TGIF! Thank God It is a Borscht Friday! - Borscht Recipe.

Greeetings!

Happy Friday to you All! Well, it is a Borscht Friday in our family. Let me ask you how many of you tried and liked Borscht? ...Oh, I see that not so many as I expected. Let me tell you one thing for sure. If what you tried before tasted like cold beet juice...get ready to learn how to cook yummy, hot and wholesome caleidescope of flavors. Let's give this wonderful chicken vegetable soup another try and...let me know if you tried anything like this before!

What you will need:

1. Whole organic chicken. Washed and dried. ( I prefer organic chicken, because it tastes better)

2. 3 medium size raw beets ( I bought a bundle of organic beets in Whole Foods market. It weighed about 1.28 lbs)

3. 1 small organic cabbage. About 2 lbs.

4. 1 medium yellow onion.

5. 1 package organic mini carrots. About 2.25 ounces.

6. 1 Bundle of organic cilantro

7. Organic sour cream. 1 tub.

You don't have to buy everything organic. It is your choice. However, I just think that organic chicken tastes better than non-organic one.

Step 1: Put the chicken inside Qazan or any other pan. ( For years I cooked with this wonderful Central Asian cast iron dish. Everyhing I cook in it, even Russian Borsht comes out wholesome. I will write more about this pan. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks.) Add peeled and washed beets. Add water so that it covers the chicken and the beets. Boil on medium heat for 1 hour. During boiling turn chicken twice to ensure it cookes through. Make sure that your chicken is completely defrosted before cooking. Make sure to skim your broth!



Step 2: wash and dry the cabage.




















Step 3: Cut the cabbage in half.



















Step 4:Cut each half in thin strips.















Srtep 5: Cut each strip in half.















Step 6: Here is what cut cabbage should look like.













Step 7: Chop onion

















Step 8: Grate carrots













Step 10: Saute onions until golden color.


















Step 10: Add carrots and saute 10 more minutes.













Step 11: Remove cooked chicken and beets from the broth and let them cool down. In the meantime...Cut the chicken in small pieces.













Step 12: Add cabbage to the broth. Cook for 20 minutes on slow heat.












Step 13: Add sauteed onions and carrots. Add cooked and cut pieces of chicken.













Step 14: Grate beets.















Step 15: Add beets to borscht and mix the soup. You will see how borscht is "taking in" the pink color and at the same time the beets are retaining the color.








Step 18: Add cut cilantro or any other greens you may have.














Step 19: Mix. And VOILA! You have a nice pot of Borscht!














This is what it looks like when served.












Add sourcream if you'd like.













Add salt and pepper to taste. My sister brought a nice Rose, which nicely accompanied our Borscht.











Add Roma tomatoes from my sister's garden were delish too!













Kids LOVE this Borscht!















Bon Appetit!