World Food and Wine
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Polish hunter's stew with dill potatoes (bigos)

This is one of the easiest recipes for this Polish stew known as bigos.

Ingredients

1 c bacon (coarsely chopped)
1⁄2 lb pork (stewing meat, shoulder or belly, cut into cubes)
8 oz mushroom (sliced)
1 lb sauerkraut (drained)
2 c cabbage (shredded)
1 apple (large, peeled and sliced)
1 cn tomato (chopped tomatoes, 16 oz can)
1⁄4 c liquid (water, red wine or Polish beer)
5 pepper (whole black peppercorns)
1 lf bay leaf
1 c sausage (sliced, Polish smoked sausage, kielbasa)
6 potato (peeled and diced)
2 T butter
  salt (to taste)
  water (to boil the potatoes)

Instructions

  1. Heat then bacon in a large casserole dish on medium heat. When the fat starts to melt, add pork meat and brown lightly.
  2. Add the sauerkraut, shredded cabbage, sliced mushrooms, apple, tomatoes, peppercorns, bay leaf and liquid into the casserole dish.
  3. Cover and simmer for 75 minutes, stirring occasionally
  4. Add sausage. Simmer 1 hour longer. Check the seasoning.
  5. Heat water in a pan with salt add a little of the butter.
  6. Boil the potatoes until tender, 10-15 minutes.
  7. Drain the potatoes when cooked, place back into the pan and add the rest of the butter and the chopped dill.
  8. Cover and let them stand for 5 minutes.
  9. To serve, place some stew on a plate with some dill potatoes on the side.
Total time
2 hours, 45 minutes
Cooking time
145
Preparation time
20
Yield
6 servings

Notes

If the stew gets too dry, add a little more liquid or water.

Other vegetables can be added; for instance, chopped onion to brown with the bacon and meat, or sliced carrot together with the cabbage and the sauerkraut.

Other meats can be added besides pork, or, if pork is not to your taste, substitute pork meat with beef or 1 cup of cooked meat.

Omit canned chopped tomatoes and add 1 cup meat broth.

Source

Polish cuisine

The stew will keep well from from one day to another and it said it tastes better this way.

It can be re-heated several times and it freezes well.

meat, vegetables
main meal, comfort
Polish food recipes
Food in Europe