Polish Bigos / Hunter's Stew

Submitted by Rita1652

"Hearty Heart warming comfort food. Serve with good rye bread. The secret of Bigos is that it gets better as it's reheated. The more it heated the better it gets. I like cooking it most the day.This is a great make ahead meal. I posted this recipe using all pork but go ahead and add venison, veal, beef.... I also do add juniper which I love! Then throw in fresh Parsley and marjoram."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• 1814.36 g sauerkraut, rinsed
• 236.59 ml apple juice
• 453.59 g smoked pork butt
• 453.59 g spareribs
• 113.39 g bacon
• 793.78 g can tomatoes
• 473.18 ml water
• 2 bay leaves
• black pepper, lots
• salt
• 1814.36 g heads of cabbage
• 453.59 g pork loin chops or 453.59 g country-style pork ribs
• 453.59 g smoked kielbasa
• 118.29 ml onion (chopped)
• 453.59 g fresh mushrooms
• 28.34 g mushroom (dried)
• 29.58 ml flour

directions

1. Brown pork and spareribs in a large heavy pot.
2. Add smoked butt with 1 cup of water and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Add the sauerkraut and one cup apple juice.
4. Chop the cabbage fine and add to sauerkraut.
5. Add lots of pepper and salt cover and simmer 1 hour.
6. Remove lid and keep pot on a very low simmer.
7. In a pan, fry bacon until crisp, then crumble into sauerkraut mixture.
8. Remove most of the bacon fat and fry onions and mushrooms and flour until they just brown.
9. Mix into sauerkraut mixture.
10. Cut kielbasa into slices add to sauerkraut mixture with the tomatoes.
11. Bring to a boil, simmer 30 minutes and serve hot with rye bread and mashed potatoes.

Reviews

[Maciej B.]

Polish bigos uses mushrooms, but they have to be wild forest mushrooms,could be dried but not champignons and the sausage on the picture is way too big (or wide).It should be less than inch in diameter.Now ,I just got msg from Rita ,that the pix wasn't her and that it is hard to find dried wild forest mushrooms outside of Poland and i agree :) So i raise my rating to five stars for brave Rita,trying to make perfect dish under not perfect circumstances:)

 

[Scott M.]

This is the third year in a row I've used this recipe (kind of). I try to follow the tradition of using up what's in the freezer to make room for the new harvest. This year, all the meat with the exception of kielbasa and bacon was harvested by me or the next-door neighbor. Turkey I raised, some garden-eating rabbits I harvested and crawdads I caught along with some doves my neighbor harvested. I also made the sauerkraut myself. This recipe is great place to start and expand from there.

 

[Katanashrp]

A taste of home during the holidays. Priceless. Thank you so much for sharing this outstanding recipe. I totally agree with another reviewer that it is impossible to just have one serving.

 

[young81]

hey guys really looking forward to cooking bigos, my ex made it all the time and thought i would learn, thanks for the recipe, hope i get it right!!!

 

[duke645]

Made this recipe today and it is certainly a 5 star dish. I used smoked ham hocks in place of the smoked butt. I cut the whole thing in half, substituted some breakfast sausage for the spare ribs and used some chicken broth instead of water. It turned out great. I'm looking forward to trying the recipe just as its written. I have made alot of bigos and this one is a winner.