Bigos!

I love the word Bigos! I don't know why but it feels good to say. :) Bigos is a Polish stew made with sauerkraut and lots of meat. I made it with mashed potatoes and my whole family really liked it. We are not Polish but felt like it for the night. :) I found the recipe at the Wholesome Cook just searching for something to use up leftover sauerkraut. As you might guess, I did not use the full 1 kg of kraut because I had used some for another recipe - the beet reuben - but it seemed fine.

1kg sauerkraut 

200g diced pork

200g diced beef

100g speck or streaky bacon

100g dried pitted prunes

1 brown onion

1 chorizo

10g dried porcini

4 bay leaves

4 whole allpsice seeds (pimento seeds)

1 tsp ground pepper

4 cups water

1 cup red wine 

1 strip of lemon peel

1 tablespoon brown sugar

sunflower or canola oil

To prepare the ingredients: Dice chorizo and speck into bite sized pieces. Dice onion. Break up porcini mushrooms into little pieces.

To prepare the stew:  heat 1 tbsp oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Brown onion, chorizo and speck, mixing regularly. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat another 1 tbsp oil and cook both pork and beef for 5 minutes, or until browned. Add sauerkraut together with the cooked chorizo, speck and onion and all the other ingredients. Mix well.

Cover with a lid, bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 1-2 hours or until meat is tender and falling apart to the touch.

To serve: spoon bigos into a serving bowl, serve alongside mash potato or bread.