We got two deliveries of early beets this summer, Red Ace and Chiogga, aka Candy Stripe. It was so hot for most of July that my agenda for using both of them was, “How can I eat these without having to turn on the oven?” A cold soup seemed appropriate both times.
The first was a gazpacho from Patricia Wells. Steamed beets, peeled and blended up with onion, garlic, mustard, and vinegar. Wells describes the flavor as “liquified pickled beets.”
The result was beautiful, but too intense for a large serving. I only had a half a pound of beets, and therefore only made what she considers a single serving, yet I couldn’t finish it. I should have tried lightening it with a little creme fraiche, or having much smaller servings. I can imagine it working very well in shot glasses as a passed hors d’oeuvre.
So when the second delivery of beets arrived, I decided to make David Tanis’s cold borscht recipe, which I made once several summers ago. Borscht is a funny word, and slightly unappealing sounding to my ears. It was not something I grew up eating, and in fact I was subtly trained to dislike it without even knowing much about it. The result is that I haven’t a clue if this version is in line with any authentic Russian recipes, but I absolutely love it, and I can’t imagine why I haven’t made it since that first time. My suspicion was that C. would like it just as much as I did, and so borscht became the plan for dinner, with the greens blanched and sauteed on the side.
First, peel the beets, and cut them into thin slices. You can use any color beets you like. Red ones will produce a much more vibrantly pink soup, but yellow beets or these candy stripe ones are much less likely to leave beet-blood spatters all over your kitchen.
Put them in a pot with garlic, sliced shallot, a bay leaf, coriander seeds, cloves, a bit of cayenne, sugar, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Cover everything with water and bring to a simmer. Cook it until the beets are tender, 15 minutes or so. Check the seasoning, and then blend everything up–cloves, bay leaf and all.
Strain the soup through a fine sieve, and chill it until it’s refrigerator cold, or until you are too hungry to wait longer. Whisk in some plain yogurt (full fat, ideally), and top with chopped dill and scallions or chives.
It’s sweet, tangy, a little spicy, and utterly delicious. It makes an excellent light summer dinner alongside the greens and some good toasted bread. Glass of wine optional.
The CSA Files 