my cooking exploits may only be exciting to me

okay
so remember how i went to the farmer's market
i got that big bag of dried chiles
i never did say what i got them for
and
sure
i'm gonna use them for a bunch of stuff
but
i specifically got them for borscht
i was using the chili flakes
like the kind one uses on pizza
but i thought i'd try
extended simmering
of large dried peppers
to flavor the water
before
starting the soup proper

so i did that
with kombu
[cause i don't make soup without kombu anymore]
for about an hour and a half
four large chiles
and a 4x4 sheet of kombu
with some garlic powder and white pepper

and it was pretty tasty just like that, actually

i added more water
three enormous beets, diced
some more galic and white pepper
the left over juice from preserved lemons
and some nellie & joe's famous key west lime juice
[my go to "lemon juice"]

and it was too full to add the onions

so i let it cook down for another thirty minutes

i took the chiles out
because i down want them dropping all their seed
i just wanted them for flavor
and two hours is plenty of flavor

i added one big sweet yellow onion
some lemon/orange pepper
and some shiraz

it's been cooking a while now
it tastes sweeter than is maybe optimal for me
but i don't add sugar or anything
i've never used key lime juice before
normally i use lemon juice
and apple cider vinegar
and i have trouble getting it tart enough
no problem this time
perfect on the tartness scale

i'm gonna let the onions cook down
then i'll strain it
maybe eat the beets for dinner
and chill the soup
i have some pickled beets that i can add
if i want chunks later

but mostly
i don't add dairy
i don't add chunks
i just
chill
and drink