Autumn celebrations.
Some things in life remain a mystery - such as why the beetroot on the allotment were a dismal failure this year!
Poor germination and diddly squat growth meant that these two beetroot were virtually the sum total of the harvest.
But augmented by some extra beetroot and red cabbage from the shop, I was able to make Borscht, one of my favourite autumnal soups .
A quick 'google' reveals numerous recipes for this well known soup.... and opens a Pandora's box as regards its origin and list of ingredients;
is it Polish or Russian, should it include meat of some sort or be purely vegetable based?
I will leave you to make your own mind up!
In the end, shunning any meat content, my recipe included equal amounts of grated raw beetroot and red cabbage (about 500g each, reserve a little of the beetroot for decoration later) with one grated red onion and one carrot , all lightly sauted in butter before being simmered in a well flavoured vegetable stock until tender. Add a small amount of tomato puree and red wine vinegar to taste, season with salt and pepper then blend.
I like to serve this with a spoonful of yoghurt mixed with a small amount of creamed horseradish and topped with a little of the reserved beetroot for decoration.
Earlier in the week, Tiny Girlie, her mama and I were on a mission to find a pumpkin patch, in order to celebrate this most autumnal of vegetables.
A drive across the wide open fields of the Fens proved fruitless, until we stumbled upon a PYO farm just a few miles from here.
Here, we found pumpkins, squash and gourds of every description, plus a lovely farm shop ...and tea and home made cake!
It took a while to decide upon the perfect pumpkin ...
But having selected one, we also picked sweetcorn for our tea and said hello to the friendly scarecrow.
We are going to carve smiley faces on the larger pumpkins.
Though I'm not a fan of Halloween, decorating the house with these lovely vegetables seems a fitting way to celebrate the beauty and bounty of Autumn.
annjenny
x
The soup looks delicious, such a shame about your beetroot or lack of it. We are indeed enjoying the beauty in the shifts of the changing season.
ReplyDeleteI expect you are even more in touch with the seasons in your new home.
DeleteI managed to grow just enough beetroot for one meal of beetroot burgers! I have never put red cabbage in a borscht recipe before!
ReplyDeleteBeetroot burgers sound good :)
DeleteLikewise with the beetroot this year. So disappointing as last year's crop was magnificent. We use a Crank's recipe for our soup, like Gina's, no red cabbage either. Sits going to have to be bout beets this year because we love our borscht.
ReplyDeleteHow strange! Another beetroot fail. What is it about beetroot this year?!
DeleteNeed to go buy supplies as I love beetroot soup (thanks for the reminder!). I always use a simple Rose Elliot recipe from one of her earliest books which has the addition of lemon and mint. Gorgeous picture of your littlest girlie in the pumpkin patch.
ReplyDelete