A Winter Supper--Polish Borscht

Borscht is one of Rick's favorite soups. Serve this with some pierogi which can be found in the freezer section of the supermarket and you will have a wonderful meal.

This recipe first appeared in Death of a Foster Child. The borscht was paired with Mica Cellar's Meritage.

Ingredients

2 leeks

2 carrots

2 stalks of celery

8 beets (medium sized)

8 cups of water

1 bay leaf

2 cups rough chopped parsley or one bunch

2 cups rough chopped dill or one bunch

2 teaspoons salt

lemon juice or vinegar to taste

Clean the leeks, carrots and celery and chop into large chunks. Wash the beets and chop off both the ends. Do not peel. Add all of the ingredients, except the lemon juice, to a very large pot, and bring to a boil.

 Simmer for 1 hour. Remove the beets and set aside. Peel the beets when they have cooled down. 

Strain out the veggies, reserving the broth. Either chop the beets into small bite size pieces or julienne them.

 Put the beets and broth back in the pot. Heat until nice and hot. Add lemon juice or vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8

Borscht, Pierogies, Sour Cream and Meritage

A Romantic Polish Dinner

“Interesting," Elaine said as Rick poured the vodka over the chicken and struck a match. "Until I met you, I never thought of using 'Polish food' and 'romantic' in the same sentence.”   From  Death In the Science Classroom 

Polish Chicken Flambé 

Serves 4

4 chicken quarters

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons strong Polish vodka or other vodka

4 stale dinner rolls

1/2 cup milk

1/ 4 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon finely chopped almonds

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/ 4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a medium bowl, soak rolls in milk add butter or margarine, eggs, 1 tablespoon of salt, dry bread crumbs, walnuts, almonds, nutmeg, and parsley.  Use  a food processor to combine ingredients.  

Grease a baking pan, place the stuffing inside and cover with foil.

Rub chicken with 1tablespoon salt.   Preheat oven to 375F. 

Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove cover; bake 30 minutes more or until juices run clear. Place chicken quarters, skin -side up, on a platter. Pour vodka over chicken. Using a long match, carefully ignite vodka. Serve immediately.

This dish is perfect with a bottle of Pinot Noir from Big Basin Vineyards.