Polish White Borscht Bialy Barszcz Recipes

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.

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine the beets, bones, carrots, parsnip, onion, leek, celery, garlic and bay leaves, plus the mushrooms, peppercorns and marjoram, if using. Top with 14 cups water. (There should be enough water to cover all the ingredients.) Bring to a boil over high.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. As it cooks, use a small ladle to periodically skim off and discard any foam, impurities and fat that have risen to the top of the pot.
• Transfer the 3 whole beets to a cutting board to cool. Strain the soup through a colander set over a large bowl. Remove the bones and press the solids to extract all the liquids, then strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean medium saucepan.
• Once they're cool enough to handle, chop the reserved whole beets into small 1/2-inch cubes. Stir the diced beets into the soup and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat soup over medium until warmed, then stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve very hot in small bowls or even large teacups, which you can pick up and drink. If desired, serve with a spoonful of sour cream. Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.