Polish White Borscht Bialy Barszcz Recipes

POLISH WHITE BORSCHT (BIALY BARSZCZ)

Steps:

• Place the kielbasa and eggs (still in their shells, they are going to be hard-cooked) into a 4-quart pot and cover with the water and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 8 minutes.
• Use a slotted spoon, to remove eggs to an ice water bath; continue simmering the kielbasa for 15 minutes more.
• Drain kielbasa, reserving the cooking liquid separately.
• Return the pot to the heat melt the butter; turn the heat up to medium and stir in the garlic and leeks and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat and cook until leeks are very tender, about 20 minutes, being careful not to let the leeks brown.
• Stir in the potatoes and reserved cooking liquid, increase heat to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking until potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Puree the soup using an immersion blender, or in a standing blender, in batches; return soup to medium-low heat.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and sour cream; stir in 1/2 cup of the soup to temper the mixture, then whisk into the soup in the pot on the stove.
• Slice the kielbasa into 1/2-inch slices and stir into soup; stir in horseradish and season with salt and pepper.
• Thin soup with water if needed.
• Peel the eggs and roughly chop them as a garnish for the soup.

POLISH WHITE BORSCHT (BIALY BARSZCZ)

Steps:

• Bring keilbassa and water to a boil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 25 minutes. Remove keilbassa to a plate and set aside. Leave the broth in the dutch oven.
• In a medium, non-stick skillet, saute garlic and onion with a tsp of butter until soft, 5 min.
• Add onion mixture to kielbassa broth. Add diced potatoes, bay, salt, and pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.
• In a small bowl, whisk flour and sour cream together until smooth. Add ½ c of the soup broth to the sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth and thin. Pour mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 10 min.
• Cut the kielbasas into 1/2 inch slices, chop the hard boiled eggs. Add both to the soup. Taste the soup and adjust the salt an pepper as desired. Cook 1-2 minutes to heat through.

POLISH WHITE BORSCHT ON PORK RIBS AND FERMENTED WHEAT STARTER

Steps:

• Grab a large cooking pot, 4-5 quart / litres should be enough. Place just over a pound (around 500 grams) of pork ribs inside.
• Pour in just over 2 quarts (2 litres) of cold water. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat to low-medium. Cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes.
• While that's cooking, peel the vegetables: 2 carrots, 2 parsley roots, a piece of celery root. Chop into chunky pieces.
• Grab a leek, remove the dirty outer leaves.
• Wash all the veggies under the running water and set them aside.
• Once the 30 minutes are up, add chopped vegetables to the pot. Add the spices: 3 all-spice berries, 2 bay leaves, 5 black peppercorns.
• Bring the pot to boil, reduce the heat to low and cook undercover for another hour.
• After that time, peel a garlic clove and smash it with a side of a knife. Add to the pot.
• Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of grated horseradish. This can be from a jar or freshly grated - whatever you have available.
• Cook for another 5 minutes or so. Grab another pot and place a strainer over it. Pour our soup through it. Don't throw the veggies and meat away! Keep them on the side for now.
• Grab a piece of smoked bacon. If it has a tough skin, cut it off. Cut the meat into cubes, roughly quarter of an inch (5-6 mm) in size.
• Heat up 1 teaspoon of canola oil and 1 teaspoon of butter. Add chopped bacon. Fry for 5-7 minutes, until the meat cubes turn lightly golden. Add it to the soup.
• Grab 4 white kiełbasa links, poke them with a toothpick in a few places. Add them to the pot and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
• Add 1⅓ cup (300ml) of sour wheat starter for a milder Barszcz, up to 2 cups (or more; roughly 500ml) for a sharper result. If you're not sure how much to add, pour it over gradually, tasting along the way. There are two ways to do it: • Mix the contents of the jar/bottle, so that the liquid part blends with the floury part, • Or start by adding the liquid only, topping with the muddy floury part later on - spoonful by spoonful, until you reach the desired thickness. That's how I do it.
• Add 2 teaspoons of dried marjoram and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously. Have a taste - does it need some seasoning? If so, add a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Pour the sour cream into a cup. Gradually add some hot soup in (around 8 tablespoons in total), spoonful by spoonful, stirring as you go. Pour over this creamy mixture into the soup, mix it in with a spoon.
• Do you want to serve your soup with vegetables and meat? Chop some veggies into pieces. Remove the meat from the bone. Add them to the soup. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on a low heat.
• Peel the boiled eggs, slice them in half.
• To serve, pour the soup over into bowls or soup plates. Distribute the pieces of meat and vegetables evenly. Add a portion of sausage to each plate - whole links or slices, up to you.
• Decorate with halved boiled eggs and fresh marjoram.

EASTER WHITE BORSCHT

Steps:

• Bring water, kielbasa, and 2 whole cloves garlic to boil in a large pot; reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove sausage and pour liquid into a separate bowl. Cut sausage into cubes.
• Melt butter over medium heat in the pot used to boil sausage; cook and stir leeks, onion, and minced garlic until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a blender; add about 1/2 cup reserved sausage water and blend until smooth, adding more water as needed.
• Pour vegetable puree and remaining sausage water back into the original pot. Add bay leaves and bring borscht to a simmer over medium heat; remove and discard leaves. Whisk sour cream and flour in a bowl until smooth; gradually whisk into borscht until thickened. Stir dill and vinegar into soup and season with salt and black pepper.
• Divide cubed sausage and chopped eggs into bowls; ladle borscht over sausage and egg.