Bigos

Not much to write here. Bigos is bigos. Everyone more or less knows what it’s about. But this particular bigos came over me out of sheer stress. And when stress makes me want bigos, it has to be good.

I’m stressed because it’s a hectic time: I’m travelling and have no time for cooking. So when I happened to have a moment today, what was it going to be? Bigos, of course.

I also hope this will be my only bigos until the end of the year — meaning, I don’t want any more messy stews to deal with. Especially outside the kitchen. I don’t know whether you get that, but when it comes to cooking, this one is definitely good.

Very classic, made with lard, but on the other hand with lean meat (even the sausage was lean) and mushrooms. Plus a splash of dry red wine. Perfect for a special occasion. I recommend it!

At a glance:

Preparation time: 3 hours

Serves: 8 people

How many calories: hell knows

Ingredients for a typically Polish sauerkraut dish:

• about 1.5 kg of sauerkraut
• 1 onion
• 450 grams of lean pork leg
• 120 grams of smoked sausage (I had some country-style sausage)
• 1/3 of a block of lard
• 65 grams of prunes
• 4 tablespoons of tomato paste
• half a glass of dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 bay leaves
• a glass of dry red wine
• black pepper (whole peppercorns)
• salt
• ground sweet paprika
• ground black pepper
• 6 allspice berries

How to make Polish festive bigos:

I’ll do this in numbered steps, because I haven’t written for a while and need to concentrate, and this is a matter of national importance. But don’t worry, there won’t be a public tender for this recipe. So:

1. I put the dried porcini (unfortunately shop-bought) into a glass and poured boiling water over them. I covered it with a saucer and set it aside.

2. I put the sauerkraut in a colander and rinsed it with cold water so it wouldn’t be too sour (you need to taste it if the cabbage is very sour, so the bigos doesn’t turn out too sour). Then I chopped it finely on a board. I put it in a large pot.

3. To the pot of cabbage I added the bay leaves, allspice, a tablespoon of salt, 1/5 of the lard, diced prunes and black peppercorns. I poured in boiling water (up to the level of the cabbage), put the lid on and cooked it (covered).

4. I heated the remaining lard in a frying pan. I fried the finely chopped onion and diced pork leg in the lard. I seasoned them with ground pepper, sweet paprika and salt. I fried them for about 25 minutes.

5. While the cabbage was cooking and the meat was frying, I drained the mushrooms and cut them into narrow strips, and finely diced the sausage.

6. I added the meat and onion, mushrooms and sausage to the simmering cabbage. I poured in a glass of red wine and added 4 tablespoons of tomato paste.

7. I simmered it for about 1 hour with the lid on, then for 1 hour uncovered, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

NOTE! It’s a good idea to stir the bigos after practically every step above, and also every 5 minutes or so.

Delicious bigos, for a celebration or just at home, is ready. Perfect with dinner or on its own with bread (preferably buttered). Enjoy!

Of course, it tastes best reheated for the 2nd or 3rd time 🙂