The Best of the Chef: Winter Soups - Borscht

Have any of you ever done this -- sitting around with friends or co-workers and debating the "best of" of certain things? So we're here sitting around and talking about the "best of" winter soups and I think we all agree that one of the best, and certainly the most classic, is borscht or as some people call it, beet soup.

Well here at the Examiner when we want to find a recipe it has now become habit to do one of two things. We either call Chef Larry Edwards or we go through his archives. According to the Chef, this is his favorite borscht recipe and its come from the Ukrain and if you look at the picture the Chef took, this does look incredible!

Ingredients needed to make Borscht (serves 4):

• 1 beet, scrubbed
• 8 cups beef stock
• 3 red potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 3 Tbs. corn oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 ½ Tbs. tomato paste
• 3 dried prunes, pitted and chopped
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbs. minced parsley
• 3 Tbs. minced dill
• sour cream for topping

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.

2. Wrap the beet in foil and bake 1 hour. Remove from oven and unwrap. Peel the beet and then shred/grate it and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and tomatoes and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
4. In a medium sauté pan or skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and bell pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook 7 minutes.
5. Into the soup stir the onion mixture, beet, lemon juice, tomato paste, prunes, sugar, garlic, parsley and dill and cook 5 minutes.
6. Remove from the pan from the heat and let cool 30 minutes.
7. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, top with sour cream and serve.

** Inside Google calls Chef Larry Edwards "quite possibly the most popular Chef in the world" and now you can find out what Chef Larry Edwards has coming up in the kitchen, on the road, in the restaurants and in the media by joining him on Facebook where the Chef's snarky personality and often controversial comments are always sure to cause a stir