Bowl of Cold Beet Soup
(click to enlarge)

Cold Beet Soup


Lithuania (Šaltibarščiai) / Poland (Chłodnik)
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 6 cups
***
5 hrs
Best		 A substantial and refreshing cold soup for hot days. It's not difficult to make (with machinery). It can be made well ahead and refrigerated until needed.




1-1/4
4-1/2
4
8
3
2
2
-------
1/2
1/2
1/4
1
1/4
-------
2
#
c
oz
oz
T
T
T
---
c
c
t
t
t
---

Beets w/stems (1)
Water
Radishes
Cucumbers (2)
Dill
Chives (3)
Lemon Juice
-- Finish
Sour Cream
Yogurt (4)
Sugar ultrafine
Salt
Pepper
-- Topping (5)
Eggs, Hard Boiled   		Do Ahead   -   (35 min + chilling time)
  1. Hard Boil EGGS, shell them and chill well. See Boiling Eggs for best method.
Prep   -   (1-1/4 hrs + cooling time)
  1. Peel BEETS and chop very fine (see Chopping Beets).
  2. Chop STEMS fine, reserving leaves for some other use. Mix with Beets and place all in a pan with 4-1/4 cups of Water. Bring to a boil, then simmer abut 45 minutes. Let cool in the water for about 1-1/2 hours.
  3. Meanwhile:   Dice RADISHES quite small. Dice CUCUMBERS quite small. Mix.
  4. Chop DILL and CHIVES fine. Measure is after chopping moderately packed. Add to Radishes. You can chop some extra Chives for Garnish - keep separate.
  5. Squeeze LEMON JUICE.
Finish (10 min + chilling time)
  1. When Beets and their water are well cooled, mix in all Finish Items Adjust liquid if required to make it soup-like.
  2. When thoroughly mixed, place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill, or up to a day or so in a sealed container.
  3. When ready to serve, Dice Eggs medium. Best to use a Wire Slicer.
  4. Serve chilled in bowls, topped with Eggs and garnished with Chives.
NOTES:

  1. Beets

      These should be young beets with healthy stems and leaves. The stems are used here, and leaves can be used elsewhere, if good enough.

  2. Cucumbers:

      Persians or some other small diameter cukes that need not be peeled or seeded. If all you have is the standard green blimps, they must be peeled and seeded before weighing.

  3. Chives:

      All the stores I usually shop at have only Garlic Chives, which are flat. Small one can be had from the Asian markets, but otherwise it is the large Near Eastern variety which would not be so good. Lacking suitable Chives, I'd chop up fresh Scallion Greens.

  4. Yogurt:

      This should be a full milk plain natural Yogurt. Greek is preferred, but regular will work fine if you up the amount a bit.

  5. Topping:

      Zuza Zac says that in Poland the topping is Boiled Eggs and in Lithuania it's Smocked Chicken. My oldest Lithuanian cookbooks (1955 and 1976) both call for Boiled Eggs. Topping with Eggs isn't practical for buffet service, but I have a couple of Lithuanian recipes that simply mix the diced eggs into the soup with the other cold ingredients. In any case, they should not be skipped.

  6. Chopping Beets

      Raw Beets are large and very hard. In our day we have little time and no servants, but our machinery makes this dish practical. First shred the Beets using whatever shredder attachment or other device you have available. Then run the shreds in a Food Processor to chop them very fine.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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