Authentic Bigos Food

BIGOS (POLISH HUNTER'S STEW)

Steps:

• Place sauerkraut in a large pan or casserole dish and pour in 4 cups of boiling water. Add prunes, allspice, and bay leaves. Simmer until Sauerkraut is soft, about 50 minutes.
• Pour about 1 cup of boiling water over mushrooms and soak to rehydrate, about 30 minutes. Drain and chop mushrooms, reserving the liquid.
• Heat oil in a frying pan over medium to high heat. Add onion and sausage. Saute while stirring until onion is soft and sausage is browned, about 5 minutes.
• In a separate pan, bring about 4 cups of water to a boil. Add beef, pork, and bacon. Simmer until cooked through for 20 minutes, then drain.
• When sauerkraut is soft, add the drained meat mixture, sausage-onion mixture, and soaked mushrooms; mix well. Simmer uncovered over low heat, about 20 minutes.
• Pour in red wine and cook for 15 minutes until flavors are well blended. Season with caraway seeds, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Stir in tomato puree. If the stew is too dry, pour in some of the water reserved from soaking the mushrooms, and simmer so flavors combine, about 5 minutes.

BIGOS (HUNTER'S STEW)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and kielbasa; cook and stir until the bacon has rendered its fat and sausage is lightly browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and transfer to a large casserole or Dutch oven.
• Coat the cubes of pork lightly with flour and fry them in the bacon drippings over medium-high heat until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to the casserole. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, fresh mushrooms, cabbage and sauerkraut. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir until the carrots are soft, about 10 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown.
• Deglaze the pan by pouring in the red wine and stirring to loosen all of the bits of food and flour that are stuck to the bottom. Season with the bay leaf, basil, marjoram, paprika, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper; cook for 1 minute.
• Mix in the dried mushrooms, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, tomato paste and tomatoes. Heat through just until boiling. Pour the vegetables and all of the liquid into the casserole dish with the meat. Cover with a lid.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until meat is very tender.

AUTHENTIC BIGOS

Steps:

• Cover prunes and dried mushrooms in boiled water. Let stand for 30 minutes then drain.
• Cut all meats into 1-inch cubes, put in a ziploc bag, add the flour, close the bag and shake.
• Saute the onions in the oil until soft. Remove.
• Add the meat and brown in batches. Remove and set aside. Add the wine and simmer for 2 minutes stirring.
• Return the meat to the pan with the onion, sauerkraut, tomatoes, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, dill, mushrooms and prunes. Pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Uncover for the last 20 minuntes to let the liquid evaporate.
• In the meantime, peel and cut the potatoes into 1-in cubes. Boil them in water until tender, drain and toss with parsley.
• Add potatoes to bowl and top with the stew, sprinkle with parsley.

CHEF JOHN'S BIGOS (POLISH HUNTER'S STEW)

Steps:

• Place mushrooms in warm water to soak and soften, 10 or 15 minutes. Drain and chop.
• Heat butter in a heavy pot or Dutch oven; add sauerkraut and sliced cabbage. Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally. Brown the meat and add it to pot while sauerkraut is cooking per directions below.
• Heat skillet over medium-high heat; add bacon and cook until browned but not crisp. Transfer bacon to pot with cabbage, leaving bacon grease in skillet.
• Brown pork shoulder pieces in bacon grease over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir until browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to pot. Add beef chunks to skillet; sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir until browned, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add sausage slices to skillet and cook and stir until browned. Transfer slices to pot.
• Reduce heat under skillet to medium. Add chopped onion and a sprinkle of salt; cook and stir until onion turns translucent and starts to take on some color. Stir in chopped mushrooms and diced prunes. Cook and stir about 2 minutes. Pour in dry red wine; raise heat to medium-high. Simmer until wine is reduced to where very little liquid remains. Transfer onion mixture to pot with cabbage and meat. Add paprika, caraway seeds, thyme, allspice, bay leaf, pepper, and salt. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients.
• Cover tightly; simmer over medium-low heat until meat is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Allow stew to cool slightly; refrigerate overnight to let flavors blend.
• Place pot over low to medium-low heat and add a splash of water. Bring stew to low simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook until hot, 10 to 15 minutes.