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Russian Borscht
by Melanie Foster
serves: 12
  Morsels of beef, beets, cabbage and tomatoes in a healthy broth. Add sour cream if you wish.
Ingredients:
  3 Tbsp   olive oil
  6 cloves   garlic
  2 lbs   beef stew meat, (chuck, cut up)
  1   onion
  1 1/2 lbs   green cabbage, chopped
  28 oz   can whole tomatoes
  3 lbs   beets, peeled, diced
  3 qts   beef stock
  1/4 cup   red wine vinegar
  1/2   lemon, juiced
  2   bay leaves
  1 tsp   salt
  1 tsp   pepper
  1 qt   sour cream
  1 bunch   dill, chopped, for garnish
Directions:
  Heat oil over med-high heat in a large stockpot or dutch oven. Add garlic and meat and cook until browned. Add onion, cook until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients except the sour cream and dill. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 2 hours, stirring occasionally. My tip: at this point, let cool and refrigerate, covered, overnight. Skim off the fat layer that will rise to the top, and reheat over medium until hot. Add sour cream and dill to the pot or to individual servings. You may want to scale this recipe to onlu make half. It barely fit into my largest dutch oven, and makes a lot. Freezes well as long as you don't add the sour cream.