Cold meat or cold soup (more precisely, borsch) is a traditional dish of Belarusian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian cuisines, which is quite simple. In Russian cuisine this soup is called beetroot soup. Colds can be cooked on water, kvass or kefir. In contrast to the well-known and very popular Russian okroshka in the cold, as a rule, there are no meat products, so it can be considered a dietary dish.
How can I prepare a cold?
Usually the cold is cooked on the basis of kefir, either on the basis of beet or sorrel broth, sometimes with milk. The main ingredients are pickled beets and fresh vegetables (sliced cucumber, onion, dill, parsley). Also in the fridge go boiled potatoes, sliced boiled egg and sour cream. Before serving this unpretentious dish is cooled.
There are several ways how to make a fried meat with and without beet.
Cold on the water with beet
Ingredients:
It will take about 2 liters of cold water, 1-2 small beets, 4-5 (preferably fresh and fresh) cucumbers, 5-8 green onion feathers, 5-8 sprigs of dill, as much parsley, 4-5 hard-boiled chicken eggs, juice 1 large lemon, sour cream, 1 teaspoon of sugar, salt. Garlic and black pepper in small amounts also do not interfere.
Preparation:
First you need to prepare a beet broth: wash the beet, clean, pour 2 liters of cold water and boil until soft (about 1 hour).
Boiled beets must be transferred to a container with cold water. In the beet broth, add the lemon juice, a little sugar (if desired) and lightly salt.
It is better to cut a beet with a thin knife (but you can use a chopper or a large grater) and put it back in a pan with a decoction.
Chicken eggs for 6-8 minutes boil in salted water, cool with cold water, peel off the shell and cut into halves.
Next, wash the cucumbers, cut off the tips and cut into small cubes or thin straws. Wash the green onions with cold water, shake off and chop finely. Dill greens and parsley, too, rinse, shake off and chop finely.
Combine in a bowl chopped cucumbers, chopped onions, dill greens and parsley, lightly add salt and mix thoroughly.
In each plate put 2-4 tablespoons of the prepared vegetable mixture and pour a cooled beet broth (with pieces of beet, of course), add half of the boiled egg and serve. Sour cream can be added to the plates - 1 tablespoon, or served separately.
You can serve the boiled young potatoes (you can add it directly to the dish).
The Lithuanian coldman
The Lithuanian cold is cooked on kefir, although you can, of course, use curdled milk or whey (other products can be used as described above). Beets can be used pickled (canned).
Cold with sorrel
Ingredients:
You will need 300 grams of sorrel (instead of beets), 1.5 liters of water or kefir (other products are the same as in the recipe above).
Preparation:
Pure sorrel boil for 4-8 minutes in boiling water. Then cool the broth and add the rest of the ingredients.
You can add radish, boiled meat or even sausage. Although the cold with sausage, of course, it is difficult to consider a dietary dish, but everyone has his own taste and needs.
Cold Berries Berry
You can cook wonderful cold snacks with berries. For this purpose both various wild-growing edible berries, and garden ones are suitable: raspberry, black and red currant, strawberry.
There are options for cooking a cold with the use of fish or even meat of crustaceans. Kefir can be replaced with sour milk or yoghurt. Such soups can be seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron and ginger. Exquisite dishes will please and pleasantly surprise your guests and home.