Christmas Eve Barszcz (barszcz wigilijny)

This is a barszcz (or borscht, if you want to be Russian) that is traditionally only served on Christmas Eve. Like all the other soups for the Christmas Eve dinner, it is a clear soup. When it is made right, it is tangy with just the barest hint of sweetness.

1 oz. dried mushrooms
3-4 beets, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tart apple, peeled and coarsely grated
4 cups vegetable stock
1 14.5 oz can of sauerkraut
1/2 a 16 oz jar of sliced pickled beets (and the juice)
1 bud of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup dry red wine
salt, pepper, lemon juice and sugar to taste

Re-hydrate the mushrooms by cooking them in about 2 cups of water until they are tender. Either remove the mushrooms (keeping the liquid) and use them in another dish, or leave them in the liquid to be discarded later. Add grated beets and apples and mushroom liquid to pot and cover with vegetable stock. Add can of sauerkraut (un-rinsed) and half a jar of sliced pickled beets along with their juice. Stir well and bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for a few minutes (at least 2 and no more than 5). Add crushed garlic, stir and simmer for another minute. Turn off heat and strain soup, discarding the contents of the sieve. Add 1/4 cup wine, then season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a tiny bit of sugar until the soup is tangy, but not too tangy.

Serve hot with uszka.