Too Hot to Cook

I went to graduate school (round one) at New England Conservatory in Boston. It was a great experience for a naive Minnesotan who was really from the sticks and I learned as much outside of school as I did in it. One of my growing edges in those years was the roomate of my second year, a first gen Ukrainian immigrant violinist, Natalie. I knew no one when I first got to Boston and lived alone my first year. Nat was also a Minnesota expat, but her upbringing was very different from my Prairie Home Companion white bread one and she introduced me to a lot of very new experiences.

We lived in Brookline, a first ring suburb of Boston and a short T ride to school. I don't know what it is like these days, but back in the late 1970's it was an upper crust 'burb with a heavily Jewish population, recently augmented by a lot of Russian Jewish emigrees who had recently been allowed to leave the then-Soviet Union. Nat's upbringing was Eastern Orthodox, but the ethnic Ukrainian community in the Twin Cities hung together over ethnicity more than religion and she knew a lot of Jews and knew Jewish food. Our neighborhood, Coolidge Corner in Brookline, had lots of kosher delis/restaurants and we took to hanging out in some of them when we could scrape together enough coin between the two of us for a meal out of the house. When we'd both had a particularly tough day, we went out for beet borscht, a food to which she introduced me. As you know, I love soups, and this one, with its dollop of sour cream, is particularly satisfying and easy to make.

COLD BORSCHT (BEET SOUP)

2 bunches fresh beets
9 c. cold water
6 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Juice of 2 med. lemons
4 egg yolks
Sour cream

Wash, trim and peel the beets. Shred them into a saucepan and add the water. Bring to a boil, skim off foam that will form, and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes or until the beets are very tender. Strain the liquid and reserve the shredded beets or puree the beets in your processor or blender, whichever you prefer.

Stir the sugar, lemon juice and salt into the liquid. Add the beets. Cool slightly. Beat the egg yolks well and pour 2 cups of the partially cooled beet soup gradually into the yolks, stirring constantly. This is to prevent eggs from curdling. Add remaining soup and blend. Adjust seasonings. Chill. When ready to serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream. Serves 8-10.

This is probably Russia's best known soup. There are as many variations of this beet soup (hot, cold, with or without meat, etc.) as there are cooks. This recipe is perfect for a summer brunch, luncheon or dinner.

The weather here is classic July in DC and it is too bloody hot to turn on the stove. Cold soups are a perfect antidote for the lousy weather. The air outside is even too rotten to breath, so stay indoors and make some cold soup.