Such a great Polish dish! Not mentioned as often as Pierogi or Gołąbki, but still worth trying! A savoury stew of cabbage and meat! Typical ingredients include fresh and fermented white cabbage (sauerkraut, kapusta kiszona in Polish), various cuts of meat and sausages, often whole or puréed tomatoes, honey and mushrooms. The meats may include pork (often smoked), ham (szynka), bacon (bekon), beef (wołowina), veal (cielęcina), sausage (kiełbasa), and, as bigos is considered a hunters’ stew, venison (dziczyzna) and leftover cuts find their way into the pot as well. It may be seasoned with pepper (pieprz), caraway (kminek), juniper berries (owoce jałowca), bay leaf (liść laurowy), marjoram (majeranek), pimento (pieprz angielski), dried or smoked plums (suszone albo wędzone śliwki) and other ingredients (inne składniki).

Ingredients:

One 33 ounce jar of Sauerkraut

One Savoy Cabbage

Two pounds beef (optional)

Two pounds pork (optional)

½ pound smoked bacon

One pound Kielbasa

One onion

wild mushrooms

One SMALL can of Tomato paste or sauce

3 to 5 Bay Leaves

salt, pepper, oil, sugar, allspice

Directions:

First, get a jar of Polonaise Sauerkraut and a pound of kielbasa. Don’t use watered down sauerkraut that comes in a plastic sack with lots of water and vinegar. The final product is only as good as the best ingredients you can get. Then, get the best beef and pork with a minimum of fat. Cut off all that you can before cooking. Get a half pound of thick sliced bacon. If you cannot find a Savoy cabbage, a regular cabbage works just fine. Start by getting a large pot of water boiling. Add the sauerkraut. Let it bubble away. Cut up the beef and pork into little fork size squares and brown. Generally this takes two frying pans (one for beef and one for pork). Season with secret herbs and spices. Grate the cabbage. Throw it into the boiling pot. Chop up the onion and put it in the boiling water. When the beef and pork is browned pour both in the pot. Cut the kielbasa into short pieces and sear in one of the frying pans. The searing keeps kielbasa from mushing up when it spends a lot of time in hot water. When seared, into the pot it goes. Cut all the bacon into half inch long pieces and fry. Drain off the extra fat as necessary. When the bacon is done throw all pieces in the pot. It’s ok to cook the sausage in the same frying pan with the bacon. Little chunks, any size. Add a little (teaspoon full) of salt, a half teaspoon of pepper (go light on this), one eighth cup sugar, and the bay leaves to the pot. And here’s the final touch. Dump in a SMALL can of tomato paste or tomato sauce. Stir. Add water as necessary. Cook at low heat. Let it simmer. The longer it simmers, the better it gets.

You can it as a soup – by itself, or it could be a dish with side of mashed potatoes. Leftovers can be frozen and thawed. Or you can just store in the refrigerator and reheat through the week.

Let me know how it went!

Smacznego!

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)