Mennonite Borsht - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 -2 lb beef soup bone, with meat on it
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bay leaf
dried dill, to taste
dried parsley, to taste
8 peppercorns
2 -3 carrots, peeled and cut up
1 small cabbage, chopped
2 -4 potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes
salt and pepper
2 -3 cups tomato juice or 1 can tomato soup
sour cream or cream (optional)

Preparation

Place beef bone in a large soup pot and cover with water.
Simmer for 1-3 hours.
Cut the meat off the bone and discard bone.
If time permits, let the broth sit in the fridge overnight so that fat hardens.
Remove hardened fat and discard.
Add onions, bay leaf, dillweed, parsley, peppercorns (place peppercorns in a spice ball, or else you'll have to fish them out at the end), carrots and cabbage.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add potatoes, salt and pepper.
Simmer until all vegetables are tender.
If broth is not flavourful enough, add some beef bouillon.
Stir in tomato juice or soup.
Continue cooking until soup is hot.
Serve in soup bowls.
If desired, add some sour cream or cream to your bowl.