2 cups peeled, shredded beets
1 cup peeled shredded carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon butter
2 cups beef stock or consomme
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup thick sour cream
Cook beets, carrots, and onion in boiling salted water (enough to cover) for 20 minutes. Add butter, stock, and cabbage. Cook 15 minutes longer. Add the lemon juice. Pour soup into bowls. Top with spoonful of sour cream.
TIM'S NOTES: My Grandma and I used to make this for lunch when we made fruitcakes the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She used to add a few chunks of leftover cooked meat (like beef pot roast) if she had some. Sometimes I add small chunks of a tender cut of beef. I brown it in the pot first, then proceed with the vegetables and water as directed. If you have a food processor with a shredder blade it helps immensely. If you like your vegetable soup a little chunkier, you can just dice up the carrot and beets instead of shredding them. I have done this. I always shred the cabbage. I also like to add a little caraway seed, and dill weed (or dill seeds) to this soup. Dill and caraway were native to Germany as well as beets, carrots, and cabbage, This is German Borscht which uses lemon juice and is milder than Russian Borscht which often uses vinegar. This is a good soup to make in the fall and early winter when root vegetables are plentiful. Much of the time, the beet greens are still attatched. Do not throw them out! Cut off the stems and wash. They can be chiffonaded (cut into ribbons) and made into a creative salad (usuallly with a vinegar based dressing) or stir fried in a hot pan for a few seconds and eaten like most other greens (also with a little salt and vinegar, possibly a little sugar if you find the vinegar a little acidic. The solution to that is use a little balsamic vinegar which has a sweeter taste.) I like to enjoy this soup while listening to the Liebeslieder Waltzes by Brahms! Makes me feel Germanic!
As with so many foods, check the salt in the end. You can correct it then, or pass the salt at the table. The saltiness in this recipe can vary depending on how much you salt the cooking water, and the saltiness of your stock or consomme. If your stock doesn't have a lot of flavor, you might want to add some beef bouillon to it. The rule is 1 teaspoon bouillon granules or one bouillon cube to one cup of water. I use Knorr bouillon cubes which is one cube per TWO cups of water. If you intend to do this with regular bouillon cubes (instead of Knorr) start with one and go from there. I have never tried it, but there is a possibility that you could make this meatless by using a vegetable bouillon or broth. Knorr makes a wonderful vegetable bouillon. I can't guarantee the taste of the finished soup made with vegetable bouillon, but it might be worth a shot.
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