Saltibarsciai (Cold Beet Soup)

Here are four traditional Lithuanian recipes from my files. ( I run a small catering business specializing in ethnic foods.) Most of these are family recipes from Lithuanian friends. I think one is from an old church cookbook from a church that is predominantly Lithuanian. ~- a Lithuanian rendition of Borscht) Scrub beets, place in 6 quart stock pot , cover with water or stock-water mixture and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until they just start to become tender. Turn off the heat and remove the beets. Peel beets. Julienne about 3/4s of the beets, and coarsely grate the remainder. When cooking liquid in stock pot is cool enough to handle, strain through cheesecloth-lined colander (to remove any grit from the initial cooking) into a larger -- 8 quart) stock pot. Add grated and julienned beets, 2 cups of julienned cucumbers and 1/4 cup of chopped dill. Stir in vinegar, salt and pepper and return to boil. Simmer another 15 minutes and remove from heat. When the soup has cooled for awhile -- but is still warm -- remove about a cup of the liquid, place in bowl with 1 pint of sour cream and mix until smooth, or place in food processor and process until you have a smooth mixture. Return the sour cream-broth mixture to the soup, blend, turn into tureen and chill. Serve family style with sautied dilled potatoes and onion (Peel and cube 2 medium potatoes, dice a medium yellow onion, sauti in corn oil and butter until tender slightly brown -- put onions in first and, when transparent, add potatoes. Add 1 tsp of vinegar for flavoring. When potatoes are tender and lightly browned, turn mixture into serving bowl with butter-oil-vinegar mixture from the pan, top with a liberal dose of finely chopped fresh dill and toss, making sure all the potatoes are coated with the juices and dill.) Cold soup, warm potatoes and onions. . I believe the tradition is to spoon some of the potato-onion-dill mix into the soup -- at least thats they way my friends family did it. Ive seen others, however, who eat the potato-onion mix separately so provide a plate for that purpose and let guests do as they choose. Posted to Recipe Archive - 15 Sep 96 submitted by: Grayjackl@aol.com