Borscht

Fall has settled into the air...the days have been cool and rainy. The air is crisp and feels great at 6 am while I'm out on an early morning run. Yesterday there was even scattered light patches of frost on the grass. You know what that means? I spent the entire day dicing vegetables for my favorite soups and kneaded bread dough the rest of the day for some homemade soup and bread. My house smelt devine all day today. Simmering vegetables and fresh baked bread is enough to make me float around my house all day wearing a smile. Not even the mountain of laundry is a match for the good mood that fresh soup and bread puts me in.

Borscht

8 cups beef broth*
1 pound slice of meaty bone-in beef (I used a serlion steak)
1 large onion, peeled, roughly chopped
4 large beets, peeled, diced into 1/2" cubes
4 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 large russet potato, peeled, diced into 1/2" cubes
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
3/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

*Use gluten-free broth if you are cooking gluten-free

In your stock pot, add 4 cups beef broth and bring to a boil. Season steak with salt and pepper. Add onion and steak to the beef broth. Cover pot and boil until steak is tender, 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.

When meat is cooked and tender, transfer to your cutting board and dice into desired size...bite size works best. Spoon any fat from broth that has floated to top and return meat to broth.

Add remaining 4 cups of broth, beets, carrots and potatoes. Bring to a boil,then reduce heat, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender...about 30 minutes.

When vegetables are tender, add shredded cabbage and 1/2 cup of the dill. Continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in vinegar.

Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a scoop of sour cream and additional dill.

Enjoy!