OLGA JOHNSON'S BORSCH SOUP







Ingredients:



2-3 lbs of beef on the bone or half a chicken
2 medium bay leaves
5 large potatoes
1 large bowl of finely cut green cabbage
½ large onion, red or yellow
1 large or 2 medium carrots
1 medium-size tomato
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 medium-sized beet
1 tsp of olive or vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Making it:

(1) Put meat into a large pot, cover with cold water, and heat on high. (2) When water starts to boil, take off foam on top and reduce heat to low, making sure the water keeps simmering. (3) Add bay leaves. (4) Chop cabbage and add to pot in 40-60 minutes. (5) Cut potatoes and add to pot.

(6) Finely chop half onion and shred carrots. (7) Add oil to frying pan and heat oil on low. (8) When oil is heated, add onion and sauté until translucent. (9) Add shredded carrots, stirring until soft. (10) If preferred, butter may be added. (11) Add finely chopped tomato and can of tomato sauce. (12) Add shredded beet to pan and sauté for five more minutes. (13) Pour contents of frying pan into pot and keep cooking for 15-20 minutes, adding salt and pepper in last five minutes.

Olga Johnson lives in Flagstaff and is a native of Saratov in southern Russia. Her grandfather was one of the heroic band of soldiers who defended and never surrendered Saint Petersburg during WWII.

AN URBAN VERSION OF
DIANE SCANTLEBURY’S BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SWEET ONION, AND SAGE SOUP


4 14 oz cans Puréed Organic Butternut Squash
1 large sweet onion
2 tbsp sage
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1 knob butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp garlic powder
1 shake red chili flakes (about six or seven flakes)
4 cups of chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice onion in thin slices. Sauté onion along with sage in olive oil until onion is translucent. Combine onion and sage along with a cup of broth in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Place processed onion, sage, and broth in a large sauce pan along with puréed butternut squash, butter, turbinado sugar, garlic powder, chili flakes, and remaining 3 cups chicken broth.
Heat gently at a low medium, stirring occasionally for thirty minutes. Stir in evaporated milk for five minutes, and then stir in the vanilla. Let sit for a few minutes and then serve. May be refrigerated and even frozen.

A little more sage can be used as well as vanilla, depending upon taste.

A dash of freshly grated nutmeg adds a nice touch.

Diane Scantlebury, the original author of this adapted recipe, is a hydroponic and truck farmer at her Tickaboo Ranch on the Verde River near Camp Verde, Arizona. Well-educated, literate, culturally aware, she's politically astute and a great cook and farmer.

Gretchen and I ate the original version of this soup for the first time at a lunch in her kitchen. It was so good that we raced right home to make it for ourselves. The only hazard is cutting the butternut squash which must be done carefully lest the cook add his or her finger to the soup.