Moscow Borsh

List of Ingredients
The list of foods where everything is measured is in the Ingredients section of the recipe. If you want caloric perfection by all means that is the measurements you should use. I like to cook based on what I buy, so things do vary.
A nice chunk of lean beef
1 head of cabbage
5-6 carrots
5-6 sticks of celery
1-2 medium onions (really depends on how much you like onions)
6-7 white potatoes
1-2 green bell peppers
1table spoon canola oil
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
½ Can Tomato Paste
2 raw beets – you can use canned, but they just don’t taste as good
10 cups of water – here you can use up to 15 cups depending on how big your pot is

This may seem like a complex process, but it really isn’t, if you time everything right, or have other household chores to take care off. You can do it all at once, or do bits and pieces here and there. I often take 2 days to cook it, because I break it into stages as long or pauses can be taken between them.
Wash and cut the meat into small pieces. Take a large pot add water, salt and meat.
Boil the meat on medium heat until you have clear bullion. Drain the bullion through a cloth to another pot. You will be using it again as the base for the soup. It can be done in slow cooker overnight, it really depends here on how you like your meat, chewy or soft, there is really no max time, other than your preference on the texture of the meat. The meat will need to washed separately through some hot water, you can also get it out before draining the bullion.
While boiling the meat:
1. Wash, cut of the tails and chop the rest of the fresh beets. Boil them. Drain keep the beets, toss everything else. Put the beets to cool.
2. Peel and cut into chunks potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and celery.
3. Clean the cabbage head and then slice it into small strips. When determining the size think about what shape you like to bite on, but don’t make them too small as cabbage tends to boil down.
In a trying pan warm 1table spoon canola oil. Take the chopped, cleaned onions and sauté them on slow heat. You can also add peppers and carrots until golden brown.
When clean beef bouillon is ready add meat back in along with all other ingredients. The key is to have all of them boil together. So boil on medium heat boil until the potatoes are ready.
In the bowl you should add salt to taste. You can add sour cream red or black pepper as well as black Russian or pumpernickel bread goes well with it.


Serving Size: makes 18 servings if 10 cups of water is used

Number of Servings: 18

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user FLSUNSHINEGRL.