Post readers send in their recipes and cook up winter's top food.
talking about soup. In anticipation of winter, we’ve asked members of our community to write in with their favorite warming soup recipes: American-style chili, Hungarian goulash, Ukrainian borshch, vegetable puree and creamy chowder. Now it’s up to you, our dear readers, to try them yourselves at home. You may want to strictly adhere to each recipe the first time you make it, but we encourage you to be creative the second time around. “I believe imagination is very important to cooking,” says Robert Reed, External Affairs Manager at The Willard Group in Kyiv. “I approach it with the same mindset as an artist does a canvas.”
Robert Reed, External Affairs Manager, The Willard Group.
Robert’s Cossack Chili
– 2 pounds (about 1 kg) lean, ground pork/beef
– 8 ounces (about 225 g) smoked bacon, finely chopped
– 3 medium onions, finely chopped
– 1 medium carrot, grated
– 4 stalks of celery, finely chopped
– 1 whole red hot pepper or jalepeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
– 1 large jar of tomatoes in juice
– 1 large jar of sweet red and yellow peppers in tomato sauce (Chumak brand “Lecho”)
– 3 small cans red kidney beans
– 1 tbsp dried oregano
– 2 tbsp cumin
– 1/2 tbsp salt
– 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1. Pour tomato and pepper juices (from jars) into large pot. Add onions, carrots, celery and hot pepper/jalepeno. Cook on low heat. Allow to simmer.
2. Brown meat and bacon in a heavy skillet. Let cool. Finely grind the cooked meat (this will make for a smooth chili). Add to vegetables.
3. Remove skins from tomatoes. Chop tomatoes and peppers. Add to the pot with beans and spices. Increase heat slightly, but do not boil. Let simmer for 1 1/2 hours. If mixture is too thick after cooking, add water until desired consistency.
4. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top of each portion. This recipe goes well with homemade buttered cornbread.
“I have many wonderful soup recipes, but here in Kyiv I’m most noted for my chili. I’ve cooked it twice for British Embassy social events and I’m due to make it again next month.”
– Robert Reed, born in Rochester, New York.
Dominika Ludwig, Foreign Affairs trainee, German Embassy.
Hungarian Goulash
– 1 kg (about 2 pounds) beef, cubed
– 1.5 onions, sliced and halved
– 1 tomato, halved or quartered
– 1 white-yellow pepper, halved
– 1 clove of garlic, chopped
– 10 potatoes, peeled and cubed
– Vegetable oil
– Vegeta brand seasoning
– Paprika powder, salt and pepper
– About 100 g pasta noodles (homemade pasta is best, but store-bought will do, too)
1. Cover the bottom of a large pot with oil. Add the onions and cook on low heat until dark yellow in color. Add paprika powder to taste.
2. Add meat to oil/onion mixture and cook over medium heat, turning with a wooden spoon for about 4 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes. Add Vegeta seasoning.
3. Cover meat and onions with water. Add about 2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of black pepper. Cover, but allow wooden spoon to rest in pot, cracking lid open to allow air inside. Cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
4. Add potatoes, tomato, pepper and garlic. Let simmer for another 15 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Add more spices, if desired.
6. Add noodles (either cooked or uncooked – I prefer to cook them separately). If you use uncooked pasta, let simmer until noodles are done.
7. Serve and garnish as desired.
“This is the first soup that I learned how to make.
I often prepare soups, which is something that my mother taught me to do, but as we enter the winter season, I think this dish is particularly appropriate. It’s very warming and hearty.”
– Dominika Ludwig, born in Budapest, Hungary.
Hanif Younus, Financial Consultant and partner, Pret-A-Cafe lounge/cafe.
Pumpkin Soup
– 120 g carrot, diced
– 120 ml carrot juice
– 1.8 liters water
– 6 g Vegeta brand seasoning
– 120 g dried pears
– 42 g onion, cut into rings
– 30 ml vegetable oil
– 360 ml 3.5% milk
– 60 g pine nuts
– 6 g sweet red pepper, chopped
– 6 g salt
– 24 ml soy sauce
– 690 g pumpkin, cubed
– 60 g green apples, cubed
– 60 g cabbage
– 10 g celery stalks
– onion bread
1. Place oil in pot. Add onion, celery, carrot and cabbage. Fry vegetables in oil for 5 minutes. Add salt.
2. Add 1.8 liters water to the pot and boil for 35 minutes.
3. Fry pumpkin with apples in a separate pan. Add red pepper and Vegeta when almost cooked. Add to the pot and boil for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer ingredients from the pot to a blender. Add milk and soy sauce. After blending, the consistency of the soup should resemble thick sour cream.
5. Add carrot juice.
6. Reheat for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with dried pears and nuts. Serve with onion bread.
Valentyna Kucher, chef at Tsarske Selo.
Green Borshch
– 3 liters water
– 500 g (1 pound) pork on the bone
– 2 yellow onions, chopped
– 2 carrots, cut into sticks
– parsley stems
– 50 g soft pork fat (smalets)
– 100 g sorrel (instead of sorrel, use lemon juice from half a lemon)
– 600-700 g potatoes, peeled and cubed
– 4 eggs, boiled
– Sugar
– Salt and pepper
1. Bring water to a boil. Add meat and cook on low heat for two hours. Fry one onion, one carrot and parsley stems in a pan until brown. Add to broth.
2. Remove meat from broth. Separate from bone and cut into cubes. Boil for 20 minutes. Strain out vegetables and parts of meat that remain in liquid; discard.
3. Add potatoes to liquid and cook on medium heat.
4. While potatoes are cooking, fry remaining onion and carrot in soft pork fat. When potatoes are ready, add vegetables to soup. Boil for another 5 minutes.
5. Add sorrel. If you’re using fresh sorrel, salt it first; but if it’s preserved, cut it in sticks.
6. Boil eggs separately. Separate the yolks from the whites. Mash the egg yolks and add a few spoonfuls of broth to yolks. Add yolk/broth mixture and cubed whites to borshch.
7. Place boiled meat and sour cream in bottom of each bowl before serving. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and serve.
“This isn’t the only way of making green borshch. Some thicken the soup with flour or serve it with boiled egg on a separate plate. But this is how we cook it at Tsarske Selo (Tsar’s Village) – the classic way.”
– Valentyna Kucher, born in Kyiv.
Oksana Goubko, student, International Christian University, Kyiv.
Ukrainian Borshch
– 1 1/2 pounds (750 g) beef on the bone
– 10 to 12 cups (2.5 l) cold water
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
– 2 medium beets, cut in thin strips
– 1 medium carrot, cut in thin strips
– 1 medium potato, diced
– 1/2 cup (120 g) thinly sliced celery
– 1/2 cup diced string beans or cooked white beans
– 2 to 3 cups (350 g) shredded cabbage
– 3/4 cup (180 g) strained tomatoes or tomato juice/paste
– 1/2 clove garlic, crushed, if desired
– chopped dill
– 50 grams salo w/ garlic
– 1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream
1. Cover the meat with cold water and add 1 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil slowly. Skim foam off the top. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
2. Fry beets in oil for 3-5 minutes and add to broth. Pan fry carrot, potato, celery and string beans and add to the soup. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes. When white beans are used, they should be added later in order to retain their white color.
3. Add cabbage and cook until tender. Do not overcook. Stir in the tomatoes or tomato juice and the crushed garlic. If using white beans, add them now.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to a soft boil. Garnish with chopped dill.
5. Add the pork fat to the soup and place in oven for 10 minutes.
6. Just before serving, add a dollop of sour cream to each bowl.
Erica Darby, business English teacher at Business Link.
Morgan Coghill, recruiter, American Councils for Int’l Education.
Roasted Pumpkin and Tomato Soup
– Flesh of medium pumpkin
– 450 g tomatoes, skinned, seeded and sliced
– 1 yellow onion, chopped
– 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
– 4 tbsp white wine
– 2 tbsp water
– 600 ml (1 pint) chicken stock
– 125 ml light cream or sour cream, according to taste
– Oil, salt and pepper
1. Drizzle oil onto a baking dish and layer the pumpkin, tomatoes, onion and garlic in two or three layers. Drizzle more oil on top of vegetables.
2. Pour wine and water over layers. Add salt and pepper.
3. Cover with foil and bake at 190 Celsius (375 Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes, until soft.
4. Cool slightly. Put vegetables through blender with juices from dish and enough stock to cover vegetables.
5. Place the puree in a large pot. Add remaining chicken stock. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in cream (or sour cream). Heat for another 3-4 minutes. If freezing soup, leave cream out until day of serving.
7. Garnish as desired.
Sarah Lowman, Senior Editor, Kyiv Post.
Creamy Crawfish Soup
– 6 tbsp butter
– 6 tbsp flour
– 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chicken broth (I make my own, but instant will do)
– 40 live crawfish
– 4 1/2 cups (1.1 liters) low-fat milk
– 1 1/2 onions, finely chopped
– 1 pinch celery seeds (if you can’t get it, add 2-3 stalks of fresh celery to the stock)
– 1 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
– Ground black pepper, to taste
– Salt, to taste
– 3/4 cup (180 g) sour cream
– 2-3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1. Cook crawfish in large pot, 20 at a time, in boiling water until red (about 4-5 minutes). Cool. Discard shells and remove tail and claw meat. Chill meat in refrigerator.
2. Melt butter in a large pot. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and celery seeds; blend well.
3. Slowly mix in low-fat milk and chicken stock.
4. Add cold crawfish meat, onion and parsley. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
5. Add potato cubes. Cook for another 20-25 minutes on low heat. Add sour cream and reheat. Season to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley.
“If you’re in a hurry, this is not the recipe for you. These little suckers are so small that it takes hours to get the meat out of them! But it is a lovely chowder recipe, if you have the patience to make it. It’s great for Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve.”
– Sarah Lowman, born in Falls Church, Virginia.
Sergei Naumov, chef at Repriza.
Repriza’s Tomato Soup in a Bread Bowl
– 4 yellow onions, sliced
– 8 large, ripe tomatoes (in the winter, use preserved tomatoes)
– 4 tsp. olive oil
– 4 tsp. sour cream or cream (depending on taste)
– Fresh herbs and spices, to taste
– One round loaf white bread
1. Fry onions in oil.
2. Peel and grate tomatoes. Mix the tomatoes with sour cream (or cream) and add onions. Boil for 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Add fresh herbs and spices to taste.
4. Make a bread bowl by cutting off the top of the bread and removing some of the inside, making sure the crust remains thick in all places.
5. Serve the soup in the bread bowl.
“The bread adds an unusual taste and aroma to the soup, so when selecting the bread for your bread bowl, consider your own personal tastes. But preferably, the bread should be white.”
– Sergei Naumov, born in Irkutsk, Siberia.
Artem Davletyants, Linea 12 / McCann Erickson.
Armenian Bozbash Soup (grandma’s special recipe)
– 500 g mutton, cubed
– 60 g butter, melted
– 90 g onion, cut into rings
– 300 g eggplant, cubed
– 550 g tomatoes, chopped
– 150 g white beans (soak dry beans overnight or use canned beans)
– 120 g red pepper, chopped
– 450 g potatoes, peeled and cubed
– 60 g parsley and/or dill, chopped
– Salt, to taste
1. Boil mutton. Remove from water and place in frying pan with a small amount of butter. Cook over low heat until lightly browned.
2. Place cooked meat back into broth.
3. Lightly brown onion in small amount of butter. Add to the broth. Add eggplants, tomatoes, pepper, beans and potatoes.
4. Allow soup to simmer for about one hour on medium-low heat. Add salt to taste. Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley and/or dill.
