Making bigos

Making Bigos!

Bigos is a Polish dish. It is a hunter’s stew. This recipe was created by me with help from Stasia Jelonek in 2013.

The following directions are how I make Bigos. They vary a bit from my instructor’s directions, but it works out fantastically and a bit quicker than otherwise. It take a bit of work and time, but it is very much worth the effort.

Let’s get started!

You will need two medium frying pans, one large pot, and one small pot. Lids for all 4 as well, and a wooden spoon or two. A fine mesh strainer will be used to drain the sauerkraut. You’ll need a cutting board for meat, and a cutting board for vegetables, as well as a knife for cutting the meat into smaller pieces, and a larger knife for cutting the cabbage and onions.

I’m going to break this up into what goes in each pot/pan.

Ingredients: 1 lb Polish Kielbasa 1 lb Bacon ( I use uncured thick cut bacon) 1 LB Boneless Pork Shoulder Ribs 1 large head of cabbage ( grab the biggest one you can find) 2 Medium onions ( I used yellow onions) 1 Jar Sauerkraut (14 oz jar) 1 Small can of Tomato Paste Olive Oil Paprika Allspice Maga (seasoning sauce) Salt & Pepper 1 tbs flour (approximately)

PAN 1 1 Medium Onion Olive Oil 1 LB Boneless Pork Shoulder Ribs Paprika (worked out well with smoked paprika as well) Salt & Pepper Allspice Maga (seasoning sauce) Put about a tablespoon of oil into a nonstick pan, spread the oil evenly and heat it on medium heat.

Peel and cut the onion into a coarse chop. You don’t want the onions to be too fine, but nicely chopped.

Place the onion in the heating pan with the oil. Stir occasionally as you work to prevent burning.

Wash the pork, and cut the Pork into approximately 1” squares. Mix the pork into the heating onions along with salt, pepper, paprika, and maga to taste. ( I used approximately a ¼ tsp of salt and allspice, 1/8th tsp pepper, ½ tsp paprika, and several dashes of Maga. Keep in mind these are all approximates as I didn’t use a measuring spoon… Sorry!). Essentially season it to taste.

Cook uncovered for approximately 20-25 minutes until pork appears to be browned, and then cover and simmer until used later (should cook for an hour or more in the pan).

PAN 2 Start PAN 2 as the pork is cooking.

1 Medium Onion Olive Oil 1 LB Bacon 1 LB Polish Kielbasa Put about a tablespoon of oil into a nonstick pan, spread the oil evenly and heat it on medium heat.

Peel and cut the onion into a coarse chop. You don’t want the onions to be too fine, but nicely chopped.

Place the onion in the heating pan with the oil. Stir occasionally as you work to prevent burning.

Cut the bacon into small pieces. ( I cut the strip of bacon crosswise about ¼” or less pieces). Put bacon in with the heating onions. Stir occasionally, let the bacon cook, but not get crispy.

Start by using a small knife and slit the skin on the kielbasa and peel the very outside skin off of the kielbasa. Cut the Kielbasa into small pieces. ( I cut the kielbasa lengthwise twice, then cut it crosswise about 1/3” thick). When the bacon is done in the pan, add the kielbasa cover and simmer on low until used later.

SMALL POT 1 Jar Sauerkraut (14 oz jar) Put the sauerkraut into a fine mesh strainer. (I would put the strainer so that it is supported by a pot or bowl) Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, press the juice out of the sauerkraut. The more juice you press out, the less sour the final dish will be. ( I press MOST of the juice out, leaving the sauerkraut just a

little damp still). Then place the sauerkraut and a small amount of water (1/8 th cup or so) into the smaller pan and cover and heat it on medium-low until softer. Try not to cook it too long as it may get mushy.

Big POT 1 Head of Cabbage Cut the head of cabbage so that you end up with all of the cabbage cut up into approximately 1” squares (or a little bigger). You can cut pretty close to the core, but do not include the core. Put the cabbage in the big pot with a little bit of water and cover and steam on medium until fairly soft. (Maybe ¼ cup, add more as needed if the cabbage isn’t soft yet. But you do want to end up with all of the water evaporated.) Reduce heat to medium-low and start adding the other mixtures as follows.

Final Steps Once the water has cooked out of the cabbage, add the softened sauerkraut from the Small Pot, the pork mixture from Pan 1, and then scoop the kielbasa mixture from Pan 2 into the Big Pot, leaving all of the juice in Pan 2. Mix the Big Pot lightly.

In Pan 2, mix the flour into the juice, add a little water, and stir until it makes a very thick gravy, and cook until browned. Put the gravy on the mixture in the Big Pot and mix lightly.

Now all of the ingredients should be combined into the Big Pot, and it should smell delicious! The final step is to take about 1/3 of the can of tomato paste and spread it on top of the mixture in the Big Pot. Mix it together and try it out. You can add less, or more, of the tomato paste to color and taste as you desire. Let it cook on low for another 30 mins to an hour, and You have made Bigos! ** Note ** Seems to be better if you let it sit in the refrigerator for a day or two prior heating and eating.

If you can’t wait, it is delicious right off the stove as well.

This recipe is as made and written by the Chef, Dan McClure, with special thanks to his lovely assistant, Monika McClure, and the Teacher with real world experience in Polish Cooking, Stanislawa Jelonek.