can anyone give me the recipe for bigos?

Question

It's a Polish dish and I need to be able to buy the ingredients in the uk. I have followed the recipe from a cooking website but does not quite taste right. I would be greatful if someone Polish could give me their traditional recipe. thanks.

Answer 1

Hunters' Stew From Warsaw (Bigos Warszawski)

The intermarriage of French and Polish nobility was greatly responsible for adding a distinctive French flair to traditional Polish cooking. This recipe is considered "high Polish Cuisine" as compared to - Bigos, Hunters' Stew - the peasant version. Bigos is made with a only a small amount of added liquid.
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
1 lb pork, cubed
1 lb sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced Polish sausage
1/4 cup water
1 bouillon cube
1 lb cabbage, thinly sliced
3/4 cup diced bacon
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons instant flour
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper
1/2 cup red table wine

5 servings

2 hours 30 minutes 30 mins prep


Brown pork in the hot bacon drippings.
Place in a kettle and add sauerkraut, sausage, water and boullion cube.
Cover and simmer until the pork is tender (1 to 1 1/2 hours).
In the meantime, add the cabbage to a pot of boiling water, reduce heat, simmer 20 minutes and drain.
Saute the bacon and onion until golden, add the flour mixed with water and stir until smooth.
Stir into the pork- sauerkraut mixture and add the tomato paste, cabbage, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
Simmer for 10 minutes, add wine and serve with steamed potatoes or crusty rye bread.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

traditional Polish dish
Polish food, beer and vodkas (there are many) are quite special and difficult to find in Britain outside the best delicatessen and Polish communities. This is a recipe based on the central European staple of saurkraut. Saurkraut is made by fermenting cabbage in great vats on farms from Alsace in France (choucroute), in Germany and across north east of Europe. Brown 'Boletus' mushrooms are the other great Polish ingredient, and excellent dried. These are difficult to find, but are abundant in Poland, especially in Autumn when you will see people selling them in vast quantities along the main roads out of Warsaw. Mushroom picking is also a national past time. When Lech Welesa was first summoned to be President he was out mushroom picking. And rumour has it he was out of contact for days...
The tradition of this Polish stew goes back centuries, and every ancient Polish manor had a Bigos recipe in its house cookbook. The ingredients were kept in good supply in larders, and the stew was taken on long road journeys and eaten on feast days. While the stew cooked in a huge pot, the hunters drank crystal clear, gold-flecked vodka from Gdansk. It's a great recipe for venison which has a tendency to dry out when cooked by other methods; used in Bigos, it becomes tender, juicy, and full of flavour.

For 4-6 Persons.
Preparation time: 1 hour; cooking: 2 to 3 hours

Ingredients: 500gm (1lb) White Cabbage
500 gm Sauerkraut (1lb)
40cc Water (1 pt)
300 g Sausage, any variety (¾ lb)
250 g Boiled ham (½ lb.)
250 g Roast pork (½ lb)
250 g Roast beef (½ lb)
6 Boletus dried mushrooms (try a delicatessen)
6 Stoned prunes 6 Juniper berries, crushed
6 Peppercorns
1 Bay leaf
1 Onion
2 Cooking apples
7.5cc Red wine, dry or Madiera (1/6 pt)
1 tsp Honey
1 tbs Lard
Salt and pepper to taste
Note: the type and quantity of the meat you add depends on what you prefer. Sausage is usually smoked sausage and can be bockwurst found in Aldi and other supermarkets to Wielska, 'village' sausage which you can buy from delicatessen. Roast duck or venison and roasting gravies are often used in bigoś. A squirt of tomato purée is also often added.

Preparation:

Rinse the mushrooms, cover with a little warm water and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Cook the mushrooms in their soaking liquid for 30 minutes, drain and cut into strips. Keep the mushroom stock. If you cannot get dried Polish mushrooms you could add any mushrooms and save the preparation.
Drain the excess juices from the sauerkraut (if necessary: chop it finely).
Chop the cabbage, pour boiling water over it and drain.
Peel the apples and cut into cubes.
Peel and chop the onions, lightly fry them in 1 tbs of lard.
Method:

Put the cabbage and the sauerkraut into a large saucepan, add onions, mushrooms, mushroom stock, apples, prunes, crushed juniper, bay leaf and peppercorns.

Add 40cc of boiling water, cover and cook (low heat) for 1½ hours.

Cut the meats into cubes. Slice the sausage and fry it lightly in lard. Add all to the pan. Pour the red wine in, add 1 tsp honey and cook for a further 40 minutes.

Stir frequently taking care not to burn it.

Serving

Bigos can be reheated for several days. In fact it's flavour improves as it matures, tastes best on the third day.

Serve hot with wholemeal or Polish dark sour rye bread.

Answer 4

* 1 cup chopped bacon
* 1 pound of boneless pork, cut into small cubes
* 3 cloves of garlic, minced
* 3 onions, quartered
* 1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered
* 2 cups beef stock
* 2 Tablespoons sugar
* 2 bay leaves
* 2 cups sauerkraut, rinsed under cold water and drained
* 3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
* 2 cups canned tomatoes, with juice, cut into pieces
* 1 cup diced cooked ham
* 1 and 1/2 cups Polish sausage, cut into small chunks
* salt and pepper to taste

Garnish: sour cream, served on the side

Fry the bacon in a Dutch oven, to render the fat, then toss in the pork chunks, garlic, onions, and mushrooms. Saute until the meat is browned--about 5 minutes.

Pour in the stock, tomatoes with their juice, sugar, bay leaves, sauerkraut, and apples, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. Stir in the ham and sausage, then cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 30 more minutes.

When ready to serve, remove bay leaves and taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and serve with boiled potatoes, a bowl of sour cream, and thick, crusty bread.

Answer 5

1 cup chopped bacon
1 pound of boneless pork, cut into small cubes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 onions, quartered
1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered
2 cups beef stock
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
2 cups sauerkraut, rinsed under cold water and drained
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
2 cups canned tomatoes, with juice, cut into pieces
1 cup diced cooked ham
1 and 1/2 cups Polish sausage, cut into small chunks
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: sour cream, served on the side

Fry the bacon in a Dutch oven, to render the fat, then toss in the pork chunks, garlic, onions, and mushrooms. Saute until the meat is browned--about 5 minutes.

Pour in the stock, tomatoes with their juice, sugar, bay leaves, sauerkraut, and apples, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. Stir in the ham and sausage, then cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 30 more minutes.

When ready to serve, remove bay leaves and taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and serve with boiled potatoes, a bowl of sour cream, and thick, crusty bread.


Title: POLISH BIGOS (SAUERKRAUT STEW)
Categories: Stews
Yield: 16 servings

4 lb Sauerkraut
1 lb Beef cubes
1 lb Smoked butt
1 lb Spareribs
1/4 lb Bacon
1 cn Tomatoes (large)
2 c Water
4 lb Cabbage head
1 lb Loin pork chops
1 lb Smoked kielbasa
1/2 c Onions (chopped)
1 oz Mushrooms (dried)
2 tb Flour

Brown the beef, pork and spareribs in a large heavey
pot. Put the browned meats and the smoked butt with 1
cup of water into a separate, covered pan and simmer
until tender, the pork chops about 1/2 hour, the butt
about 1 hour, beef 1 1/2 to 2 hours and spareribs 2
hours. Pour off all the fat from the first pot and put
in the sauerkraut and one cup of water. Chop the
cabbage fine and add to sauerkraut. Cover and cook
until cabbage is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove lid
and keep pot on a very low simmer.
In a third pan, fry bacon until crisp, then crumble
into sauerkraut mixture. Remove most of the bacon fat
and fry onions and flour until they just brown. Mix
into sauerkraut mixture. Remove the meats from the
second pan as they become tender. Cut away fat and
bone and cut into small pieces. Add to sauerkraut
mixture. Skim the fat off the meat juices and add to
sauerkraut mixture. Take off skin from kielbasa and
cut into slices. Add to sauerkraut mixture with the
tomatoes. Salt, pepper to taste. Bring to a boil,
simmer 5 minutes and serve hot.