Beet Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar)

Beets are one of those love or hate food things. Some people find the earthiness of beets a bit too earthy. Personally I love beets. Give them to me roasted, pickled or the out of the can pile them on your salad at the salad bar type.

The only problem I have with beets is the color or more accurately the way a beet wants everything it touches to be beet colored. I'm pretty sure the first person that ever got caught "Red Handed" had been stealing beets. One of my wooden cutting boards now looks like it's some exotic wood like purpleheart instead of maple.

A few weeks ago I made a batch of borscht,  basically a beet stew, for a friend's sister that has been undergoing radiation treatment. The recipe called for 4 large beets. The older I get the more frustrated I get about descriptions like "4 large beets". Large compared to what? I've seen baby beets that were the size of cherries. So does that mean a large beet is the size of a tennis ball? Perhaps a the size of a softball?

I ended up with some extra large beets - maybe the size of a medium cantaloupe - you know what I'm talking about - larger than a large grapefruit, but smaller than a soccer ball.

I bought five of these beet behemoths, because really if you like beets, can you ever have to many? Maybe I was just channeling some long gone Russian peasant. As it happens I think each of these beets was the equivalent of about six of the large beets that the recipe's author had called for. When all was said and done I had a couple of gallons of borscht - plenty for the sick sister, the healthy sister, the other healthy sister, their families and even quite a lot for myself.

It was good stuff. So yesterday I made another, more modest batch.

Borscht Recipe

The original recipe is from Elise Bauer's Simply Recipes - this is a simplified version.

Ingredients

* 8 cups beef broth
* 1/2 lb beef chuck, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes
* 1 large onion, peeled, medium dice
* 4 large beets, peeled cut into 1/2 cubes - 4 cups
* 4 carrots, peeled, chopped into medium dice
* 1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
* 3/4 cup chopped fresh dill or a couple of Tbls of dried dill
* 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
* 1 cup sour cream - to garnish when serving
* Salt and pepper to taste


Method

1. Add all of the ingredients, except the sour cream, to a pot
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the beef is falling apart tender - 1 1/2 to 2 hours
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar.
4. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and a pinch of dill.

Serves 6

I drank a nice lighter Pinot Noir with this. No cocktail after dinner, but I did have a bit of Johnny Walker Red and the slight smoky peaty note was a good finish to the meal.