Ukrainian Beet Soup Recipe

How to make it

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• Put potatoes, carrots and wax beans into a 5 or 6 quart pot and cover with cold water.
• Prepare the beets - cut off the beet greens, wash them and sort, then cut into 1 inch pieces and toss into the pot.
• Peel the beets, wash them and slice into 1/8 inch slices (stopping periodically to admire how beautiful the beets are) then put the beets into the pot
• Rinse your hands :-)
• Bring everything to a boil and cook over medium heat till potatoes are done and beets are tender about 30 minutes
• Turn off the heat and add lemon juice, this turns it a brilliant fuchsia color
• Salt to taste
• Wash the dill and snip it finely with scissors
• Add to soup
• Make pork cracklings by dicing salt pork into 1/4 inch dices and frying on medium heat till they turn crispy and medium brown. It will take a while and can be done while the soup is cooking
• (I won't lie here - the cracklings are an art - as soon as the salt pork turns brown add the onion and cook till glassy - put the onion in too early and it will burn before the cracklings are done, too late and you will burn the cracklings before the onion is glassy)
• Ladle the soup into bowls, add a dollop of sour cream and top with cracklings.
• I stir my sour cream carefully into the soup and watch it turn an incredible pick hue.
• Enjoy!
• And oh...no matter how tempting, don't fish out the cracklings and eat them all at once!
• Stir soup well and turn your eyes toward heaven when your mouth encounters one...