• 12 6-inch corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus additional for frying tortillas
• 1/4 cups leeks, chopped
• 1 tbsp. cumin, ground
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. New Mexico chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. coriander ground
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 2 c. onions, chopped
• 1/4 c. celery, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 lbs. vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 c. tomato puree
• 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 8 c. chicken stock

• Diced cooked chicken
• Diced avocado
• Grated cheddar cheese
• Chopped cilantro

1. Cut tortillas into 2- by 1/4-inch strips. Fry in 4 batches until golden and crisp, about 1 minute. Drain.
2. In large heavy kettle cook three fourths tortilla strips with cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne, and ground coriander in 1/2 cup oil over moderate heat stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Add leek, onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato puree, chopped coriander, bay leaves, and stock. Bring soup to a boil and simmer, covered, 1 hour.
3. Cool soup 10 minutes and in a food processor puree in batches until smooth, transferring to a bowl. Force soup through a fine sieve into cleaned kettle, pressing hard on solids and discarding them. Season with salt.
4. Serve garnished with chicken, avocado, cheddar, and cilantro

Don’t miss the video from my friend Ken to help you decide Dottie’s fate.

Borscht from Kiev

Stock:

• 1 ½ pounds beef chuck roast boneless
• 1 pound beef marrow bones
• 1 pound ham bone meaty or pork hocks with added ham meat
• 1 onion large grated
• 1 carrot grated
• 3 quarts water
• 1 turnip peeled and grated
• 1 celery rib w/leaves sliced
• 3 dill sprigs
• 12 peppercorns whole
• 4 bay leaves

Soup:

• 3 beets large, peeled and grated
• 16 ounces plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion large chopped
• 1 carrot slice or chopped
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups cabbage shredded
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6 prunes pitted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• cider or rice vinegar to taste
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 bacon strips
• 3 tablespoons parsely
• 3 tablespoons dill

Place meat bones, meat, water in large stock bot and bring to boil over high heat. Skim as needed. Add the remaining stock ingredients, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash, dry, peel the beets. Wrap them in aluminum foil and bake in oven for 1 hour. Allow to cool, and dice. Remove the ham bones from the stock. Set marrow bones aside. Strain the stock through a fine sieve. Discard the solids. Bring the stock to a boil, add the tomatoes, salt and peppper on low heat covered. Cook the onions, carrot in a skillet for 5 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and continue to saute for 10 more minutes. Remove the vegetables from heat and add to the stock. Sprinkle the juice of a lemon over the beets and add them to the stock. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and home. Remove the meat from the bones, strip the marrow. Cube the meet and add all of this to the stock. Remove from heat and add vinegar to taste. Serve with sour cream, bacon, parsley, dill.

• 24 large, mushrooms, stems removed
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 recipe stuffing (see below)
• 1 recipe topping (see below)

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Set a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Toss mushrooms with oil, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Arrange mushrooms, gill side up, on rack and roast about 20 minutes. Turn caps over and roast about 10 more minutes.
2. Cool and fill with stuffing. ( I use a spoon for this.) You can refrigerate them at this point on a paper towel-lined plate. Just before serving, press each cap into the topping mixture and bake until hot and slightly browned. Maybe 10 minutes or so.

• 1/4 lb. cooked, peeled shrimp
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tbsp. jarred roasted red peppers
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

Topping

• 3/4 c. bread crumbs (I used Panko)
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Mix together