Grandma's Cabbage Borscht
A truly classic version. Also makes a truly obscene quantity, so consider scaling this down if you're not cooking for an event or an army.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs. Chuck roast
- 1 medium green cabbage, quartered, cored, sliced into 1/2" slices
- 2 medium white or yellow onions, diced
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 vine ripened tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 5 lbs beets (as measured with greens attached), peeled and grated (using a food processor is fine)
- 2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
- 1 tblsp. kosher salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- juice of 3 lemons
- 3 scant quarts water
Method
Rinse roast well and put everything into a 12 quart stock pot and fill to about an inch and a half with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours.
Remove the roast and cut into 1 inch cubes. Return meat to pot. Let simmer at least another half hour.
If you wish to serve the same day, simmer an additional half hour. This soup "matures" well, and is better the second day. (Although it's very good the first day, too!)
If you wish to go with entirely fresh ingredients I think you could substitute 6 or 7 more tomatoes and some celery seed for the canned tomato sauce. You might need to adjust the salt.
Makes an enormous quantity - I have no idea how many servings. Be prepared to freeze it.