No, not stuffed cabbage again!

Bigos!  Or hunter's stew.  It's a savory stew of cabbage and meats.  It has been called the national dish of Poland and recipes vary from region to region.  There's no right or wrong way to make Bigos for it's a one pot smorgasbord of commonly found leftover ingredients in a Polish home during the cold winter season.  The main ingredients, cabbage and pork, are said to bring good luck which promoted my very patriotic Polish father to slip an apron over his tuxedo at my wedding to serve bigos as a midnight snack.  It. Was. Classy. The predominately American guest list, unaccustomed to the Polish cuisine, stood in lines for a second helping proclaiming it to be more satisfying than chili or beef stew.

Without further adu.  The Karwowski recipe for Bigos:

The ingredients:

Pork (ask the butcher for pork with some fat); smoked sausage; dried plums; sauerkraut; onions (all I had was the ends of green onions & it worked); bacon (or rib meat or veal or any game type meats); spices (dashes of salt, paprika, garlic, marjoram, bay leaf).

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees.  Chop the pork into small pieces and add to pot.  I prefer small as I don't like to do much chewing in a stew.

Step 2:

Add a dash of oil and throw the pork into the oven to roast. Cover and cook. You can also add all/or one of the following ham, bacon, veal, venison or other game to the pork if you have it laying around.  Heh. I had three slices of leftover bacon I added.

Step 3:

While the pork is roasting begin to prep the rest of the ingredients.  First the smoked sausage, which should be cut into small pieces.

Step 4:

After the pork has been roasting for at least 30 minutes you can add an equal amount of sausage to the pork.  Add onions too (I have no idea how many... just one handful of finely chopped onions).  Put pork/sausage mixture back into the oven.  Cover and cook.

Step 5:

While the pork/sausage is roasting or as my mother says in Polish "duszony" which is loosly translated into "smothering," start prepping the next ingredients.  Remove all the liquid from the sauerkraut and wash it.  Remove the pitts of the plums and cut them into tiny pieces.

Step 6:

After the pork/sausage has been roasting together for thirty minutes remove it from the oven to add the plums and sauerkraut.  I love to add mushrooms (but my husband does not).  You can also add tomatoes and/or a splash of honey.

Step 7:

Add the mixture of spices to the pot.

And mix everything together.  Add two cups of water.

Roast covered for a minimum of one hour.  Or one and a half.  But make sure you stir whenever you remember.  I remembered twice.

Step 8:

Bon Appetit.  Or in Polish....  Smacznego.  To be served with a slice of rye bread.

In conclusion:

It's very easy to prepare Bigos as you just throw everything into one pot, really.  I hope you have adventurous taste buds to give Bigos a try this cold season in lue of a traditional beef stew.  And why "Cooking With A Toddler" you ask?  Because it took up two hours of our day as we worked side-by-side in the kitchen.  Note: do not leave toddler unattended because they might find the new bottle of Mr. Bubbles and empty it into the bath tub while you check in on your dinner roasting in the oven.

Trying to make Polish cuisine posh, one blog post at a time.  Yo!