How to prepare delicious dish.

Borscht

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 15g/½oz butter

• 1 large carrot, diced

• 1 celery stick, diced

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 medium sized beetroots (around 450g/1lb unpeeled weight), peeled and diced

• 1 large waxy potato, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1½ litres/2½ pints good quality beef stock

• ½ purple cabbage, finely shredded

• 2 tomatoes, skinned, cored and chopped

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Once melted add the carrot, celery and onion and cook gently for a few minutes. Add the beetroot, potato and garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes, until well coated and combined.

2. Add the stock and season with salt and black pepper. Bring to just below the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the cabbage and tomatoes. Cover and leave to simmer for a further 20 minutes.

4. Serve the soup with dollops of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill.

DERUNY

Method

Pancakes

Ingredients

• 135g/4¾oz plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• 2 tbsp caster sugar

• 130ml/4½fl oz milk

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

Method

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it’s melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

4. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.

5. Serve with lashings of real maple syrup and extra butter, if you like.