I was not a fan of beets prior to having my first bowl of borscht. But that soup changed everything and now it's one of my favorites.

A brief history - Borscht (also borsht, barszcz or borshch) is a soup of Ukrainian origins that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries. In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient giving it a deep reddish-purple color. It made its way into North American cuisine and English vernacular by way of Slavic and Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. So as you can imagine, it has many variations and I've found it fun to explore that a bit by collecting some recipes that have regional and/or cultural differences.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Borshch2.jpg/300px-Borshch2.jpg

I'll only post a few of my favorite recipes here as I'd really like to learn about other people's favorites. But if there seems to be interest, I may post more. I'll start with a recipe from one of the most well known restaurants in that cultural melting pot, New York City, known as The Russian Tearoom. I think this recipe must have changed somewhat relative to who the main chef was at the time, but I can't imagine that it suffered from this variation. And although this is a 'gourmet' restaurant, there really is nothing more basic or humble in origins than this country soup, much like our own chicken noodle or vegetable soup.

I think what really separates the good soups from the mediocre is as much about the quality and freshness of the ingredients as it is the formula.

Borscht

Petrous Moldovan, chef de cuisine from the Russian Tea Room

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1/4 pound onions, peeled and chopped

1/4 pound carrots chopped

1/4 pound celery chopped

1/4 cup potatoes

3 1/2 cups beef stock

1 pound roasted beets, peeled 1/2 julienned 1/2 diced, reserving liquid

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Garnish: light sour cream (optional) and dill sprigs

In a large heavy saucepan over moderate heat, add the oil, cabbage, onions, carrots, celery and cook until translucent. Stir in the broth, the reserved beet liquid, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes then add the beets and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped dill. Ladle into bowls, spoon a dollop of light sour cream onto each serving and garnish with the dill sprigs.

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My own variations to this recipe involve adding a rutabaga or turnips and a whole garlic bulb and roasting them along with the beets, the onions and the carrots prior to making the soup. Then while it cooks I'll usually add a small slab of smoked pork or bacon to the soup for flavor. Ocassionally I'll add fennel seeds and/or I'll chop up the green tops of a fresh fennel bulb (like celery) and toss it in if I have it on hand.

And I'll mix some fresh chopped dill into the sour cream and apply a dollop on top of the finished soup.

My advice is to keep it simple at first and then once you become familiar with its flavors make any amendments according to your own tastes.

This can be a meal unto itself, but really benefits from being served with a dark bread or a loaf of dill bread.

Here's one recipe for dill bread that I like:

Dill Bread

1 pkg. dry yeast or 1 cake

1/4 C warm water

1 C cottage cheese, heated to lukewarm

2 TBS sugar

1 T minced onion

1 T butter

2 tsp. dill seed

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. soda

1 unbeaten egg

2-2-1/2 C flour

Soften yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients in bowl, adding flour last. Beat well after each addition of flour. Cover. Let rise in warm place (85-90 degrees) until light and approx. doubled in size (50 - 60 minutes).

Stir down dough. Turn into well greased 8 " round (1 1/2 - 2 quart) casserole. Let rise in warm place 30 - 40 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes until golden brown. Brush with butter and sprinkle with salt.

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And if you learn best by watching others cook, here is just one YouTube site that has a variety of videos listed:

Here is a link that might be useful: YouTube Page on Cooking Borscht