A Russian tragedy

Borscht
Elise

8 cups beef broth
1 pound slice of meaty bone-in beef shank
1 large onion, peeled, quartered
4 large beets, peeled, chopped
4 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
3/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring 4 cups of the beef broth, the beef shank, and onion to boil in large pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Transfer meat to work surface; trim fat, sinew and bone and discard. Chop meat; cover and chill. Cool broth slightly. Chill in pot until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Spoon fat from top of chilled broth and discard. Add remaining 4 cups broth, beets, carrots, and potato; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Stir in meat, cabbage and 1/2 cup dill; cook until cabbage is tender, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and remaining 1/4 cup dill.

Serves 6.

I'd been looking forward to this one all month. Borscht! Beautiful bowls of beety bounty! It took all day. Cooking, separating the meat, fat, and bone. Chilling. Skimming off the fat. Chopping buckets (well, four) of beets. More cooking. A big pot of deep red borscht. And then, time to taste. And...a faint, but unmistakable taste of something...not right. Yuck.

I think I must not have rinsed the beets well enough after peeling them, or something. Yuck. Nasty. A tragedy.

Otherwise, I think the recipe would've been fantastic. Learn from my mistake, ladies and gentlemen...always rinse your beets.

No score or picture for this one, I was too devastated.