoli stalk puree to increase ahelf life- so freaking good!!! I also added the beet tops for some leafyness! Thanks for the incredible recipe!!!
It’s pretty much summer in Cape Town now but, out of character, it’s pouring with rain today and this weekend.... now’s my chance for a hearty soup! Thank you for the video :)
You "do" sound like you make good borscht. Last year watched a few hours of youtube borscht recipes and you have been unique in your approach to a great borscht. That broth is incredible...maybe the star of the show. Fried soffrito in combination with boiled veggies while seeming an unnecessary step is very important. I have made a variation of this from a recipe of Russian Doekaboers in Canada, but it is vegetarian, and uses whipped mashed potatoes and also uses a combination of fried and boiled vegetables... beets only used for colour. Your meat version is my next creation. Thanks. Subbed!
Hey Helen, I made an adapted version of your borscht using leftover broth from a pot-au-feu. The sofrito makes it so much more interesting. Even without the cabbage and replacing the onions with some shallots (my husband has real issues with sulfites) it was excellent. Thank you!
I don’t want to be presumptuous by adding to your recipe which is excellent but my Ukrainian grandma added a combination of honey & lemon to taste. I used pomegranate syrup but it didn’t taste just right until I added this today. Loved your recipe but took a long time to prepare. I browned the beef and then let it cook over night in slow cooker. No doubt slow food is so much better than fast food. It was worth the effort.
Love this recipe this is very similar to the way I make борщ it’s so good one of my favorites. Helen you are awesome great food must always be shared with everyone.
I’m making mine with dry mushrooms instead of meat, since my brother is vegetarian, and the sweetness of the browned carrots and onions help a LOT with the flavour. Thank you very much!! Дякую :]
Wonderful recipe. I cook for one (me!), and I would make a lot and freeze, since it’s a big job. My grandparents were from Russia, and I love borscht. 😋
Yes was just wondering if this will freeze well. I just made a big pot it’s a delicious soup but I know we won’t be able to eat it all so will probably have to freeze some of it.
Being of Ukrainian descent, borscht runs through my veins. I like green borscht a little more. Sorel gives it the green color and it has a very sour taste. Too bad it is hard to find in USA grocery stores. You pretty much have to grow it. How I crave it.
My goodness, that's a good looking borscht! 😋 When I make beef stock I always save the fat and clarify it to turn it into tallow. It freezes well and is great for making Yorkshire pudding 😁
There used to be a peculiar restaurant in NYC in the West 50s called Uncle Vanya. The location was unusual, surrounded by mid-range office and business buildings, but once inside, it was another, exotic world. It is now, alas, gone. (The internet has a range of bizarre reviews, bouncing between wonderful and terrible, with little midrange. Great service/lousy service, great food /lousy food, and so on. One even stated that the place lacked a liquor license, which was insane in light of the pack of heavyset, balding Russian men knocking back shots of vodka like there was no tomorrow.) Anyway, It was my first real exposure to terrific, authentic borscht. I finally made it at home, having rummaged around until finding a recipe not too unlike yours. Goodness, what a lot of work. Absolutely worth it. This video offers great nostalgia, and a troubling urge to make it again.
As a Russian language student from when the CCCP was real, and a lover of the Russian culture, and having had borscht made by one of my Russian friends, I look forward to trying this recipe. And of course, I truly love your accent! Keep up the great work!
I am 71 born in Canada of Dokabor heritage. I grew up on borscht. It was vegetarian and only one beet was used. The beet was left whole cut almost trough with an x The beet was removed and set aside before serving.
My family loves borch , I make my borch a little spicy and sweet and sour with jalapeño pepper, citric acid, dill and cilantro and I don’t braise my meat or beets .It’s very delicious and healthy soup for cold months.
As a person who is really passionate about cooking for about 20 years I can only say that Helen nailed it in this recipe. For a good borscht you really need a very good stock, it's the basis. Yes, you can skip the beef, bones & the bacon, and start with a solid vegetable stock, if you want, but the beef version just rocks, the stock should have tons and tons of umami. The only surprise in this version was the beer, I'll definitely try this and encourage you to do so as well. You can add some tomato paste to the sofrito, if you wish. Cooking the beetroots in the oven like Helen did is probably the best method for cooking beetroots ever (maybe except for the charcoal grill), this beetroots are amazing just by themselves! And here is a trick I've learned from a Michelin star chef: You can cook some Confit De Canard and use some of the cooked duck pieces in borscht. Add some air dried sour cherries as well and serve with some fresh tarragon, sour cream and dill. Enjoy!
Mmmm - duck borscht with sour cherries. Now I'll be thinking about it all day. I hear people sometimes add smoked pears to borscht. I would really love to try it, but don't know where to find them in the US. I don't think we had access to them when I was little growing up in Moscow, but these days cooks in Russia have all sorts of amazing ingredients.
@@helenrennie, smoked pears? Sounds great! A smoky flavour & aroma and a bit of heat (chilli & co) would bring borscht over the top. You can try to smoke the pears by yourself, I'll share a cheap DIY method below. Another idea is to cook the pears any way you like (e.g. sous vide) and add just a tiny bit of liquid smoke. Here is a cheap DIY method for smoking in a metal cookie bin: Fill an empty biscuit tin with two handfuls of sawdust / wooden chips (you can soak them in water beforehand). Then place the rosemary and sage sprigs on top (optional). Insert a small grate or a piece of suitably cut wire mesh so that it rests about halfway up the can. Carefully pierce the can lid five or six times with a screwdriver or a nail. Put your fish/meat/produce on the grate/mesh. Put the lid on and place on a medium heat on the stove or a grill. After a few minutes, light smoke will rise through the lid. E.g. eight to ten minutes are enough for a piece of salmon. My estimation for a few slices of pears would be between 5 and 10 min. Greetings from Germany
I love her! Don't think she will be excommunicated! I did see a version of spring borsht with sorrel. You taught me about the sofrito method as nd my Byelorussian father added dried coriander seeds from his garden, pounded in mortal and pestle. He tempered the sour cream by stirring in broth. I will try your version when it's not 97 degrees!
I diverged from the recipe desolé. My beets had all those greens that I find to be delicious, so I chopped up the stems of those and added them to the sofrito. I used the greens to make a salad that I served alongside the borsch. Dunno if that is a traditional way to serve the meal, but I could just throw the greens out. They're so healthy and delicious!
I heard some put sour cherries or apples in ? in Minneapolis they add rhubarb - I add a bit of powdered clove - kidney beans and frozen green beans - love your systematic and pleasing videos - carmelizing the veggies really elevates the borshch
I LOVE borscht! Will definitely be giving this recipe a try this weekend. You are honestly one of the most under-rated cooking RUclipsrs out there. Your videos are so informative and all of your recipes that I have tried have worked amazingly. Your pasta recipe gave me my best batch of home-made pasta that I have ever made, and I have made it several times since and it is very consistent in how it turns out.
Eww I don’t like your comment! Don’t make this because this is blood and only vampires eat this. The ingredients to make this is actually dead meat blood and old beets. I think of this way because I tried borsh before and a couple of times I gagged and almost threw up after eating this
My next door neighbors when I was growing up were from The Ukraine. Dina, (the mom) offered to babysit me after school because I went to school with her daughter. We would eat borscht, an omelet and sardines on toast everyday after school and I became a huge fan of borscht because of that. I even loved the sardines on toast because the kind they got was an Eastern European brand and they were really good. I learned how to make borscht afterwards so I could have it when I moved away from home.
My family comes from southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border. Borscht as an appetizer before the main meal was always welcome before dinner during the humid summer months in upstate New York (Rochester ish). Some cool borscht before the heavy protein part of the meal to get the body ready for the protein part of the meal.
Hi, Helen it was nice and passionate presentation. My version is much more simple. But lately I discovered for myself something else: instead of broth I used kefir. OMG! Absolutely Love it. Cold, for hot summer day.
I have a question...how can you be so cute?!!! I love the way you do your cooking!!! with passion...delicately ...you have this natural elegance who enhance everything you touch...I am very lucky because today I discovered your channel!!! keep going and thanks a lot for sharing your passion!!!
I like to use coconut oil for frying meat, it’s less good with vegetables but with meat it’s perfect. Some chefs marinate meat in sparking water 1h before frying it, it has a similar effect as pouring Belgian beer into meat after frying it as it beer has gas and this helps to soften the meat, I’m not sure which sequence is better here.
I loveeeee borscht! My Russian friend made her borscht with chicken and she sweetened it with honey, but beef borscht is wonderful too! I may have to try this one too!
It’s not so much a chore as it is time-consuming. We’ve grown accustomed to fast to prepare entrees or pre-made heat and serve that we forget those are relatively new forms of cooking. Soups are ancient and, yes, slow. But many of the steps are things that require 20-30 minutes of attention then you basically ignore for several hours; such as making the stock. And, as she says in the video, you can do a lot of the rest in parallel. Get the beats baking in the oven and grate your carrots and dice the onions while they bake. You can be peeling the beets while the vegetables are sautéing. And so on. It still takes time but it is neither hard nor a chore.
@@shilohk38 anything but Pho borscht.... as a Vietnamese who's used to the flavours of Pho, I'd say adding beets to the soup stock is a bad, bad idea since the flavour of the beets would easily overpower the light, delicate flavour of the spices that make up the original broth of Pho.
If you drop the home made stock and use something store bought you can get a good borscht done in around an hour, just did it last night and it came out great.
Made this, and it was really good! I personally think the beets need roasted with salt, butter, and either thyme or tarragon or both. I also used a few cloves in mine and fresh bay leaf to give it something from the "spice" category. I used stock bones and short rib because my dad's a cow farmer so I just have stuff like that in the freezer, but I actually wish I used the stock bones and just a Chuck or rump roast, and added fat trimmings to the stock. My stock was just the beef bones, short rib, blue moon, Lots of garlic, lots of thyme, and one fresh bay leaf, lots of salt. I roasted and seared, and put my stock pot in the oven at 215°F and just leave it. Maybe I'll get to it later, maybe I'll get to it tomorrow. The meat in it is SOOOOO good, and honestly makes or breaks this borscht. Not enough beef, it's good. With enough beef, it's like heavens have just graced your taste buds. But you need that long and slow stock. Sear the fu*k out of the beef without burning it, get the fat caps nice and bubbly and crispy. Bring it to the simmer, in the oven at 215° for at least 4 hours, but I've left it for over 12 hours before during holidays. But it does get to a point where it's too tender, and the meat becomes mushy.
Wonderful video ! 👍♥️🌹 There are so many variations of borsch )))) Originally I’m from Kiev and my grandmothers were making this soup ( or should we say “ meal” since it’s so filling?))) , each had her own recipe but both were delicious . I also add beans ( from a can) and though I’m not big on beans in general they are very much at hom in borscht. Also, there is an important nuance : usually borscht should have a delicate balance of sweet and sour taste. If tomato paste is used then adding a bit of sugar is the must .
In my country, romania, borş is an ingredient. It's made by fermenting wheat or barley bran in water, after the solids separated at the bottom, the borş is filtered. It is used to sour the soup or even it is used instead of water, an example is "fish borscht".
i was just thinking about your channel the other day but i couldnt remember what it was called -- im so glad youtube recc'd me your latest video so i can finally subscribe!
American sour cream is a manufacturers short cut. I like using creme fraiche. I saw a great video, forgot to note the recipe, but they added live culture yogurt to creme, (I believe NOT Ultra pasteurized), kept it at room temperature for some days, possibly warmer, like yogurt-making principles, and they had cultured cream.
I love the Borscht I've tried, and I've tried to sort of make it without a recipe. I thought you put vinegar into it though? Anyway, your version is more work; but I love the taste so much, I might as well put the time in to try to do it right.( I got the ingredients right, when I 've made it, at least). Thank you. I always like your recipes, and you do great presentations with a lot of personal warmth.
I'm inspired by your method for making the broth and cooking the onions and carrots. I'll be trying this recipe this weekend. I wonder, though, do you ever add beet kvass? I thought maybe the pomegranate molasses was a substitute for kvass.
One thing about the mechanics of sharing your recipe, RUclips descriptions are not in html, so one cannot select and copy the text. It requires one to have one copy on the desktop, and a text document to "type" the recipe. Also, I can't exit the comment to check, but I don't think you gave the method, just the ingredients. Of course, I can play the video in short starts, stops, and rewind, and record the recipe. Folks usually have a web link to the recipe, in html so it can be copied, best for it to be a page from your website so when they record it, they can click on your home page. Best, Tom
@@susanoconnor7299 I am probably misunderstanding you. I hit 'Save' on a video, and I save the video. How does that put the text of the recipe on my clipboard?
I tried to follow this exactly with the exception of I didn’t have pomegranate molasses. The first two times were magic, this most recent one using identical ingredients and steps and it has turned into an off orange color rather than the deep red of prior batches. Any advice? I was thinking to add more beet. The flavor is thinner this time too. Perhaps I can simmer over night and cook it down more? I’m thinking I may have added too much water the thin it out.
So does every brothy soup basicly qualify as Borscht? My favorit soup in that styl is infact a beet root soup, but it does not originate from the eastern europe cuisine, but mesopotamia. For I despice cilantro, I make it useing parsley, but originaly it consists of lamb or mutton, beets and maybe beetgreens, cilantro, arugula garlic, leeks, onion, cumin, coriander and beer, but I never use beer. The soup balances the line between earthy and fresh well, it is very flavorful and well rounded, not heavy, not to earthy or bitter, to sweet or to shap. To make it vegan one could add chickpeas instead of lamb.
Hey Helen! I am wondering the reason behind your order for cooking vegetables in the sofrito. Is there a particular reason why you first cooked the carrots, removed them, and then added them back in later? Being classically trained, it’s practically muscle memory for me to always cook the onion first. Does it make a difference to the final product? P.s. I love your channel!
You can cook them in any order, as long as they are cooked separately because they don't cook at the same pace. I prefer to do carrots first because when I get them out of the skillet a few pieces are sometimes left and I don't mind slightly burnt carrots, but slightly burnt onions often taste dry.
Just made this for NYE and it's so tasty! I made it a day before and when I reheated it it, it seems like the potatoes basically dissolved into the soup. Is this supposed to happen, or is this a sign that the potatoes were cut too small or were overcooked?
#realcomment, I've always made borscht with beets thinking that was the ONLY way to make it. I've been set straight and will try this recipe. Have you used "Better than Bullion" products and wonder how it would compare to homemade beef stock,? Our household just doesn't eat that much beef anymore and I don't want to make a special trip to the butcher just to make stock.
Bernie Kida , I’m ukrainian and borscht is the staple food ))) . I bet making a stock the way Rene does it ll adds a nice flavor but I can assure you that a ready made “bullion” can give u a great result as well.
I don't make a special trip to the butcher. Most supermarkets carry both the shins and the bones. you are certainly use store bought stock or even water and make it vegetarian. I love Oksana's idea of adding beans. If you cook them yourself, you can use the bean liquid as your stock.
@@helenrennie
Not if you're living in a cave
@@Ksyusha1 had my first bowl while in Ukraine.
Perm Bee 🐝 🤩👋🌹I hope it was good ? ))
2 min. in, your browning bones, I already know your Borscht is better than 95% of of other RUclips recipes. I cannot wait to try this!
Made the Borscht today, substituted Ox Tail for the Beef Bones, and Brown Sugar for the Molasses. Turned out extremely tasty.
Thank you
For me this is one of the best Borscht recipes I have found.
ox tail are fabulous in borscht. great job
Super idea! :o I also found that if you add just a bit of liver you can't taste the liver (unless you really try ;)! This is great because liver is so healthy and cheap and yet no one in my family likes it.
@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim how much liver are we talking
Great idea about the Ox tails. I love them because they have great flavor.
I made this today, and had it alongside homemade bread with caramelized onions, oh my was that ever a treat. So delicious!
So glad it turned out well :)
Something that's real tasty that if the recipes I read were correct is a Ukrainian way to eat borscht is that you spread sour cream over your slice of bread and sprinkle a bit of dill over it. It's absolutely delicious dipped in the borscht. Also I can highly recommend taking a bite out of a raw clove of garlic between bites of borscht another Ukrainian tradition when eating borscht.
Ok ok. I’ve been watching your content for a few weeks now. You may possibly not be an aunt. But watching these feels like standing at a kitchen island while your aunt explains how to make stuff it’s so relaxed and funny and great information!!!
My mom was Ukrainian Canadian and I make borscht. I like this way and will try it. Thanks. Thanks also for directing us to Olia.
I just made my first Borscht last night and then woke up to see this video today. I used a little bit of port in place of the beer, and it was lovely and rich.
I love the port idea :)
I made this last night, and it was delicious. I modified it quite a bit based on what I had, but I think I captured the essence of this soup. The sour cream and dill at the end made a big difference, when I mixed it in like you said. Thank you for the recipe.
Brings back memories of my Russian 'Bubby' (grandmother). Her red borscht; her beef borscht; her barley soup; her mama liga (cornmeal mush); her Gefilte fish; her prokas (stuffed cabbage); her pit-za (calves foot or chicken foot jelly); her muhn (poppyseed) cookies... I wish I could cook & eat with her again!!!
Helen, you are incredibly enjoyable to watch, listen to, and learn from. I've made borscht a few times (friend from Ukraine), but definitely going to try your recipe now!
We Russian Americans for 30 years cook Russian borsh very frequently. Your ideas are great to improve it.
My Polish grandmother fed her family well during the Great Depression here in the US by using up every bit of edible food, and one of the things my mother remembers is a borscht made with the tops of the beets. It was a white soup and we have looked for years to figure out what she had done. Any thoughts? She was a pretty spectacular and inventive cook so it may have been her own creation. I wish she'd left a recipe. Thanks so much for another terrific recipe for me to try!
In the summer when the tops are young and tender, I love to add them. here is a recipe from Olia Hercules that uses the tops and not the roots: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/15/borscht-recipe-ukraine-food-olia-hercules
Maybe try this too if you are looking for a white soup: ruclips.net/video/q-vzYYQm8yQ/видео.html
Like Helen said, borscht doesn't have to contain beets. Try looking up borscht recipes that don't contain beets and that will rule out all the red borschts.
it sounds like green borsch. it’s traditionally made with sorrel but people would use whatever greens they could harvest from their garden
I have a 1st generation Russian-American friend I met, named Igor, when I worked at an auto shop. His parents were, of course, from the old country. They made me and my niece some great borsch when we came by for Igor’s daughter’s first birthday.
I made this the other day and it was incredible! Half of me wants to share it with Igor’s parents but the other half reminds me that I’m Puerto Rican!
I would make it for them and bring it over to the family as a gift, in Russian culture it's a custom to bring over a gift when you go over to someones house, this is of course if you don't know them too well, but hey it won't hurt to bring a gift, you could say you loved theirs so much you wanted to make some and bring it to them
I lived in Ukraine as a teen and haven't had good borsch in sooo long. I'm gonna make this for dinner tonight. My beef shanks are currently simmering. Hopefully it'll turn out well :)
hope you enjoy it!
How was it?
We Russian Americans for 30 years cook Russian borsh very frequently. These ideas are great to improve it.
@@khalilholland580 We will literally never get an answer lol
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Taste just like how they make it at my favorite Russian restaurant. I used oxtail for my meat and followed your recipe exactly except I didn’t have pomegranate molasses. Thank you I will be sure to check out your recipes.
I made your recipe last night for dinner - really delicious. It's now my favorite soup recipe.
so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this to the letter and couldn't get that wonderful unified colour through the soup. Potentially because I was using non-stick cookware, or my pans were too small for the amount of sofrito to properly brown. Next time I'll have to try smaller batches.
It was as delicious as you promised though! And restorative. I felt better two hours after eating this soup than I had all winter long. It is definitely going be a favourite recipe for the cold months.
I hadn't tried making beef stock from scratch before either. It was so wonderfully gelatinous and flavourful, I'll never be satisfied with cartons of pantry stock again.
Thank you very much for the learning experience and putting weights along side your volume measures .
-With love, from Australia
you speak like a poet. thanks for the wonderful recipe. its cold and rainy here in China and going out is not an option right now and we are tired of the usual dishes. this was an excellent choice.
It's really cool that you are making this in China!
I absolutely adore you and your videos! You're explaining every little step with so much passion, so heart warming! Every of your dishes is such a taste adventure 😋
Thank you very much for this recipe! I made something similar (as similar as possible) and the results were excellent. Totally worth 3 days working on it. 🥳
Never had these many layers of flavor on a single dish before!!
I have never had borscht
My father in law brought over some whole beets the other day.
I saw your vid and had all the ingredients on hand. I must say
I love borscht! LOVE IT!
The 2 modifications I did to this recipe were
Instead of cabbage I use homemade purple sauerkraut and boxed beef broth.
Holy snikies this is freaking good.
we make borscht a few times a month, its pretty much a staple. I recently started a low carb diet and started making my own bone broth with all the beef/pork/chicken bones/scraps. After watching your vid I decided to make a borscht and made the basic beef broth (approx 3 liters). I skim the broth and once cool de-grease. I make my borscht with 3 large beats (grated)along with onion/carrot and cabbage (all fried before adding to the broth). I ended up adding the last quart jar of bone broth (which was extremely thick with collagen - you could cut it with a knife). I could not believe the end result -- it was smooth and creamy like silk. I would love for you try adding bone broth to your stock and get your opinion. The change is subtle but makes for a velvet like broth. Using both the beat root and beat green stems gave it an amazing color as well. Сердечно дякую!
We Russian Americans for 30 years cook Russian borsh very frequently. Your ideas are great to improve it.
in a week or soo you became my favourite chef channel
I made Beef Borscht for my family this weekend and they loved it, it's going to be made often this winter!
so glad you enjoyed it!
Life Of Boris has taught me more about Slav cuisine then anyone else. Except Bogdan, Oleg, and Pavel.
Thank you! Made this for my mom and brother and it was a massive hit!!!! I did use the short ribs as the beef base- Also used some beef bacon rather than pork bacon with the garnish
Thank you!!
Made this recipe with canned sofrito, diced carrots, no cabbage, and parsnip/broccoli stalk puree to increase ahelf life- so freaking good!!! I also added the beet tops for some leafyness! Thanks for the incredible recipe!!!
It’s pretty much summer in Cape Town now but, out of character, it’s pouring with rain today and this weekend.... now’s my chance for a hearty soup! Thank you for the video :)
You "do" sound like you make good borscht. Last year watched a few hours of youtube borscht recipes and you have been unique in your approach to a great borscht. That broth is incredible...maybe the star of the show. Fried soffrito in combination with boiled veggies while seeming an unnecessary step is very important. I have made a variation of this from a recipe of Russian Doekaboers in Canada, but it is vegetarian, and uses whipped mashed potatoes and also uses a combination of fried and boiled vegetables... beets only used for colour. Your meat version is my next creation. Thanks. Subbed!
Hey Helen, I made an adapted version of your borscht using leftover broth from a pot-au-feu. The sofrito makes it so much more interesting. Even without the cabbage and replacing the onions with some shallots (my husband has real issues with sulfites) it was excellent. Thank you!
so glad it came out well!
Oh wow, fantastic video for a delicious soup! Thank you for all the details!
Oh my Helen, looks so good, thank you. Interested in knowing who your favorite cooks are.
I wish I lived in the Boston area and could take your classes!
So thoroughly well explained ! Going to make it. Love all the detailed care you have put into this recipe !
I don’t want to be presumptuous by adding to your recipe which is excellent but my Ukrainian grandma added a combination of honey & lemon to taste. I used pomegranate syrup but it didn’t taste just right until I added this today. Loved your recipe but took a long time to prepare. I browned the beef and then let it cook over night in slow cooker. No doubt slow food is so much better than fast food. It was worth the effort.
I really want to try this, looks fantastic. Great vid :D
What a wonderful recipe. I must say Helen, that you have the most beautiful voice . I could listen to you recite the telephone directory❤️
Love this recipe this is very similar to the way I make борщ it’s so good one of my favorites. Helen you are awesome great food must always be shared with everyone.
I’m making mine with dry mushrooms instead of meat, since my brother is vegetarian, and the sweetness of the browned carrots and onions help a LOT with the flavour. Thank you very much!! Дякую :]
Wonderful recipe. I cook for one (me!), and I would make a lot and freeze, since it’s a big job. My grandparents were from Russia, and I love borscht. 😋
Yes was just wondering if this will freeze well. I just made a big pot it’s a delicious soup but I know we won’t be able to eat it all so will probably have to freeze some of it.
Being of Ukrainian descent, borscht runs through my veins. I like green borscht a little more. Sorel gives it the green color and it has a very sour taste. Too bad it is hard to find in USA grocery stores. You pretty much have to grow it. How I crave it.
The soup made with sorrel is called schav. It tastes great.
My goodness, that's a good looking borscht! 😋 When I make beef stock I always save the fat and clarify it to turn it into tallow. It freezes well and is great for making Yorkshire pudding 😁
Good idea about the Yorkshire pudding!
There used to be a peculiar restaurant in NYC in the West 50s called Uncle Vanya. The location was unusual, surrounded by mid-range office and business buildings, but once inside, it was another, exotic world. It is now, alas, gone. (The internet has a range of bizarre reviews, bouncing between wonderful and terrible, with little midrange. Great service/lousy service, great food /lousy food, and so on. One even stated that the place lacked a liquor license, which was insane in light of the pack of heavyset, balding Russian men knocking back shots of vodka like there was no tomorrow.) Anyway, It was my first real exposure to terrific, authentic borscht. I finally made it at home, having rummaged around until finding a recipe not too unlike yours. Goodness, what a lot of work. Absolutely worth it. This video offers great nostalgia, and a troubling urge to make it again.
As a Russian language student from when the CCCP was real, and a lover of the Russian culture, and having had borscht made by one of my Russian friends, I look forward to trying this recipe. And of course, I truly love your accent! Keep up the great work!
I am 71 born in Canada of Dokabor heritage. I grew up on borscht. It was vegetarian and only one beet was used. The beet was left whole cut almost trough with an x The beet was removed and set aside before serving.
charles vereschagin I seem to recall mashed potatoes, whipped up were added. Beet for colour only?
@@brandtl1486 You got ii that is in my recipe and dill always dill.
My family loves borch , I make my borch a little spicy and sweet and sour with jalapeño pepper, citric acid, dill and cilantro and I don’t braise my meat or beets .It’s very delicious and healthy soup for cold months.
As a person who is really passionate about cooking for about 20 years I can only say that Helen nailed it in this recipe. For a good borscht you really need a very good stock, it's the basis. Yes, you can skip the beef, bones & the bacon, and start with a solid vegetable stock, if you want, but the beef version just rocks, the stock should have tons and tons of umami. The only surprise in this version was the beer, I'll definitely try this and encourage you to do so as well. You can add some tomato paste to the sofrito, if you wish. Cooking the beetroots in the oven like Helen did is probably the best method for cooking beetroots ever (maybe except for the charcoal grill), this beetroots are amazing just by themselves! And here is a trick I've learned from a Michelin star chef:
You can cook some Confit De Canard and use some of the cooked duck pieces in borscht. Add some air dried sour cherries as well and serve with some fresh tarragon, sour cream and dill.
Enjoy!
Mmmm - duck borscht with sour cherries. Now I'll be thinking about it all day. I hear people sometimes add smoked pears to borscht. I would really love to try it, but don't know where to find them in the US. I don't think we had access to them when I was little growing up in Moscow, but these days cooks in Russia have all sorts of amazing ingredients.
@@helenrennie, smoked pears? Sounds great!
A smoky flavour & aroma and a bit of heat (chilli & co) would bring borscht over the top.
You can try to smoke the pears by yourself, I'll share a cheap DIY method below. Another idea is to cook the pears any way you like (e.g. sous vide) and add just a tiny bit of liquid smoke.
Here is a cheap DIY method for smoking in a metal cookie bin:
Fill an empty biscuit tin with two handfuls of sawdust / wooden chips (you can soak them in water beforehand). Then place the rosemary and sage sprigs on top (optional). Insert a small grate or a piece of suitably cut wire mesh so that it rests about halfway up the can. Carefully pierce the can lid five or six times with a screwdriver or a nail.
Put your fish/meat/produce on the grate/mesh. Put the lid on and place on a medium heat on the stove or a grill. After a few minutes, light smoke will rise through the lid. E.g. eight to ten minutes are enough for a piece of salmon. My estimation for a few slices of pears would be between 5 and 10 min.
Greetings from Germany
started a few days ago and am going to have this tonight! the house smells amazing. I hope this freezes well because I made about 6 quarts! thank you!
I love her! Don't think she will be excommunicated! I did see a version of spring borsht with sorrel. You taught me about the sofrito method as nd my Byelorussian father added dried coriander seeds from his garden, pounded in mortal and pestle. He tempered the sour cream by stirring in broth. I will try your version when it's not 97 degrees!
I only discovered your channel....... Thank you for all your delicious recipes...... happy new year 2020 from a new fan in ireland 🍀 🍀 💚
I diverged from the recipe desolé.
My beets had all those greens that I find to be delicious, so I chopped up the stems of those and added them to the sofrito. I used the greens to make a salad that I served alongside the borsch. Dunno if that is a traditional way to serve the meal, but I could just throw the greens out. They're so healthy and delicious!
I heard some put sour cherries or apples in ? in Minneapolis they add rhubarb - I add a bit of powdered clove - kidney beans and frozen green beans - love your systematic and pleasing videos - carmelizing the veggies really elevates the borshch
I just exactly replicated the steps in the video, fantastic taste! Thank youuuuuuu so much)
I LOVE borscht! Will definitely be giving this recipe a try this weekend. You are honestly one of the most under-rated cooking RUclipsrs out there. Your videos are so informative and all of your recipes that I have tried have worked amazingly. Your pasta recipe gave me my best batch of home-made pasta that I have ever made, and I have made it several times since and it is very consistent in how it turns out.
Eww I don’t like your comment! Don’t make this because this is blood and only vampires eat this. The ingredients to make this is actually dead meat blood and old beets. I think of this way because I tried borsh before and a couple of times I gagged and almost threw up after eating this
Borscht is my pinnacle of comfort food. I agree with the idea of making a food cult of it 💪🏼
My next door neighbors when I was growing up were from The Ukraine. Dina, (the mom) offered to babysit me after school because I went to school with her daughter. We would eat borscht, an omelet and sardines on toast everyday after school and I became a huge fan of borscht because of that. I even loved the sardines on toast because the kind they got was an Eastern European brand and they were really good. I learned how to make borscht afterwards so I could have it when I moved away from home.
My family comes from southeastern Poland near the Ukrainian border. Borscht as an appetizer before the main meal was always welcome before dinner during the humid summer months in upstate New York (Rochester ish). Some cool borscht before the heavy protein part of the meal to get the body ready for the protein part of the meal.
You're killing me here. I'm salivating like a baby!
Hi, Helen it was nice and passionate presentation. My version is much more simple. But lately I discovered for myself something else: instead of broth I used kefir. OMG! Absolutely Love it. Cold, for hot summer day.
What's kefir?
Incredible. I recently made borscht soup which is vegan. Love the combination of red beets and vinegar, so unique.
I have a question...how can you be so cute?!!! I love the way you do your cooking!!! with passion...delicately ...you have this natural elegance who enhance everything you touch...I am very lucky because today I discovered your channel!!! keep going and thanks a lot for sharing your passion!!!
I like to use coconut oil for frying meat, it’s less good with vegetables but with meat it’s perfect. Some chefs marinate meat in sparking water 1h before frying it, it has a similar effect as pouring Belgian beer into meat after frying it as it beer has gas and this helps to soften the meat, I’m not sure which sequence is better here.
I loveeeee borscht! My Russian friend made her borscht with chicken and she sweetened it with honey, but beef borscht is wonderful too! I may have to try this one too!
Wow, your tutorial is very detailed, and actually I craved to this ❤ very Russian and I love Russia to be honest ❤
taken to another level. what a vibrant colour. speechless is the word...
And I thought making authentic pho was a chore! I’m sure this is worth it too though!
Cigar Obsession - Why not pho borscht, beet noodles sounds good.
whoa whats up @cigar obsession
It’s not so much a chore as it is time-consuming. We’ve grown accustomed to fast to prepare entrees or pre-made heat and serve that we forget those are relatively new forms of cooking. Soups are ancient and, yes, slow. But many of the steps are things that require 20-30 minutes of attention then you basically ignore for several hours; such as making the stock. And, as she says in the video, you can do a lot of the rest in parallel. Get the beats baking in the oven and grate your carrots and dice the onions while they bake. You can be peeling the beets while the vegetables are sautéing. And so on. It still takes time but it is neither hard nor a chore.
@@shilohk38 anything but Pho borscht.... as a Vietnamese who's used to the flavours of Pho, I'd say adding beets to the soup stock is a bad, bad idea since the flavour of the beets would easily overpower the light, delicate flavour of the spices that make up the original broth of Pho.
If you drop the home made stock and use something store bought you can get a good borscht done in around an hour, just did it last night and it came out great.
Looks amazing! I’ve got to try this recipe next winter.
Made this, and it was really good! I personally think the beets need roasted with salt, butter, and either thyme or tarragon or both. I also used a few cloves in mine and fresh bay leaf to give it something from the "spice" category. I used stock bones and short rib because my dad's a cow farmer so I just have stuff like that in the freezer, but I actually wish I used the stock bones and just a Chuck or rump roast, and added fat trimmings to the stock. My stock was just the beef bones, short rib, blue moon, Lots of garlic, lots of thyme, and one fresh bay leaf, lots of salt. I roasted and seared, and put my stock pot in the oven at 215°F and just leave it. Maybe I'll get to it later, maybe I'll get to it tomorrow. The meat in it is SOOOOO good, and honestly makes or breaks this borscht. Not enough beef, it's good. With enough beef, it's like heavens have just graced your taste buds. But you need that long and slow stock. Sear the fu*k out of the beef without burning it, get the fat caps nice and bubbly and crispy. Bring it to the simmer, in the oven at 215° for at least 4 hours, but I've left it for over 12 hours before during holidays. But it does get to a point where it's too tender, and the meat becomes mushy.
This recipe is sooo good, thank you
Wonderful video ! 👍♥️🌹 There are so many variations of borsch )))) Originally I’m from Kiev and my grandmothers were making this soup ( or should we say “ meal” since it’s so filling?))) , each had her own recipe but both were delicious . I also add beans ( from a can) and though I’m not big on beans in general they are very much at hom in borscht. Also, there is an important nuance : usually borscht should have a delicate balance of sweet and sour taste. If tomato paste is used then adding a bit of sugar is the must .
beans are a great idea. I'll try that next time :)
Helen Rennie , ❤️🤗😘😘😘 Обожаю Ваш канал и Вас ❤️❤️ С любовью из Коннектикута 🤝👋🌹🌹🌹🌹
Sunflower oil is an Eastern European touch to everything! Oh and sour cream of course :) I'm craving this so bad!
In my country, romania, borş is an ingredient. It's made by fermenting wheat or barley bran in water, after the solids separated at the bottom, the borş is filtered. It is used to sour the soup or even it is used instead of water, an example is "fish borscht".
My mother made a very similar beef borscht. Her mother was from Latvia, I think.
I would love to hear your opinion on polish borsch made with lactofermented beets.
I use an 8 quart instant pot to make stocks. They come out gelatinous and rich.
i was just thinking about your channel the other day but i couldnt remember what it was called -- im so glad youtube recc'd me your latest video so i can finally subscribe!
Yay -- welcome back :)
This is the best borscht recipe I've seen
I love beets and I have always wanted to make this!! cant wait to try this. Thank you!
Thank you, I really love your videos.
American sour cream is a manufacturers short cut. I like using creme fraiche. I saw a great video, forgot to note the recipe, but they added live culture yogurt to creme, (I believe NOT Ultra pasteurized), kept it at room temperature for some days, possibly warmer, like yogurt-making principles, and they had cultured cream.
I love the Borscht I've tried, and I've tried to sort of make it without a recipe. I thought you put vinegar into it though? Anyway, your version is more work; but I love the taste so much, I might as well put the time in to try to do it right.( I got the ingredients right, when I 've made it, at least). Thank you. I always like your recipes, and you do great presentations with a lot of personal warmth.
👍 Danke fürs Hochladen!
👍 Thanks for uploading!
👍 Very good and beautiful, thank you!
👍 Sehr gut und schön, danke!
This video has done a lot of good for the borscht I'm about to make.
Adding carrots and beets to carrots and beets sounds great to me!
I'm inspired by your method for making the broth and cooking the onions and carrots. I'll be trying this recipe this weekend. I wonder, though, do you ever add beet kvass? I thought maybe the pomegranate molasses was a substitute for kvass.
One thing about the mechanics of sharing your recipe, RUclips descriptions are not in html, so one cannot select and copy the text. It requires one to have one copy on the desktop, and a text document to "type" the recipe. Also, I can't exit the comment to check, but I don't think you gave the method, just the ingredients. Of course, I can play the video in short starts, stops, and rewind, and record the recipe. Folks usually have a web link to the recipe, in html so it can be copied, best for it to be a page from your website so when they record it, they can click on your home page. Best, Tom
You can go to save on this page.
@@susanoconnor7299 I am probably misunderstanding you. I hit 'Save' on a video, and I save the video. How does that put the text of the recipe on my clipboard?
Final step before eating: ensure you're not wearing a white shirt 🤣
Looks amazing!
Hi Helen. Thanks for the great videos. I happen to have a red cabbage on hand... Will that change anything other than maybe the color?
red cabbage is fine
I don't think I've ever had it, but I would be eager to try it
I tried to follow this exactly with the exception of I didn’t have pomegranate molasses.
The first two times were magic, this most recent one using identical ingredients and steps and it has turned into an off orange color rather than the deep red of prior batches.
Any advice? I was thinking to add more beet. The flavor is thinner this time too. Perhaps I can simmer over night and cook it down more? I’m thinking I may have added too much water the thin it out.
Approximately how much stock do you end up with when it goes into the refrigerator for chilling overnight?
So does every brothy soup basicly qualify as Borscht?
My favorit soup in that styl is infact a beet root soup, but it does not originate from the eastern europe cuisine, but mesopotamia.
For I despice cilantro, I make it useing parsley, but originaly it consists of lamb or mutton, beets and maybe beetgreens, cilantro, arugula garlic, leeks, onion, cumin, coriander and beer, but I never use beer.
The soup balances the line between earthy and fresh well, it is very flavorful and well rounded, not heavy, not to earthy or bitter, to sweet or to shap. To make it vegan one could add chickpeas instead of lamb.
Very entertining. Please keep-up the fine work.
Hey Helen! I am wondering the reason behind your order for cooking vegetables in the sofrito. Is there a particular reason why you first cooked the carrots, removed them, and then added them back in later? Being classically trained, it’s practically muscle memory for me to always cook the onion first. Does it make a difference to the final product? P.s. I love your channel!
You can cook them in any order, as long as they are cooked separately because they don't cook at the same pace. I prefer to do carrots first because when I get them out of the skillet a few pieces are sometimes left and I don't mind slightly burnt carrots, but slightly burnt onions often taste dry.
@@helenrennie ruclips.net/video/khPQAStXKDc/видео.html
Can you make kimchi from the cabbage core? Isn't there a use for the beef fat?
Wow. I never thought of borscht as appetizing, but this looks to die for. Yum!
I bet it would be good with chili peppers.
Made your recipe, Fabulous. Thank You
Just made this for NYE and it's so tasty! I made it a day before and when I reheated it it, it seems like the potatoes basically dissolved into the soup. Is this supposed to happen, or is this a sign that the potatoes were cut too small or were overcooked?
Amazing 👌
Would it make sense so substitute Kvass for the beer?