Borshchik is a traditional Polish dish, sweet and sour soup based on sauerkraut or beet kvass. More precisely, this is not even a soup, but a rich aromatic broth, served with mushroom "ears" or mashed potatoes, as well as croquettes with meat filling. Borshchik is a universal dish, it is eaten all year round, and before Catholic Christmas, on the evening of December 24, every Polish family cooks borschik. By the way, the Poles pronounce the name of the soup as "barszczyk", and in the Russian translation it is called both a borshchik and a borshchOk. Borshchik is often served in bowls or thick ceramic mugs, mushroom "ears" - small dumplings with mushroom filling - are placed separately on a plate. Another option is to put the ears in a deep plate and pour over the borschik.
It is necessary
- For pickled beets:
- - 1 kilogram of beets;
- - 1 head of garlic;
- - 1 tablespoon of salt;
- - 2 tablespoons of sugar;
- - 3 bay leaves;
- - 10 peas of black pepper;
- - cold boiled water.
- For beet kvass:
- - 1 kilogram of beets;
- - rye bread crust;
- - warm boiled water.
- For borschik:
- - 1 kilogram of fresh beets;
- - 2 pcs. carrots;
- - 2 onions;
- - 1 head of garlic;
- - 20 grams of dried porcini mushrooms;
- - 100 grams of prunes;
- - 2-3 tablespoons of sugar;
- - salt to taste;
- - freshly squeezed lemon juice - to taste and as desired;
- - spices: 2 bay leaves, one teaspoon each of dry marjoram and ground black pepper;
- - 4 liters of water;
- - beet kvass or sauerkraut with liquid - about two glasses.
- For mushroom ears:
- - 2 cups of flour;
- - 2 eggs;
- - 150 ml of warm water;
- - 1/2 teaspoon of salt;
- - 300 grams of champignons;
- - 20 grams of dried porcini mushrooms (it is best to use mushrooms that were cooked in borscht);
- - 2 onions;
- - 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- - salt to taste.
Instructions
Step 1
Sauerkraut - cooking time 10-14 days
Rinse the beets, peel, rinse again, cut into medium-sized slices. Peel and rinse the garlic, cut each clove into 4 pieces. Place the beets and garlic tightly in a dry glass jar, add salt, sugar, pepper and bay leaf. Pour enough cold boiled water into the jar so that it covers the vegetables. Place the jar in a cool place for 10-14 days. During this time, the liquid in the jar should thicken and acquire a sweet and sour taste. Finished pickled beets can be kept in the refrigerator for about three months and used as needed.
Beet kvass - cooking time 3 days
Wash the beets thoroughly with a brush, cut into slices and place tightly in a jar. Pour warm boiled water so that it covers the beets. Put a rye crust on top. Close the jar with paper pierced in several places, put in a warm place for 3 days. Strain the finished kvass, pour into bottles and put in the refrigerator. And you can pour water over the beets again, put a fresh crust and prepare another portion of kvass.
Step 2
Borshchik
Rinse the beets well, wrap each piece in foil and bake in the oven at a temperature of 180-200 degrees for an hour and a half; remove from oven and cool slightly. Peel the beets and grate on a coarse grater.
Soak the mushrooms in cold water for 1 hour, then rinse, put in a large saucepan, add peeled and finely chopped onions and carrots (if desired, you can pre-fry them in vegetable oil), add water and cook the broth for 30 minutes. Then add the prunes and cook for another 30 minutes. Put baked grated beets in the broth, garlic - peeled and chopped in a garlic press, all spices, salt, sugar, lemon juice, add beet kvass or sauerkraut. Bring everything together to a boil and simmer for another 15 minutes, taste and "bring to taste" by adding the required amount of salt and sugar. Strain and then filter the resulting broth - it should not contain any suspension from the ingredients that were cooked in it.
Step 3
Mushroom "ears"
Sift flour into a bowl, add eggs and warm water, in which pre-dissolve salt, knead an elastic dough that sticks well from hands; add a little more flour or water as needed. Let the dough “rest” for half an hour under a damp towel.
For the filling, choose porcini mushrooms from the mass left after straining the borschik, rinse, put them in a food processor or blender, add washed raw mushrooms and peeled and chopped onions, chop everything together (as an option, pass through a meat grinder or simply chop finely). Heat vegetable oil in a pan, put onion-mushroom mixture and fry for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt to taste and stir again.
Roll out the dough very thinly on a floured table, cut out circles with a diameter of about 6-7 cm with a glass, put 1 teaspoon of mushroom filling on each, fold the circles in half, pinch the edges, and then connect the ends to make "ears". Dip the ears into boiling salted water and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes - the ears should float to the surface. Place on a plate with a slotted spoon and serve in one of the above ways. Bon appetit, or in Polish - smacznego!
