Mennonite Borsht

Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 -2 lb beef soup bone, with meat on it
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• dried dill, to taste
• dried parsley, to taste
• 8 peppercorns
• 2 -3 carrots, peeled and cut up
• 1 small cabbage, chopped
• 2 -4 potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes
• salt and pepper
• 2 -3 cups tomato juice or 1 can tomato soup
• sour cream or cream (optional)

Recipe

• 1 place beef bone in a large soup pot and cover with water.
• 2 simmer for 1-3 hours.
• 3 cut the meat off the bone and discard bone.
• 4 if time permits, let the broth sit in the fridge overnight so that fat hardens.
• 5 remove hardened fat and discard.
• 6 add onions, bay leaf, dillweed, parsley, peppercorns (place peppercorns in a spice ball, or else you'll have to fish them out at the end), carrots and cabbage.
• 7 bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
• 8 add potatoes, salt and pepper.
• 9 simmer until all vegetables are tender.
• 10 if broth is not flavourful enough, add some beef bouillon.
• 11 stir in tomato juice or soup.
• 12 continue cooking until soup is hot.
• 13 serve in soup bowls.
• 14 if desired, add some sour cream or cream to your bowl.