Bigos, Hunter's Stew

Bigos, Polish Hunter Stew

There's many variations of the bigos, Polish Hunter Stew. Different regions have their own variation but the common ingrediants are cabbage, sauerkraut and various kinds of meats. This recipe is from south eastern part of Poland. Polish people have been making bigos for generations, especially in the winter. This is a hearty stew that lends itself to those cold Polish days. In the early days hunting was one way a family would have food on the table.  Cabbage was easily grown in those parts of Poland, in addition cabbage weathered the winter well. So it made sense to combine the "hunt" and the cabbage, add a little seasoning, and you have a hearty meal. The benefit of a meal like this, other than it taste good, it's hearty, it reheats well, it's even better on the second and third day. Another word, the longer you cook it the better it taste. Just make sure you eat it with a good rye bread.

So let's give it a try!

Ingredients:

1 medium size, about 2 cups of cabbage, shredded
2 lb Sauerkraut
1 onion, dices
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of beef broth
5 bay leaves
20 peppercorns
salt
2 1/2 lb of any combination of meats such as beef, pork, veal, bacon, duck, venison, or polish sausage, cut into small pieces. If any meats have bones, trim the meat around it and use all parts including the bone.

Optional Ingredients, any one or multiple of these ingredients can be used:
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of wild mushrooms, dry mushrooms can be used
1 cup of prunes or raisons
about 10 garlic cloves

All of the above ingredients are give or take a little either way.


Step 1.
* Shred cabbage and place it in either a very large pot or a crockpot.

*  Put the sauerkraut in a strainer, rinse with cold water, using your hands,  squeeze all water, leave the sauerkraut in the strainer until you finish prepping all the ingredients.

*  Prepare mushrooms-if using fresh mushrooms (we are using fresh mushrooms), rinse and clean the mushroom, cut them into large bite size. set aside.

If using dry mushrooms, rinse well under the cold water, then cover them with cold water, let them sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You can use the mushrooms or mushroom anf the liquid.

*  Prepare the meat, remove all excess fat but leave some for the flavor, cut all the meat into large about two or three inches, if a piece of meat has a bone, trim off some of the meat, leave some meat on the bone.

In the extra large pot or the crockpot combine all ingredients,  include any additional ingredients you would like to include, except the meat.

Step 2.
In a large pot cook the bacon until just starts to be crisp, remove the bacon and leave the fat,

working in small batches, sear all the meat,

 Once a batch is seared, add to the rest of the cabbage ingredients.

When done, if using a pot on the stove, bring the ingredients to boil, then lower the heat to low, cover and cook for 8 to 12 hours. Stir about every half an hour or as needed. If using a cockpot, set it for low and cook for 8 hours, stir, if needed, cook for another couple hours. The total time will depend on your crockpot.

When done, this is what bigos should look like.