This is the first of our Basic Bigos recipes. It's simple to make and and a fine introduction to the wonders of this succulent dish.

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 kg of meat, any combination of pork, beef, sausage or bacon
1 cabbage, chopped in small pieces
1 kg sauerkraut
1 cup of water (250 ml)
About 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste
3 bay leaves or another vegetable seasoning, to taste
5 pieces of dried mushrooms
1 cup (250 ml) of crushed tomatoes
Directions
Fry chopped onion and meat in margarine until they are brown. Add cabbage and sauerkraut to the meat mixture. Add a cup of water. Add the salt, pepper, bay leaves or other seasoning and dried mushrooms. Put everything in a big pot on the stove.

Simmer on low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring often. 

After 2 hours add the crushed tomatoes and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring often. After 3 hours of cooking the Bigos is ready to serve.


 

 

Now we have the famous "Bigos from Leftovers"!
Heed the name well and feel free to be adventurous if you choose to try this one in your own home.

Ingredients
Any leftover meat (We usually buy some stew beef and some pork)
1 pound Polish sausage (Kielbasa)
2 pounds sauerkraut
1/4 pound salt pork
4 dried mushrooms
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 bouillon cube
1 onion (chopped)
2 apples, peeled and diced
3 tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons mustard
salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Cook sauerkraut and mushrooms in large stewpot over medium/med-hi heat. (You may want to soak the mushrooms in hot water first)

Add the apples and tomatoes, turn the heat down to medium-low, and simmer.

In a frying pan, brown the salt pork (diced) with a chopped onion. Add to the sauerkraut mixture. Chop the meat and polish sausage into stew-size chunks and add to the pot. Finally, stir in the sugar, mustard, and bouillon cube.

Simmer for an hour and serve with potatoes.

  • Note: the longer it cooks, the better it tastes! The original recipe is somewhat vague, but I think the first ingredient says it all - LEFTOVERS! We add other vegetables and such as we have them.

We hope you enjoy this!