A Taste of Home |
Kurt Chircop
Systems Support Officer
Process, Projects, Reports
Kurt Chircop
Miso Borscht with Orange and Lemon Gremolata
Prep.
: 1 hr | Serves: 6
For those of you asking what’s a “Borscht” it is a sour soup
popular in several Eastern European cuisines, such as Romanian and
Russian. The dish has a very distinctive colour, red, derived from one
of its main ingredients, being the beetroot. Traditionally, borscht was
made with beetroot and beef, but one can choose to replace the beef
with miso (being a traditional Japanese seasoning produced through the
fermentation of soya beans). However this is optional and one can
opt to either use beef, miso, or none of them. I was never a fan of
beetroots but after trying out this soup, I literally fell in love.
Instructions
1. First start preparing the ingredients so you
will not be rushing through the recipe and
risk forgetting a step or an ingredient.
2. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and
cover in boiling water to rehydrate, for
around 20 minutes. When they are plump
and the water turns dark, remove the
mushrooms and put the liquid on the side.
3. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over
a medium heat, add the chestnut
mushrooms and onion, and sauté until
they soften.
4. Add the beetroots, carrots, leek,
garlic, and 2 litres of the water used for the
porcini
mushrooms
(To
avoid
adding the gritty residue formed while
themushrooms were soaking, filter the
water using a strainer).
5. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and
simmer for a further five minutes. Stir in
the cabbage, potatoes, and rehydrated
mushrooms.
6. Add the miso paste and tomato puree and
return to a boil.
7. Lower the heat and simmer until all
vegetables are cooked to your liking.
8. Remove the borscht from the heat. Stir in
the dill, parsley, honey, chilli flakes, and
vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
9. To make the gremolata simply mix the
handful of parsley together with the zest
in a bowl.
10. Serve with some sour cream and sprinkle
of gremolata.
Kurt’s
Secret tip
30 / Company Newsletter / A Taste of Home - Miso Borscht with orange and lemon Gremolata
INGREDIENTS
30gr dried Porcini Mushrooms 300grChestnut mushrooms,sliced
2 table spoons Olive Oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1Kg Beetroots, peeled and chopped 2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small white cabbage, cored and shredded
500g baby potatoes, chopped 1 table spoon brown miso paste
3 table spoons tomato puree 1 bunch dill, finely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
125ml cider vinegar
Sea Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped Sour cream