All-weather soups

MUSHROOM SOUP WITH BACON BITS
Grybų sriuba su lašiniukais – grybienė

¾ cup bacon, finely cut
4 cups mushrooms, cut into medium pieces
5 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely cut
2 carrots, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves
¾ cup sour cream
5 sprigs fresh dill, chopped
5 peppercorns
3 bay leaves
Salt
Fry bacon and onion. Place all ingredients, except sour cream, in a soup pot, cover with water and cook on medium heat until potatoes and carrots are soft, for about 30 minutes. When soup is done, add sour cream and bring to a gentle boil.

SAUERKRAUT SOUP
Raugintų kopūstų sriuba

6 cups beef broth
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 sour apples, grated
2 medium carrots, grated
2 to 3 dried mushrooms
2 lbs. sauerkraut
3 to 4 slices bacon, cubed
4 Tbsps. lard (or butter)
1 small onion, grated
2 Tbsps. flour
Bring the broth to a boil, then add the tomatoes, apples, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables become soft, about 20 minutes. Separately, braise the sauerkraut with the bacon, lard (or butter), and grated onion. Once the sauerkraut is soft, add the mixture into the broth. Add the flour toward the end of the cooking period. The soup is usually served with boiled or fried potatoes.

BEET SOUP
Burokėlių sriuba

3 lbs. pork or beef
4 medium red beets
6 dried mushrooms
6 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 cup sour cream
Soup greens
The broth tastes better if cooked with pork. Put meat, soup greens, seasonings, and well-washed dried mushrooms into boiling water and cook until meat is tender. Remove meat and mushrooms, strain broth, Cut mushrooms into julienne strips. Cook or bake the beets, peel and grate coarsely. Add lemon or beet juice to the broth for tartness (to taste). Add beets and mushrooms, heat the broth so that it will turn a red color from the beets. Saute 1 tablespoon of flour in butter, dilute with the broth and add to soup. Stir in sour cream. Serve with peeled or unpeeled cooked or baked potatoes.

OXTAIL SOUP
Jaučio uodegos sriuba

3 lbs. oxtails
3 Tbsps. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely minced, or about 1 cup
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups veal stock chicken broth
3 cups water
4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 325 ° . Pat the oxtails dry. In a heavy skillet heat the oil over high heat. Add the oxtails in batches to brown well on all sides. Remove oxtails as they are done and place in a 3-quart Dutch oven or oven-proof casserole. Discard fat in the skillet and replace on stove top over low heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve any residue on the bottom of the pan. Add the wine; increase the heat to high and cook until it reduces by half. Scrape onion and wine mixture over oxtails; add stock, water, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cover tightly and place in the oven for 1½ hours. Remove from oven, and spoon off any fat that has collected on the surface of the liquid.

CREAM OF POTATO SOUP
Pertrintų bulvių sriuba

3 lbs. meat with bones
2 lbs. potatoes
3 carrots
1 onion
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsps. butter
2 egg yolks
1 cup cream
Salt, some leeks, celery, parsley
This soup may be made with or without meat. The cream is also optional. If meat is used, put meat, soup greens, peeled and cut up potatoes and spices into cold water and cook until meat is tender. Remove cooked meat. Strain the soup and force all the vegetables through a strainer. Saute flour in butter, mix in some both, and pour into the soup. Beat yolks with a dash of salt, mix with the cream and pour into the soup. Potato balls shaped with a special small round knife, may also be added to this soup. They should be cooked separately in salted water being careful not to let them crumble. Serve with croutons: slice day-old bread and cut into small cubes. Saute in butter.