Easter Barszcz Food

WHITE BORSCHT - POLISH EASTER SOUP - BIALY BARSZCZ

Steps:

• 1. Place pre-cooked ham and kielbasa in a roaster. Add 2 quarts of water, cover and roast for 2 hours at 350 degrees. Reserve the pan juices as this will be the base for your soup broth. Refrigerate and then remove the fat from top afterwards. NOw, add the juices to a large pot and your addtl water to make 8 quarts. *If using an uncooked ham, do not add kielbasa util 1 hour before ham is done cooking.
• 2. Add your peppercorns, garlic and bring to a simmer. In a medium bowl add your 1 cup of water and 1/2 flour, whisk till smooth and then add to your broth.
• 3. Now, add your vineager to the level of taste your desire. Add more if you like it to be a really tart soup. (I loved it with the extra vinegar.) Simmer for awhile till the soup thickens and flavors meld. Probably about 1 hr or a little longer.
• 4. Slice up Kielbasa 1/4 inch thick, cube ham and rye bread into bite sized pieces and the farmers cheese too. Coarsely chop your eggs. (The farmers cheese Chef Tad brought was extremely soft and so yummy too. It was unlike any farmers cheese I have had before. I will ask him this coming Sunday at our next class where he got it.)
• 5. Combine all the chopped ingredients into a large bowl, so that it can be scooped out and placed in serving dishes.
• 6. Now ladle your very hot broth over the top and add your desired amount of horseradish to your own bowl.
• 7. Now, you are ready to eat a most delicious bowl of authentic polish soup. I just love the tartness in the broth and our chef that taught us how to make this soup brought homemade polish smoked kielbasa. It packed so much flavor and was so delicious added into this soup.

WHITE BORSCHT (BARSZCZ BIAłY - POLISH EASTER SOUP)

Steps:

• Cook the white sausage: Bring the broth to a boil, when hot add the raw white sausages and simmer over very low heat for 15-20 minutes. The broth should not cook rapidly, it should just gently simmer.
• Chop the smoked bacon into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes, press the garlic through a garlic press. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes.
• When the sausage is cooked, take it out of the water and cut into slices.
• Add potatoes to the broth and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan. When hot, add the sausage slices and bacon. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium-high heat, until they are browned on all sides. Add the garlic and marjoram and cook for 30 seconds.
• Add some hot broth to the pan then scrape with a spatula all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the content of the pan to the pot with broth.
• Add the sour wheat starter - stir the flour with the liquid and add it to the soup. Make sure to add the starter gradually - trying the soup while you add it, to make sure it's not too sour for you.
• Add the heavy cream and horseradish. Warm up the soup until very warm (I'm trying not to boil it only to preserve the health benefits of the wheat starter).
• Season the soup with salt and pepper. Serve with hard-boiled eggs.
• Enjoy!

EASTER BARSZCZ

Steps:

• Take about 1 cup rye flour and place it in a 1-quart jar. Fill it with room-temperature filtered (non-chlorinated) water and leave it, lid slightly askew, for three days to a week. During this time, skim the crust off the top. (If you want to hurry the fermentation process, add a pinch of yeast and it should be ready in a day or two.) When the rye mixture is ready, strain it. If it's too thick, add a little water to it. It shouldn't be thicker than heavy cream.
• Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil. Ideally, use water from the Easter ham you boiled or some kielbasa you cooked, but plain water can do in a pinch. Pour the rye mixture in, whisking the whole time (or you'll get a big noodle in there) and bring it back up to a boil. Reduce the heat so it's no longer at a boil.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together one egg, 1 to 2 tablespoons salt and 1/4 cup whole milk or cream.
• Pour the egg mixture into the pot of water, making sure not to scramble the eggs (I'd probably temper the eggs by adding a bit of the hot liquid into them before adding them back into the pot of hot water, but who am I to mess with Andy's father's proven cooking methods?)
• Bring the mixture to a boil. As soon as it hits a boil, turn it off.
• In individual soup bowls, place a lot of fresh grated horseradish root (none of the jarred stuff) and finely diced kielbasa, ham, firm Andrulis Farmers cheese, bacon that's been boiled and smoked at the deli (no need to fry it) and hard boiled egg (preferably eggs you've had blessed-wait, actually, have all of this stuff blessed by a priest, for good measure). Pour soup on top.

POLISH WHITE BORSCHT (BIALY BARSZCZ)

Steps:

• Bring keilbassa and water to a boil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 25 minutes. Remove keilbassa to a plate and set aside. Leave the broth in the dutch oven.
• In a medium, non-stick skillet, saute garlic and onion with a tsp of butter until soft, 5 min.
• Add onion mixture to kielbassa broth. Add diced potatoes, bay, salt, and pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.
• In a small bowl, whisk flour and sour cream together until smooth. Add ½ c of the soup broth to the sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth and thin. Pour mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 10 min.
• Cut the kielbasas into 1/2 inch slices, chop the hard boiled eggs. Add both to the soup. Taste the soup and adjust the salt an pepper as desired. Cook 1-2 minutes to heat through.

POLISH WHITE BORSCHT (BIALY BARSZCZ)

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.