On a hot summer day, cold borscht comes in handy. There are many options for its preparation. Here are just a few of them.
Option 1.
To prepare two servings of borsch on a cold beetroot broth, we will need: carrots and beets one at a time, one fresh cucumber, one boiled egg, several feathers of green onions, a little sugar, salt, vinegar or citric acid, greens, sour cream for dressing.
Boiled beets are boiled in a liter of water. So that it does not lose color, we acidify the water with vinegar or citric acid. Filter the broth, slightly sweeten and cool. Boil carrots and eggs. Beets, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, eggs are cut and laid out on plates, pour beetroot broth.
In addition to the wonderful taste, ease of preparation, cold borscht is also good because the ingredients can be prepared (boiled) in advance and stored in the refrigerator. It is better to cook beetroot the day before, so that it, when served, is really cold.
Option 2
This cold borsch is cooked in meat broth, which is cooked from 300 grams of lean beef. All other ingredients are the same as in Option 1, we add only boiled meat cut into strips. Filter the broth, cool, connect with beetroot broth.
In the middle of summer, when cold borsch is usually cooked on hot days, in central Russia, the beet root is still small, but the tops are already juicy. In addition, gardeners thin out beetroots. From the tops with small (1.5 - 2 cm in diameter) root vegetables, beetroot or botvini is prepared in another version of the summer cold soup.
Option 3
We need: young beets with tops (at least 300 grams), 2 medium potatoes, 2-3 fresh cucumbers, a bunch of green onions, a bunch of dill, two eggs, a little vinegar or citric acid, salt, sugar, sour cream. This is the main set of products without which cold borscht cannot take place.
My root crops (no need to peel) and cook in acidified water. Young beets are cooked quickly, no more than fifteen minutes. Two to three minutes before being ready, lower the chopped tops into the broth. It should, as they say, only "weld", become soft. Filter the broth and cool. We cook jacket potatoes and hard-boiled eggs.
Cucumbers, onions, dill, beets, peeled and chilled potatoes, cut, combine with tops, salt. We lay out on plates and pour cold broth. Cut the eggs in half and put half in each plate, season with sour cream. For a piquancy of taste, we recommend adding fresh radish (cut into circles) or a little horseradish (grate). One of the options for beetroot involves the addition of meat: thinly, cut into strips boiled sausage, or ham, or boiled pork, or boiled beef. Actually, all low-fat meat products are suitable, you can make assorted ones and add them to borsch.
Option 4
Cooking beets takes the most time in cooking cold borsch. If it is "old", then at least one and a half hours, then the broth needs to be cooled, it also takes a lot of time. How to cook cold borscht fast?
To do this, you can use beet kvass. This drink was once very popular, standing in the cellar of every housewife. They drank it as a refreshing vitamin drink, used as a dressing for borsch.
Of course, it will take time to cook and brew kvass, but you will save it when cooking cold borsch, and it’s nice to just drink kvass on a hot day.
So, take one kilogram of raw beets. Wash, clean, cut into slices, fill with three liters of cold boiled water, cover with gauze or canvas, leave in a warm place for a week. Then put in the refrigerator for another two to three days. Beetroot infusion acquires a beautiful rich color and a thick "syrupy" consistency. We filter the finished kvass, tightly close it and store it in the refrigerator, or rather, freeze it. Modern freezers allow you to store kvass in frozen form for a very long time. And you always have a ready-made dressing for borsch - cold or hot.