Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Welcome! How bout a nice bowl of Shchi?

First of all, you are probably wondering how to say this word before you make it, right? From how the Russians pronounce it, it's just like "She" Now that we've solved that problem you are probably wondering what it is. It's a dill cabbage soup that is a bit of a variant from the traditional chicken soup, if you ask me. That last bowl I made looked like this:





This may be a great recipe if you have leftover turkey still too, but meat is not necessary for this soup.

What you'll need:
half a head of cabbage chopped or shredded
1 fat or 2 skinny carrots peeled and sliced
1 large chopped onion
(optional) couple crushed cloves of garlic
lots of chicken broth (at least 6-7 cups)
1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
heaping tsp of dill
heaping tsp of parsley
oil for frying
salt & pepper to taste

**optional bits**
handful of sliced radishes
cup or two of chicken/turkey
chopped tomatoes
1 0r 2 pealed and chopped potatoes
Any other veggies you feel like adding

So if this is like your first time making soup, don't try this. Only experienced cooks should use my recipes because it's hard to transcribe something I don't follow exactly, okay?

1. Fry the cabbage, onion and carrot (& garlic) until it's like stir fry with loose cabbage and onions.

2. Add basically everything else and cook until the potatoes and/or carrots are soft. Add extra broth if it looks more like a stew than a soup.

3. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top. This makes it super creamy if you don't mind the extra calories! It's great with bread, of course. Should serve 6-8.

Hope this keeps you warm this winter!