Borscht Soup Recipe

---

 Ingredients:     

• 1 cup of diced celery
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup of chopped cabbage
• 2 cloves of garlic grated or pressed
• 1 tbsp of butter for sautéing onions and celery
• 8 cups water beef broth or chicken broth ( Add a couple Beef Bones then pull when done and use a 4 cups water 3 cups chicken stock 1 cup beef stock)
• 1 can diced tomatoes home or commercially canned
• 2 or 3 medium to large sized peeled beets half grated and half diced
• 1 or 2 medium carrots grated
• 1 medium potato diced
• 1/2 cup of fresh dill weed ( Use less if you want, They love dill in Ukraine and it can overpower a dish for our taste but its a must ingredient in true Borscht so maybe knock it down to 1/3 cup)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional ingredients: Bay leaf green beans, peas, beet greens and shredded pork or pork sausage or a whole pork rib which I loved along with a little touch of shredded, The sausage was also very good added. Also had it with a Beef Short rib in the bowl instead of Pork and was equally as good. 

Instructions: 

1. Sauté the onions, celery and cabbage with the butter until soft and translucent.
2. Add the can of diced tomatoes and the garlic, as well as all of the water or broth.
3. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to medium heat and let simmer.
4. Add the beets, carrots and potato to the broth. If you would like to add any other optional vegetables do it now and let simmer, then after a few minutes add the Pork ribs that have been BBQ'd or Sausage or both but don't over crowd the pot if using both go easy on the sausage because this is Borscht not Jambalaya. You can always cook the Pork Ribs fully on the BBQ and add them at the end right into the bowl or do a Vegetarian version and no meat or broth at all, Its up to you
5. Allow soup to simmer on medium until diced beets and potatoes are soft (test them with a fork or by biting into them!), about 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat.
6. Stir in chopped fresh dill weed and salt and black pepper.
7. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream garnish with a touch of dill on top and a slice of bread and butter (rye bread is best!) They have this amazing Black Rye bread in Kyiv that was soooo good!