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Tomato Borscht

Tomato Borscht

Sofia Larinua-Craxton, the author of this recipe in The Soup Book, promises that you will love the rich colour and fantastic taste of this unsual version of borscht. With cinnamon among its various ingredients, it certainly smelt fantastic while being cooked. The other ingredients are onion, garlic, beetroot, ground toasted cumin seeds (I cheated and used pre-ground), fresh tomatoes, tomato juice, sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable stock (I inadvertently used chicken), soy sauce and seasoning; it's served with soured cream or creme fraiche and more toasted cumin seeds. 

Delicious tomato borscht served with yoghurt and ground cumin.
I made the borscht for lunch and three of us (the older offspring is out touting for work) have just eaten it. It lives up to Sofia's promise. I am hesitant about beetroot, but this is a soup I would definitely make again. The spouse and I agreed it was the spices and the richness of the tomatoes that have made it palatable.

There are five other beetroot recipes in The Soup Book: beetroot and tomato by Sally Clarke, borscht, beetroot and gin by Sophie Grigson, beetroot and apple by Juliet Kindersley, and beetroot soup with goat's cheese by Rebecca Sullivan. My memories of the first two I made are not particularly fond, so today's recipe is winning the beetroot soup race. So far.

Bees About

Today I'm taking a quick look at the websites I'm linked to and putting in links to stories of interest.


And finally here's a recipe for honey dressing for salads from Rose Elliott's book Not Just a Load of Old Lentils (first published in 1972).
Ingredients: 1 TBS clear honey, I TBS cider vinegar, 3 TBS oil, a quarter teasp salt, and black pepper.
Instructions: Thoroughly combine all ingredients.
Variation: Add 1 TBS chopped fresh mint or 1 teasp concentrated mint sauce to the above.


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