Borscht

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 piece(s) of beef (1 large leg)
• 500 g soup meat
• 1 marrow bone
• 1 small bunch of soup vegetables
• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 clove(s)
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ liter water, salted
• 4 m.-sized potatoes
• 1 beetroot (small tuber)
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 2 tsp butter
• 1 tomato(s)
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 165 g sauerkraut
• 10 peppercorns
• Salt
• pepper
• 1 cup crème fraîche

Instructions

Working time approx. 55 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Variation with sauerkraut

Wash the meat and bones. Trim the soup vegetables. Peel one of the onions and stud it with a clove. Place the meat, vegetables, peppercorns, and studded onion with a bay leaf in salted water and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours. After 1 3/4 hours, peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. Peel the beetroot, grate it on a coarse grater, and cook in a very small amount of water until soft. Peel and finely dice the remaining onion and garlic clove. Brown the diced onions in a pan with melted butter. A little later, add the garlic. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, then peel and dice them. Stir them into the onion and garlic mixture along with the tomato paste. Fry briefly, then deglaze with a little of the meat broth. Remove the cooked soup meat from the pot and cut into cubes. Cook the potato pieces with peppercorns in the broth for about 10 minutes. Only then add the sauerkraut (not earlier, otherwise the acid will make the potatoes hard!). Add the onion and tomato mixture, the beetroot, and the beef to the broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot, topped with a dollop of crème fraîche. Serve with white bread. Tip: Borscht tastes especially good when prepared and reheated the day before.