(For all ingredients, please use organic versions if available)
Lemon Red Borscht (Beet Soup)
4–5 liters water
1 kilogram beetroot
1 parsley root
2–3 carrots
½ celeriac
1 leek
1 lemon
2 dried forest mushrooms (e.g. bay bolete)
Marjoram
Bay laurel
Allspice
Black pepper
Salt
Parsley leaves


Grandma Jasia’s Coulibiacs (Savory Pastries)
Filling
1 white cabbage
½ kilogram
button mushrooms
1 onion
Black pepper
Salt
Oil

Pastry shell
1 kilogram wholemeal wheat flour
½ cup oil
Water
4 tablespoons sugar
Yeast
Salt
Nutmeg

Lemon Red Borscht (Beet Soup)

1. Boil the water.
2. Before the water starts to boil, add in the bay laurel and the allspice berries so that the aroma will be infused in the water.
3. Add in the dried forest mushrooms.
4. Peel the beetroot and cut them into half. Half of it will be cut into cubes, and the other half will be grated.
5. Add the cubed beetroot.
6. Peel the carrots as thinly as possible.
7. Cut the carrot into slices, and then into cubes, and then put them into the soup.
8. Cut the parsley root into cubes and put it into the soup.
9. Cut the celeriac into cubes and put it into the soup.
10. Cut the leek and put it into the soup.
11. If the soup become quite thick, add some more water.
12. When the borscht already been boiling for about half an hour, add in the grated beetroot.
13. Let the soup cook for about 1.5 hour on a low flame. Put on the lid to cover the pot.
14. Meanwhile, cut the green parsley leaves.
15. When the soup has been cooked for about 1 hour, add in the lemon for taste and also for color.
16. Add in some salt and some grounded black pepper for taste.
17. At the very end, add quite a lot of marjoram. This marjoram should be added at the very end, because if not, the marjoram will become bitter.
18. Turn of the flame, and the borscht is ready.
19. Sprinkle it with green parsley leave before serving.

Grandma Jasia’s Coulibiacs(Savory Pastries)
Filling

1. Cut the cabbage, take out the core, and slice it into smaller pieces.
2. Peel the onion and cut it into tiny pieces, into very small cubes.
3. Boil not too much water, and when the water is boiling, put the cabbage into the pot only for a while so that the cabbage taste still remains. And then take them out and drained the water. Let the cabbage cool down.
4. Preheat the frying pan, and when it is already preheated well, add some oil.
5. Add in the onion into the oil, turn down the flame to a minimum so that it fries very, very, slowly.
6. Meanwhile, cut the button mushrooms that have been washed earlier into medium pieces and then put them into the onion.
7. Mix it all very well.
8. Increase the flame a little.
9. Add a little bit of salt.
10. When the cooked cabbage has already cooled down, cut it into quite small pieces.
11. When the mushroom are becoming slowly shrinking and the juice has already evaporated, add in the cabbage into the mushrooms. Mix it well and let it cook for about 3 minutes.
12. Add a little bit of freshly ground pepper, and mix it.
13. The filling should be quite salty and distinctively spicy, because it will be moderated by the pastry. So, add some more salt if needed.
14. The filling is ready. Turn the flame off and leave to cool down.

Pastry shell

1. Take 1 kilogram of flour.
2. Take the yeast and mix it with 4 tablespoon of sugar to activate them.
3. Add 1 glass of water to the yeast and mix it.
4. Start making the dough. First, form a hill with a hole. Adding some oil, and some water.
5. Knead it slowly so that the water and oil do not escape outside the flour.
6. When the oil and water are absorbed into the flour, add another portion of water and oil at the same time.
7. Add in the water with yeast and a little bit of oil.
8. Mix it with a small amount of flour in the middle, so that a slightly thinner dough is created first.
9. Add the rest of water with the yeast, and folding it in with the rest of the flour.
10. When the dough is still not kneaded, add quite a generous 2 pinches of salt.
11. Grate a little bit of nutmeg and add it into the dough.
12. Knead it again. And if the dough is still too dry, add some more water to get the right consistency.
13. Keep kneading it to such a consistency that it does not stick to the hands.
14. Sprinkle some flour on the board so that it does not stick.
15. Divide the dough into 4 parts and cover them with a moist cloth so that it does not dry out.
16. Meanwhile, preheat the oven and prepare a baking tray, greased with oil.
17. Take the dough that already rising, roll it on the board. Sprinkle it with some flour so that it does not stick to the rolling pin.
18. Roll the dough, and cut out small circles that will become the wrap for the filling.
19. Put the filling into the prepared circles.
20. Remember to not to put too much filling inside, otherwise it will be quite difficult to seal the coulibiacs.
21. Fold the edge, press quite firmly, and then form a so called braid.
22. Do it by putting the thumb on the edge of the coulibiac from the top and fold it to resembling a braid.
23. Put the ready coulibiacs on the baking tray. Not too close one to one another so that they do not stick together because they will expand a little.
24. Bake the coulibiacs at about 180 degrees Celsius for about 20-25 minutes.
25. The coulibiacs is ready to be served with the borscht.