borscht, dill pollen and shoestring potatoes

The closest thing I have had to the real thing is a borscht made by a friend from Poland. It was delicious and poured out of a beautiful sleek glass pitcher that looked like fine crystal. We drank it in tea cups on their deck with a plethora of other polish treats. I make no claim to be an expert on the topic. There must be as many different versions of this as there are grandmothers in Eastern Europe. Oh yes, I did have it once at a Russian restaurant in Helsinki, Finland but I do not remember much, probably too much vodka.

However, it is summer now and the beets are ripe and coming every week in our CSA (share of produce from a local farm) bundle. This week I was pondering what to do with these ruby beauties. It is super hot here now, the middle of summer and all, so a big bubbling pot of soup on the stove does not sound pleasant to me. So I thought if I roasted the beets early in the day, then made a quick pot of soup and let it chill, by evening we would have a lovely cold soup.

This plann worked perfect, unusually perfect. I roasted up my beets, I had about 5 medium beets. I cleaned and trimmed them, put them in a roasting dish with a touch of water, covered well and roasted at 350F for about an hour. When they had cooled from the oven I slipped their skins off with my finger tips. The extras that I was not going to make into soup went into a freezer bag and into the freezer for use later in the year, perhaps a hot borscht in November.

I made the most beautifully colored soup, as if I can take credit for the beet itself. The only thing I was wishing was that I had tried this before.

Borscht with Dill Pollen
makes enough starters for a dinner party of 8

• 3 medium beets, roasted, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 medium carrot, minced
• 1 celery stick, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 Ltr (4 cups) chicken stock, make it vegetarian by using veggie stock
• 2 yukon gold potatoes, cooked and diced
• splash of sherry vinegar

Heat a heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add a tablespoon or so of oil then the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Sweat the veggies with a pinch of salt over moderate heat until translucent, be sure not to color the onions or the soup can become bitter.

Pour in the chicken stock and add the beets and potatoes to that. Heat thoroughly. When lightly bubbling remove from heat, add a splash of sherry vinegar, then transfer to a blender to puree. You can use a stick blender for this with adequate results, but it will not be as fine as a blender. Be sure to exercize caution blending hot ingredients in the blender. You will most likely need to do it in two batches. When the soup is blended and cooled to room temperature put it in the refrigerator to cool completely.

This soup can be served hot or cold. Garnish with fresh minced dill and the pollen from the dill flowers for a more pungent dill flavor.

garnish:
shoestring potatoes
minced dill
pollen from dill flowers
sour cream

Shoestring Rosemary Potato Chips

• 1 medium russet potato
• 1 cup high heat oil, such as grapeseed oil
• 1-2 sprigs rosemary
• sea salt

Peel the potato and slice lengthwise into thin slices. Stack the slices and slice into thin matchsticks (shoestrings). Heat the oil in a wok, you can use a saucepan but with a wok you can use less oil because of the shape. Test the oil with a piece of potato, if it sizzles it is ready.

Drop a handful of the potatoes and half of the rosemary into the oil carefully and gingerly. Be sure to beak them apart, separate them, when dropping them into the oil so they do not stick together. Using tongs stir them a bit. When they are starting to brown remove them carefully to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with the left over potatoes, I did this in two batches.

Sprinkle them with a little fine sea salt and enjoy!
They are so easy and quick that it is no trouble even on a hot day.

Tagged as: appetizers, beets, CSA, dairy-free, snacks, vegetarian