Kapusniak Food

POLISH SAUERKRAUT SOUP RECIPE (KAPUSNIAK)

Steps:

• In a large pot heat up the oil, add the bay leaf, onion and fry for a couple of minutes over a medium heat stirring occasionally.
• Add the sauerkraut (and meat if using, see *Notes below), stir and continue frying for another minute or so. Add 1/2 the amount of stock, cover and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Add the rest of the ingredients (NOT the salt), including the remaining stock, stir, cover, bring to boil again and continue cooking over a low heat for 50 minutes. DO NOT add salt until the soup is fully cooked as the sauerkraut is salty so taste the soup to decide how much salt it needs.

KAPUSTA II

Steps:

• Place the salt pork in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until the fat has melted down and the meaty parts are cooked. Add shredded cabbage, and cook over medium-low heat until tender, stirring to coat the cabbage with the salt pork drippings.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles, and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. When the cabbage has cooked completely, stir egg noodles into the cabbage, and season with black pepper to taste.

KAPUSTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat; saute onions and mushrooms until tender.
• In a medium saucepan over high heat, boil cabbage for 10 minutes.
• In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish combine onions, mushrooms, cabbage, sauerkraut, sugar, thyme, salt and pepper; mix well. Dot remaining 2 tablespoons butter on top. Cover.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

KAPUSTA (UKRAINIAN SOUP)

Steps:

• 1. Sautee bacon, kielbasa and onion together.
• 2. In a large stock pot - add sauerkraut, 2 cans soup and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover sauerkraut 1 inch above and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper.
• 3. When bacon, kielbasa and onions are ready, add to sauerkraut (grease and all). Mix and simmer covered for at least 1 hour.

SAUERKRAUT SOUP (KAPUSNIAK)

Steps:

• Heat butter in a small frying pan and fry the spare ribs briskly to seal in their juices.
• Gently boil the ribs and all the other ingredients in the water for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauerkraut softens.
• Remove the spare ribs and bay leaf, season to taste and serve.

KAPUSTA (POLISH CABBAGE SOUP)

Steps:

• Place pork ribs in a large 8 quart heavy pot and cover the ribs with water almost to the top. Bring to a boil uncovered, lower to a fast simmer (low boil) and cook for 45 minutes, skimming off foam as they start to boil. Shut off burner and let them sit in the water for 15 minutes.
• While the pork is cooking, in a medium frying pan, cook the diced salt pork on a medium high flame for 2-3 minutes or until just starting to brown. Add onion to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until just starting to get tender. Reduce to medium heat, stir in the flour and sauté for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Once cooked, remove ribs from the pot and let cool. Save the liquid in the pot.
• To the pot of liquid, add the sauerkraut and juice, shredded cabbage, stewed tomatoes, caraway seeds and salt as well as the cooked salt pork and onion mixture.
• Cook over medium high heat until cabbage is cooked, approximately 30-35 minutes. While the cabbage mixture is cooking, remove the meat from the bones, shredding the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return the cooked pork to the pot once the cabbage is tender and heat to serving temperature.
• Peel and quarter potatoes and place in cold sated water while cabbage mixture is cooking. Bring to a boil and over a medium boil, cook potatoes for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain water and cool potatoes to room temperature. Once the cabbage mixture has finished cooking, cut cooked potatoes into bite sized pieces and either add to the finished cabbage dish or serve on the side. (cooking in quarters and cutting after the fact will make them more firm and less mushy since less of the surface touched the boiling water.
• Serve with rye bread and butter for a traditional Polish meal.

CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE

Steps:

• Clean and dice the potatoes into small pieces. Shred the cabbage and carrots.
• Rinse the meat under cold water. In a large soup pot, bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Add in the meat and the Better Than Bouillon Beef Base and cook for 30 minutes.
• Add in the potatoes and cabbage and simmer the soup for 10 minutes.
• Dice the onions and shred the carrots. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the onions with a little bit of oil until golden brown. Add in the shredded carrots and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Remove the meat pieces from the soup and remove the bone. Add the meat back into the soup and toss the bones in the trash.
• Season to taste with salt. Serve immediately and enjoy!

KIELBASA KAPUSTA - SLOW COOKER RECIPE!

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat melt butter and bacon drippings until foaming subsides, about 2-3 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent and edges begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes.
• While onions cook rinse and drain sauerkraut at least twice. Make sure sauerkraut is well drained and add it to slow cooker along with onions, salt, pepper, brown sugar, water, and kielbasa. Give everything a good stir and cover. Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce to low and cook for an additional 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.

POLISH SAUERKRAUT SOUP (KAPUSNIAK)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place ham hocks or ham bone and water in a Dutch oven or other large pot. Bring to a boil, skimming off foam. Add onion, bay leaf, peppercorns , and parsley. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 45 minutes, or until meat falls off the bones.
• Remove meat from broth, dice and return to the pot with barley, sauerkraut, and caraway seeds, if using. Return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer , uncovered, for an additional 45 minutes.
• If soup becomes too thick, add meat stock or water. If a more sour taste is desired, add some reserved kraut juice.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove ​the ​ bay leaf .
• Serve in heated bowls with hearty rye bread .

KAPUSNIAK

Steps:

• Bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan; add the celery, carrots, apples, and mushrooms (taste the water in which you soaked the mushrooms; if it tastes good, add that too). Simmer over low heat until everything is soft, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onion and sauerkraut, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened, about 10 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the caraway seeds. Stir the sauerkraut mixture into the simmering stock and cook until the soup thickens slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt if necessary, pepper, and the reserved sauerkraut juice.

MY KAPUSTA (POLISH CABBAGE SOUP)

Steps:

• Shred cabbage, set aside.
• Brown ribs in small amount of olive oil in large fry pan; remove from pan.
• Sauté cabbage using drippings in pan and butter. I usually do this in batches, adding all cabbage and juices from each batch into the pot.
• Add butter to pan and make next batch.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add sauerkraut and mix in well.
• Bury ribs in cabbage mix, fill with cold water just to cover all.
• Bring pot to boil, cover and lower heat to simmer.
• Simmer for about 2 hours.
• Check after 1-1/2 hours to see if cabbage is soft; meat should be falling off the bones.
• When done, carefully remove meat making sure to get all the bones.
• There aren't many or any bones in the country style ribs, that's why I use them instead of regular ribs.
• Separate meat from bones and fat and return meat to pot. Mix.
• I use an 8 quart enameled cast iron pot. Try to use a heavy metal pot or one that has a heavy bottom.
• Some people serve this in a bowl with boiled or mashed potatoes and/or some sour cream; and a nice hunk of Polish sisal bread, if you can find any!
• You could also add caraway or dill seeds when cooking it.
• NOTE:.If you can make this the night before you will serve it, and refrigerate it, it is better. The taste improves with age!

POLISH CABBAGE AND SAUERKRAUT SOUP (KAPUśNIAK)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, sear pork ribs on both sides over medium-high heat. There should be enough fat on the ribs so additional fat should not be required. If the ribs are very lean, lightly spray the pot with cooking spray before searing. Remove browned ribs to a plate and reserve.
• Add bacon to the pot and fry until most of the fat has rendered out. Add onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, and garlic to the pot and cook until onion is translucent. Add fresh cabbage and cook until it collapses. Return spareribs to the pot and add ham bone or hock, sauerkraut, tomato sauce, beef stock, paprika, bay leaf, and sugar. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook about 2 hours or until meat falls from the bones.
• Remove ribs and ham bone or hock from the soup, let cool slightly and remove all bones and cartilage from meat. Chop meat into bite-sized pieces, if necessary, and return to the pot. If you prefer a slightly more sour soup, add some of the reserved sauerkraut juice.
• Cool the soup in an ice-water bath and then refrigerate. The next day, skim off the congealed fat and reheat. Adjust seasonings, if necessary. Serve in warmed bowls with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with chopped parsley , if desired.
• Enjoy!

KAPUśNIAK: POLISH SAUERKRAUT SOUP

Steps:

• Divide the ribs into smaller pieces, ideally of such a size that they fit easily in the soup plate. Season them with salt and pepper.
• Grab a frying pan and heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Fry them on each side until they start to turn golden. Moved these fried ribs into a pot (ideally sized at 3 qt / 3 litres or bigger). Don't wash the frying pan just yet!
• Chop the leek and dice the onion finely. Fry these veggies on the fat that remained from frying ribs. At the end of frying, add crushed garlic clove and spices: one tablespoon of dried marjoram and half a teaspoon of caraway seeds. When heated, the spices release their essential oils, giving Kapuśniak its unique taste. Put the fried ingredients aside for now.
• Peel the vegetables (2 carrots, a parsley root and a chunk of a celery root). Dice them into squares (roughly with half-inch/1 cm sides). Drop them into the pot with ribs. Add 4 bay leaves and 6 allspice berries. Then, pour 2 quarts (around 2 litres) of water.
• Cook for 30 minutes on low heat, until both ribs and vegetables soften.
• Peel and cube the potatoes, add them to the soup and continue cooking until they soften (that takes around 15 minutes)
• As you wait, drain the sauerkraut (keep the juices!) and chop it roughly. Add them to the soup, together with the onion, leek and spices we have fried before.
• Continue cooking on a low heat for a further 30 minutes, in that time the sauerkraut will soften and release its aromas.
• Have a taste. Season with salt and pepper. If Kapuśniak needs more sour 'kick', add some leftover sauerkraut juice.
• Pour the soup into bowls / soup plates, making sure that everyone gets some veggies and meat. Sprinkle each portion with chopped parsley.