Beet Consommé or Cream of Beet Soup

Beet Consomme

This consommé is generally made at Christmas time and eaten with ear shaped noodles stuffed with mushrooms that are collected in the woods over summer.  The mushrooms then get strung and hung to dry until they're ready for use in the winter.  

The preparation of these mushrooms is very time consuming.  After the drying process, they need to be boiled, drained, grinded into small pieces, seasoned and mixed with tiny pieces of onions.  Since the mushrooms are so flavourful, the juice from boiling the mushrooms is reserved for the beet soup.

These noodles are called Ooshkee, which is the Ukrainian word for ears.  Noodles are prepared on the side and then added to the consommé.  My husband tends to break his ooshkee up with his spoon in order to give his bowl extra flavour from the spicy mushroom filling.  

Add a splash of cream to your bowl and watch the soup turn pink.

I tend to make this soup without the mushrooms over the summer as beets become seasonal.  I puree all the ingredients together while still in the pot and add some cream.  This makes for a tasty Cream of Beet Soup.

INGREDIENTS:
1 large Onion
3 to 6 Beets
3 Celery sticks
2 Carrots
Salt & Pepper
Cream