Bigos – A Polish Hunter’s Meal

Bigos

Do you live in the Northern half of the world? If so, I am thinking you might be preparing for the onslaught of cooler weather. Me, I’ve just finished with all that for a while; in the southern hemisphere it is all about getting the pool toys out of storage and readying the garden for the long, hot summer. It was during our short winter season that I recreated a taste that I had brought back home with me, when I returned from Poland: the Polish national dish, called “Bigos.”

Bigos is a meal based on the Polish sausage, Kielbasa, but any kind of cooked sausage works well if you make your own version. It might be nice to try Chorizo sausage, but I actually used Bratwurst, as that is what I had to hand. It is still a traditional Bigos no matter what meal you use, as Wikipedia states:

“The variety of meats is considered essential for good bigos; its preparation may be a good occasion to clean out one’s freezer and use up leftovers from other meat dishes.”

Making Bigos is a great use of leftovers, especially sausage and cabbage, because unless you like curried sausages, which my other half most decidedly doesn’t, you aren’t left with too many other options with using up leftover bratwurst.

But Bigos IS an option you do have. And what’s more, it’s a very forgiving dish. Being a traditional dish of not only Poland, but also Belarus and Lithuania, it is said that there are as many recipes for Bigos, as there are cooks in Poland!

Traditionally, Bigos would be served at large family gatherings, like Christmas or Easter, but centuries ago, it was more common to cook Bigos in a simply pot over a camp fire, whilst out, “hunting,” hence the term, “Hunter’s Stew.”

Source: Wikipedia

Like many stews or casseroles, it has a flavour that improves with subsequent reheating and refrigeration. One can vary the amount of sauerkraut/fresh cabbage and meat ratios used and thicken it with several ingredients such as flour, crumbled rye bread, or even grated raw potato. In Silesian Poland, they add a potato dumpling to thicken the stew prior to serving. [Note to self: I must try that next time!]

This very forgiving flexible, hearty dish is just the ticket for an upcoming cool Autumn/Winter night. It could also be easily made in the slow cooker, ready and waiting for when one arrives home from work, in the evening!

Originally, this recipe came from Allrecipes.com, but I have varied it a great deal and so have reproduced it here.

POLISH BIGOS

Ingredients

• 2 thick slices hickory-smoked bacon
• 1 large cooked bratwurst, kielbasa other Polish sausage, sliced
• 250g cubed pork/ham
• 1-2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 sticks celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, diced  or other hard vegetables
• 1 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage – any variety is fine
• 250g sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained
• 1/4 cup (60ml) dry red wine- I didn’t have any so I left this out
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper
• 1 pinch caraway seed, crushed
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 50g mushrooms,  diced
• 1 dash hot chilli sauce (optional)
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups beef/chicken stock
• 1 tablespoons tinned tomato paste
• 2/3 cup tinned diced tomatoes

Method

1.  Add the bacon and kielbasa/bratwurst sausage to a large saucepan on medium heat. Cook and stir until the bacon, sausage, pork or ham is lightly browned.
2. Add the garlic, onion, celery, and saute for several minutes.
3. Add carrots, mushrooms, cabbage and sauerkraut. Reduce heat to medium, then cook and stir until the carrots are soft; about 10 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown.
4. Add the red wine and heat, stirring to loosen all of the bits that are stuck to the bottom. I used a little stock as I had no wine!
5. Season with the bay leaf, the herbs, paprika, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper; cook for 1 minute.
6. Mix in the mushrooms, chili sauce if you wish, Worcestershire sauce, remaining chicken or beef stock, tomato paste and tomatoes. Heat through just until boiling. Cover with a lid.
7. Simmer on the stove for 1 1/2 hours or Bake in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or on low/auto in a slow cooker.
8. I omitted the use of flour, but if the Bigos has not condensed down to the consistency of a casserole, add 1 -2 tablespoon of cornflour mixed in a little cold water and mix in. Cook for 5- 10 minutes till thickened.

Easy to cook, traditional meals are really worth pondering about during winter.

Save

Winter in South/Autumn in North

 

When you have had a series of rainy days there is nothing better than a good hearty stew, and we can thank the Irish for the basis of the stew that I cooked this week, which satisfied 8 teenage appetites.

We can also thank the Naxon company in Chicago for first developing a rudimentary slow cooker or Crock pot which has since been refined to the wonderful appliance we have today. This means the ingredients can be placed inside and albeit forgotten until hours later when the slow cooker has worked its magic and produced a tasty and nutritious meal completely without supervision. In the current supercharged world, this is a wonderful advantage and fantastic alternative to fast food dinners.

“Ever since man first tamed fire, slow cooking was discovered as a way to soften up and tenderize those tough slabs of meat and fibrous ‘root vegetables. In prehistoric times, indigenous peoples often cooked wild root plants in a slow burning fire pit for a full 24 hours. This released the nutrition locked into the bulbs and made them much more tender and tastier to eat. Tough meat cuts especially benefit from slow cooking. Slow cooking these chewy cuts broke down the collagen in the meat and turned it into a gelatinous broth. As the fibers of the meat separated and shrunk during slow cooking, the juices would moisten the meat and turn even the toughest cuts into a mouth watering meal.” (click here to read more)

Family Stew Recipe

♠ Place a selection of diced vegetables in the base of the cooker, including:

3 sticks celery

3 onions

3-4 carrots

1 capsicum (green)

3-4 small new potatoes

I also add the following for flavour:

1 swede or rutabaga

1 turnip

1 parsnip

2 zucchini

You can also throw in any leftover vegetable you have in your fridge; Spinach or Silverbeet leaves or corn kernels might be nice.

♦ On top of the vegetables place diced Mutton chops or Blade steak (I use blade myself)

(trimmed of excess fat)

♦ 2-3 cups of beef or chicken stock (I use chicken to avoid Mad Cow Contamination – but then I may be too paranoid)

♦ seasoning of your own choice

♦ 1 teaspoon thyme

♦ a few celery stalks with leaves intact

♦In the morning, set the Slow cooker to Auto for 6-8 hours, or Low for 8-10 hours. (Auto setting will simply adjust the cooking time from high initially to low in the later stages of the cooking time)   Cover and let it cook. When you come home in the evening, add:

♠1-2 cups frozen peas (or beans)

♦ 3 tablespoons cornflour mixed with 1/3 cup cold water (and a little stock from the pot)

Cook on high till thickened ( about 10-15 minutes)

Voila! Dinner is done…

Serve with rice or noodles, and it will feed at least 8 people comfortably.

Something Delicious to Ponder About

 

Slow Cooker Chicken with Cashews

Who doesn’t love a slow cooker, especially if you have to cook meals for a family night after night, between juggling work and leisure commitments.

I was sceptical about this dish, but must say it worked brilliantly, so I have shared it here. Note it does not have the luxury of all day cooking times, as the beef dishes require, but still will give you 3 hours lead time into dinner. A hearty dish will a bed of rice to accompany it.

Slow cooker Chicken with Cashew nuts

Slow Cooker Chicken with Cashew nuts

2-3 Chicken breasts, sliced and chopped into 1-2 inch segments

3 tablespoons flour with  freshly ground pepper added

Olive oil

Whatever variety of veges you have in the fridge, I added:

Capsicum ( 1/2)

Carrot, 1 sliced and diced

Celery, 1 stalk

2 medium onions, sliced and diced

1 zucchini, sliced and chopped into 2 inch segments

1/2 cup cashew nuts, salted or unsalted ( I used the salted variety)

Sauce:

1/4 cup soya sauce

2 tbspn rice wine vinegar ( I replaced with apple cider vinegar because I don’t have the rice wine variety)

2 tbspn ketchup or tomato sauce as we call it here in Australia

1 tbspn brown sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2  – 3/4 cup chicken stock

 

Method:

Coat chicken in flour with pepper added, and brown in heavy pan to which the olive oil has been added

Combine sauce ingredients and place all in slow cooker in the following sequence:

Vegetables, then chicken, then sauce.

Cook on low for 3 hours, then add cashew nuts a few minutes, prior to serving.

Delicious!

Rating: 8/10