Borcht (Russian beet soup)

This is one of my childhood favorite soups.

Ingredients:

• bone in stew meat. Beef chuck, neck, ossobuco, tail all work well. (meat on the bone makes a good stock)
• 2 med beets peeled.
• 1 med onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 carrot shredded1/2 head small cabbage cored and shredded
• salt pepper to taste
• 1-2 bay leaves
• oil

Directions:

Place meat and beets into a large pot. Fill with 3/4 water, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. skim the scum. ,saute onions, carrots until golden brown season with salt and pepper while they cook. Then add garlic and saute for another few minutes. Remove meat and remove from bones. It should fall off easily if not return to pot and cook some more. Return meat to pot in bite size pieces or shredded. Run beets under cold water and shred. Add all ingredients to pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 30-45 min. some people like the veggies to crunch some like them softer. my mom always cooked them for 45 min so the veggies are soft. remove bay leaves. Traditionally this soup is served with a dollop of sour cream. I've eaten it without it and it is still great. I topped it off with fresh dill I'm trying to use up before it goes bad.