Borscht! Two gallons.
Jan. 29th, 2012 03:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gementI say that I don't cook. People who cook tell me I cook. The defining feature seems to be that I don't like to spend any time chopping, stirring, washing dishes, or otherwise minding food, so I will "cook" something with more than 3 ingredients and no stirring maaaaaybe once a month.
But when I set out to cook, say, borscht, I look up a dozen recipes online, squint, take the average, and then decide which direction I would like to optimize. I'm told this is called "creating a recipe." So.
A triple recipe of Vegan Borscht, which comes within an inch of filling my 2 gallon pot so I can live on it for weeks:
3 quarts water
3 oz dried Porcini mushrooms
1 head garlic
2 baked potatoes
3 Tb olive oil
Throw the mushrooms and garlic into 3 quarts of boiling water, boil covered for 20 min. Meanwhile, bake potatoes in the microwave. Scoop out all the boiled mushrooms and garlic. Throw them in a food processor with the potatoes and pulverize the whole mess. Throw it back into the broth water with some olive oil. This is the soup stock. (Traditional borscht uses beef stock.)
3 lbs beets (about 6)
4 onions
1 head cabbage
2 carrots
Shred, sliver, or dice up the beets, onions, cabbage, and carrots. (I went wild with the food processor.) Throw them all in. Boil forever.
Salt, pepper, a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to anchor the flavors.
I haven't added any other spices. The vegetables are the spices. I'm not actually vegan, so I'm happily slathering mine with sour cream when it's done.
Hm. I overbought a bit. I still have ... enough for another batch of everything but the mushrooms and onions. By the way, the mushrooms cost as much as the rest of the soup put together. If you just shrug and use vegetable bouillon instead, I won't fault you.
But when I set out to cook, say, borscht, I look up a dozen recipes online, squint, take the average, and then decide which direction I would like to optimize. I'm told this is called "creating a recipe." So.
A triple recipe of Vegan Borscht, which comes within an inch of filling my 2 gallon pot so I can live on it for weeks:
3 quarts water
3 oz dried Porcini mushrooms
1 head garlic
2 baked potatoes
3 Tb olive oil
Throw the mushrooms and garlic into 3 quarts of boiling water, boil covered for 20 min. Meanwhile, bake potatoes in the microwave. Scoop out all the boiled mushrooms and garlic. Throw them in a food processor with the potatoes and pulverize the whole mess. Throw it back into the broth water with some olive oil. This is the soup stock. (Traditional borscht uses beef stock.)
3 lbs beets (about 6)
4 onions
1 head cabbage
2 carrots
Shred, sliver, or dice up the beets, onions, cabbage, and carrots. (I went wild with the food processor.) Throw them all in. Boil forever.
Salt, pepper, a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to anchor the flavors.
I haven't added any other spices. The vegetables are the spices. I'm not actually vegan, so I'm happily slathering mine with sour cream when it's done.
Hm. I overbought a bit. I still have ... enough for another batch of everything but the mushrooms and onions. By the way, the mushrooms cost as much as the rest of the soup put together. If you just shrug and use vegetable bouillon instead, I won't fault you.
