02-26-2011 Borscht with our lovely Chef Maya

Chef:	Maya
Menu:	Borscht
Pictures:	Click here

Borscht Stew (2011-02-26 Maya)

Quantity:
Preparation Time:
Cooking Time:

Ingredients

1 tbsp Oil
1 chopped/sliced Medium onion
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
4 (about 1/person), sliced small Beets
½ cup (when dry) Dry red kidney beans (pre-soaked and cooked)
2-3 cubed Potatoes (medium)
2-3 sliced Carrots
1 small packet (8 oz), sliced Mushrooms
1 bushel Beet greens/Swiss chard
10 stems finely chopped Dill
2 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp Salt
8 cups Vegetable stock (hot)

Cooking Instructions

Preparation
• Cut vegetables.

Cooking
• Heat the oil in a pot to medium-high.
• Add onions to oil. Sauté until translucent (about 3-5 minutes)
• Add beets and garlic, sauté for about 2 minutes
• Add in the herbs, bay leaves, beans, potatoes, black pepper, salt and vegetable stock.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add carrots and mushrooms and let cook for 10 minutes
• Add beet greens/chard and dill and let cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Vegetable Soup Stock (2011-02-26 Maya)

Quantity:
Preparation Time:
Cooking Time:

Ingredients

1 tsp Oil
2 Carrots
1-2 Parsnips
2 Onions
1-2 Celery stalks
½ cup - 1 cup Dried shitake mushrooms (rehydrated)
5-8 stems Parsley
2-3 stems Sage
1 stems Rosemary
2-3 stems Thyme
2-3 stems Dill
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp Salt
8 cups Water

Cooking Instructions

Preparation
• Chop the carrots, parsnips, celery, and onions into 1 - 2 inch sized pieces.

Cooking
• Heat the oil in a stock pot to medium-high. Then add in carrots, parsnips, onions, mushrooms
and celery.
• Add in the black pepper and salt. Stir occasionally for 5 - 10 minutes.
• Add in the herbs, bay leaves and water.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer.
• (optional) Skim off the foam every once awhile.
• Let this cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then strain the vegetable soup stock from the veggies.
Gently squeeze the veggies to extract the soup stock.

Soaking dry red kidney beans (overnight method)

Choosing beans:

Make sure your beans have not been in your storage for more than 1 or 2 years. If beans are too
old, they will remain hard regardless of soaking time or method.

The night before:

1. Wash and drain beans and put beans in a large bowl
2. Fill bowl with cool water (enough to completely submerge the beans and allow for
expansion)
3. Add approx 1 tsp-1tbsp baking soda (optional – for gas)
4. Place in fridge and let soak overnight

At time of cooking preparation:

1. Drain water from beans
2. Wash and drain the beans

Cooking note:

Pre-soaked beans usually take about 45-60 minutes to cook (without a pressure cooker). You can
cook them separately or with the rest of the ingredients for your recipe; you’ll just need to account
for the cooking time.

Plate Served



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