Bigo’s Hunters stew
This is a Polish dish very popular in Poland
Ingredients
6 pounds of meat diced cooked meat
( at least 1/2 pound of each
Beef, ham, lamb, sausage,
veal, pork, venison, or rabbit
wild duck, wild goose or pheasant
grouse, etc.)
5 ounces salt pork, diced
1 onion , minced
2 leeks, minced
2 Tablespoons flour
1 pound fresh mushrooms sliced,
or 3- 4oz. cans of sliced mushrooms un-drained
1 to 2 cups water or bouillon
6 pounds of sauerkraut rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup Madeira wine
Instructions
Fry salt pork until golden but not crisp in an eight quart kettle.
Add onion and leek. Stir-fry 3 minutes. Stir in flour.
Add mushrooms with liquid and water to kettle; simmer 5 minutes
Drain and rinse sauerkraut. Add to kettle along with cooked meat,
salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover; cook over medium-low heat 1 1/2 hours.
Stir in wine. Add more salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
Simmer 15 minutes; Do not boil.
*If meat must be prepared especially for this stew, each piece should be braised separately. Put meat, poultry or game into a Dutch oven with 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1 onion, 1 parsnip, 1 clove garlic or 1 sprig of parsley, 5 peppercorns, 1 cup water, 1 cup wine. Simmer, covered, until meat is tender.
note: When wine is added, chopped apples, heavy cream, and or cooked small potatoes may be added.
Easy Bigo’s (Latwy Bigos)
ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika or caraway seed
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 pound lean beef (can use venison) cubed
1 pound lean pork cubed
2 pounds sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
2 medium onions sliced
12 ounces kielbasa (Polish sausage) sliced
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms un-drained
1/2 cup white wine
Chopped parsley
small boiled potatoes
Instructions
Combine flour and paprika coat meat.
Heat butter in a Dutch oven or saucepot. Add meat and brown on all sides. Add sauerkraut, onion, sausage, mushrooms, and wine; mix. Cover and cook over low heat 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until meat is tender.
Remove meat and vegetables to a serving bowl garnish with parsley and serve with small boiled potatoes.
Recipes harvested from "Culinary Arts Institue Polish Cookbook" copyright 1978, 1976 Consolidated Book Publishers.
NOTE: Bigos is fun to make, use the recipe(s) as guide lines and then go for it. I use a bit of both recipes together most of the times. It is a good way to use up the misc. packages of game meat in the freezer.
