Borsch

I've always wanted to try my hand at borsch using a coleslaw mix. So here's the ingredient list

1 lge bag coleslaw mix

2 bags baby carrots(only because I had two in the fridge) otherwise 1 lrg is good to go

1 bag baby potatoes (again because that's what I had)

1 green pepper

garlic

onion

green onions

2 jars home canned tomatoes

celery (inside heart plus two stalks

butter (1 lb)
cream

salt and pepper

celery salt

Pick out most of the purple cabbage out of the bagged mix.

so that it looks like this.

pulverize 1 bag of carrots

shredd the other bag of carrots. Dice the onion, celery, green pepper and about 10/12 small potatoes. (I just like the taste of baby potatoes over any of the larger ones, so that's what I have on hand all the time. They are more work for dicing and mashing, but the taste is worth it, i think anyway).

strain the pulverized carrots into about 1 cup of carrot juice and the rest mulch

Take out the "big pot" and add about 12 cups water. Add 1/2 the coleslaw mix and the carrot juice to the pot and bring to a nice slow rolling boil. Add the diced potatoes. Then reduce to a simmer.

Bring about 20 baby potatoes to a boil for mashing.

In a seperate pot empty the two jars of tomatoes and bring to a boil and cook until the tomatoes are mush

Saute the onion, celery and garlic. Add the carrot mulch.

Add the cooked tomatoes in batches to this veggie mixture,

When this is finished add to the big pot, being careful that the pan is facing away from you, as this is very hot and might splatter at you.

Fry the cabbage in batches and add to the big pot as cooked

Add half the container of cream and about 1/3 of the pound of butter, salt, pepper and mash the potatoes up

Add this mixture to the large pot, but temper it first so as not to curdle the cream.

Add the diced green pepper, green onions and lots of dill. I forgot completely about the BEET. So I had a can of beets in the pantry and added the juice only (the canned beets tend to look awful in the finished product - too pale, so I didn't use them, just the juice) I can't believe I forgot the beets, geez. Add lots of salt and pepper. I also add celery salt.

Bring this up to a simmer again. DO NOT BOIL.

Yummy. I was amazed at the result. I will be doing this again. The worst part of making borsh is that chopping of the cabbage. This stuff eliminates that process. I added a hand full of shredded cheese to the bottom of the bowl and a splash of hot sauce. UMMmmmm

The result for the fridge.

the cleanup