what herbs & spices do you add to your beet borscht?

[phoenikia]

I've been adding garlic, black pepper, paprika, bay, cumin & fresh dill to mine lately.

Have seen some recipes online calling for allspice, thyme, marjoram and/or caraway, but I haven't tried adding those spices yet.

Also, what kind of vinegar do you like to use? I've been using wine vinegar or white balsamic lately (even if it isn't authentic, it tastes pretty good!)

What do you like to add to your borscht?

[prima]

what herbs/spices have you been adding to your borscht lately?

I did a super-simple veggie borscht yesterday- just beets, carrots, onions, thyme, vinegar and a little sugar.

When I've had more time, I've made borschts closer to this: http://phoenikia.wordpress.com/2010/0...

[blinknoodle]

I like Rebar's borscht. It uses balsamic, lemon juice and dill... oh, and white beans. :)

[prima]

Has anyone made beet borscht lately? I made a quickie veggie version with freshly picked beets, beet greens, onion, lemon juice, white balsamic and cumin last night. Looking forward to making some more borscht next week.

[millygirl]

I've had beets in my fridge for longer than I care to admit. Care to share your recipe phoenikia?

[millygirl]

Never mind, just found my way through to your blog and saw the recipe. Looks good! If I decide to get ambitious this weekend I will give it a try. The beets will def thank me.

[mamachef]

I've been running with fennel seeds and a bit of snipped frond to garnish, and cider vinegar or garlic-white vinegar, or lemon juice. Brown sugar or turbinado to sweeten the pot. Boiled potatoes, sour cream. Oy.

[phoenikia]

Fennel seeds- what a great idea.

Decided to google fennel & borscht after seeing your reply. This borscht adds fennel bulb to the borscht, and uses honey instead of sugar.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/be...

[mamachef]

That looks so good, phoenikia. And it also made me think: I could use up the Lyle's syrup, interchanging with the honey? My Mr. doesn't like honey (but i do), and #1 son can't have it, but it seems it would serve the exact same purpose.

[phoenikia]

I think the syrup would work fine in that recipe ;-) Let me know how it turns out if you try it!

[Feed Me]

Savory Turkish mint is also very nice in beet borscht, I think.

[phoenikia]

I don't have any savoury Turkish mint, but I'll try the mint that I grow. Does sound like it would be nice.

[mangetoutoc]

I used caraway and thyme in my last batch. The caraway, which I also love in gulyas, makes a nice flavor contrast with garlic and I like the touch of bite the thyme gives vs the mild sweetness of dill as a foil to the beets.

[phoenikia]

Sounds good, mangetoutoc. Will pick up some caraway, and try adding thyme & caraway to the next batch.

[mangetoutoc]

If you have a mortar and pestle, you can grind the caraway seeds in there and mash the garlic in with it. I (heart) less straining.

[phoenikia]

good idea to grind the caraway, and mash the garlic ;-)

Mind you, I'm usually too lazy to strain, anyways. I serve the borscht chunky!

[phoenikia]

I added the caraway, cumin, bay and garlic to my last batch, and it turned out great! Caraway definitely improved the borscht. Thanks for the inspiration!