Grandma's Borscht Recipe

I had a couple requests for my grandmother's borscht recipe, so I thought I'd put it out for everyone! Besides listing it here, I've also made it publically available: "HomeMade - Swidzinski Family Borscht."

This is a Ukranian or "red" borscht, adapted by my French grandmother--hence all the extra herbs and deglazing. As much as I loathe to deviate from her original, I've reduced the amount of butter and added pinto beans for extra protein. It's chewy, sweet, savory, and shockingly filling for 95 calories a cup! Enjoy!

You'll Need:
a crock pot
a flat-edged knife (chef's or cleaver, whatever you've got)
a veggie peeler
a large skillet (non-stick if you have it!)
a spatula

Ingredients:
1/2 head of red cabbage (makes the soup sweeter than regular cabbage)
3-4 fresh beets
juice of 1 lemon
2 large onions
1 package of mushrooms (button, stuffer, bella or ****ake are all great)
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 cup of white wine (Chardonnay or Viognier are best)
unsalted butter
fresh or dried herbs: thyme, sage, dill
1/3 cup brown sugar
kosher salt
black pepper
white pepper
garlic powder
1 can reduced fat, low sodium broth (I use College Inn beef or chicken broth)
2 cans low sodium pinto beans (I recommend Goya. You can also use red kidney beans.)

Directions:

1 - Set your crock pot to HIGH and add the broth. Using a large knife, chop the half cabbage head to desired thickness. Add chopped cabbage (c. 8-10 cups) to crock pot, then add water until the cabbage is just covered. Cover and let it heat while you prep the other veggies.

2 - Dice the onions and add them to your skillet on medium heat along with a teaspoon of butter (just enough to coat the pan). Sautee until almost clear, about 2-3 minutes. Add salt, about 1/2 teaspoon or to taste. Roughly chop mushrooms (about 2-4 cups total) and add to pan. Add black and white pepper, about 1 teaspoon or more of each. Mince garlic and fresh herbs: you'll want about a palm of dill, and half-palms of thyme and sage (half the amount if using dried herbs). Sprinkle over onions and mushrooms. When the onions begin to carmelize and stick to the pan, splash on juice of 1 lemon and white wine, as needed, to deglaze (aka use your spatula to scrape the yummy brown stuff off the bottom of the pan). This is easier--and tastier--if you use very little butter to begin with. When the wine and lemon juice have been cooked out and the mushrooms appear soggy, empty your pan into the crock pot.

3 - Rinse and peel the beets: this is messy and may turn your fingers a little pink! If it really bothers you, try peeling the beets under a running faucet to carry away most of the bleed. For the record: no, canned beets are not the same. Chop the beets roughly into 1/2 inch cubes and toss them in the crock pot. Add brown sugar and 1 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste.

4 - Give it a good stir and then let sit for approx 2 hours, or until the cabbage is a little soggy but still has some crunch left. Open the pinto beans and rinse them well. Add them to the pot and let it simmer another 45 minutes to an hour and a half, until the beans are heated through, the cabbage looks limp and the beets are starting to lose color around the edges. EVERYTHING in the pot will be dyed a beautiful, deep magenta.


Traditional serving is with buttered hallah or potato bread and a double shot of vodka.
You could also serve it with brown rice or egg noodles mixed in.
Try adding kielbasa (garlic sausage) or ground turkey to make a heavier meal.
Leftover borscht keeps for 10-12 days in the fridge and also freezes very well. Like ratatouille, the longer it sits, the better it tastes!