Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker

Name: Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker
Total time: 900 s
Yield: 8-10 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: to taste Olive oil and Butter; 800 g Kielbasa or smoked pork sausage; 1000 g Pork (shoulder or neck meat steaks or chops); 2 x medium Onions rough sliced; 2 cloves Garlic sliced; 200 g mushrooms quartered; 1 TBS Beefbroth; 800 g diced Tomatoes (canned); 2 TBS Paprika; 1 TBS Pimenton (smoked Paprika) or more regular Paprika; Pinch Cheyenne; 1500 g Sauerkraut (drain of excess fluid); 2 x Bayleaves; 2-3 Allspiece (pimento) Berries (grind to powder with pestle); 2-3 Juniper Berries (crush under a knife); Handfull of Parsley (chopped); 2-3 Pickles (sliced roughly); Salt/White Pepper; 4 TBS Tomatopaste

Markus Lenhard @cook_12138468

Berlin

15min prep/6h cook.
Learned first hand from my late polish grandmother. I grew up with this and made sure I recreated this dish as accurately as possible. She didn't have a slow cooker so I sacrilegiously feel like the taste is even improved by reducing the temperature and increasing the time. Originally this was made in a pressure cooker.
This recipe will give you a lot of umaminous stew which freezes beautifully and is easily reheated in a microwave. Keeps for a week in the fridge and tastes great even cold with a slice of sourdough bread or a side of simple mash potatoes. Without a side it's relatively low carb. Kids love it. Great for parties. Polish peoe will be impressed.

Markus Lenhard @cook_12138468

Saved

Ingredients

prep 15min

8-10 servings

to tasteOlive oil and Butter
800 gKielbasa or smoked pork sausage
1000 gPork (shoulder or neck meat steaks or chops)
2x medium Onions rough sliced
2 clovesGarlic sliced
200 gmushrooms quartered
1 TBSBeefbroth
800 gdiced Tomatoes (canned)
2 TBSPaprika
1 TBSPimenton (smoked Paprika) or more regular Paprika
PinchCheyenne
1500 gSauerkraut (drain of excess fluid)
2x Bayleaves
2-3Allspiece (pimento) Berries (grind to powder with pestle)
2-3Juniper Berries (crush under a knife)
Handfull of Parsley (chopped)
2-3Pickles (sliced roughly)
Salt/White Pepper
4 TBSTomatopaste

Saved

Steps

prep 15min

1

Cut all your ingredient up but not too fine. You want to retain texture and tastes.
2

Cut the sausage in about 1/4" slices and fry it on medium/high heat in a pan with a bit of olive oil until the fat starts seeping out. Transfer to slow cooker.
3

Fry the steaks or chops in the sausage/olive oil. Add more oil if needed. High heat for 20-30sec on each side. No need to cut the meat up. The Slowcooker process will tenderize it to strings. Bones can remain for now and can extracted after the stew is finished) Transfer to slow cooker
4

Reduce heat and add some butter.
5

Once the butter is at temperature add onions and garlic and caramelize them until they glaze over. Transfer to slow cooker
6

Add the mushrooms to the pan and let them absorb the resulting broth. Add a bit of water and the beef broth to the pan. Then after stirring for a few seconds add the tomatoes and paprika (and Pimenton, Cheyenne if you like it a bit spicey) to the mix and transfer everything to the slow cooker. Salt and pepper to taste. Maybe add a bit of Beefbroth instead of salt. Less is more. The Slowcooker will unchain a lot.of taste from the meat.
7

You can add all kinds of leftovers at this point. Like vegetables that go in soup (kohlrabi, turnip, carrot, celery, leek, endive)... Processing leftovers is what stew is for. I would avoid sweet stuff like corn but tomatoes are also fine and go in roughly chopped or even quartered...
8

Drain the Sauerkraut from excess fluid (not a problem if there is some left) and add it to the slow cooker. If it's too sour for you, you can reduce the acid by quickly blanching it in water and draining it before transferring it to the mix. I like the acidic taste. It's how it's supposed to be and it helps tenderize the meat.
9

Slice or dice the pickles and add them together with the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything thoroughly and make sure the meat is covered.
10

Add some water until everything is wet and can be cooked. Make sure the meat is covered. Just like in the picture
11

Cook on high for 5 hours and let rest for one 1 or more hours. Remove bones before serving.
12

A side of sourdough bread or simple mashed potatoes are ideal. Some sourcreme or creme fraiche to reduce acidity maybe? Certainly...