Polish Hunter’s Stew - Bigos

Polish Hunter's Stew (Bigos) goes well with a good crusty loaf of rye bread.

Polish Hunter's Stew - (Bigos)

1/2 pork tenderloin, cut into 1” pieces
3 links of fresh Polish or sweet Italian sausage
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound baked ham chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large can of sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium cabbage
1 or 2 tablespoons of butter
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
1/2 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
Salt and pepper

In a large frying pan brown sausage in olive oil. Remove and transfer to large soup pan .Do the same with the pork pieces.

Sauté onions and garlic until golden in the frying pan. Add mushrooms, sauté for 10 minutes, add cabbage, sauté for 10 minutes. Add butter as necessary to keep vegetables from sticking. Transfer to soup pan.

Add the ham pieces to the soup pan.

Drain and rinse sauerkraut. Add to soup pan.

Add 2 cups chicken stock to soup pan. If you want more soupy stew, add an additional 1 cup of stock.

Bring to boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in mushroom soup. Turn off heat. Stew can be served now but it is better if you refrigerate it overnight to allow flavors to meld together. Reheat the next day and serve over boiled potatoes.

Seeded deli rye bread goes well with this dish.

We called this dish "Kapusta" which is the Polish word for sauerkraut, but the official name is "Bigos" or Hunter's Stew. It was originally made with whatever combination of meat Polish hunters were able to find.

Adam's Prize Winning Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Crust

20 Oreo cookies
¼ cup butter melted

Ganache

1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 8 ounces)
2/3 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mousse

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup smooth peanut butter
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¾ whipping cream, divided

Garnish

1/4 cup reservered chocolate ganache
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ cup honey roasted peanuts
6 mini Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, halved

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place Oreos in food processor or blender and process until finely crumbled. Empty crumbs into a mixing bowl and stir in melted butter until well combined. Pat wet crumbs all over and up sides of  a 10" pie pan, making an even surface. Bake crust for 8-10 minutes or until hardened. Cool before filling.

In the top of a double boiler combine chocolate chips, 2/3 cup whipping cream, corn syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whisk until melted and smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup of the ganache for decorating. Spread chocolate mixture over bottom of crust and refrigerate until cool.

Dissolve gelatin in cold water. Let sit for about 5 minutes. In a small saucepan heat milk to almost boiling. Remove from heat. Add gelating and whisk until gelatin is completely dissolved. Allow to come to room temperature. In a large bowl combine peanut butter, ½ cup powdered sugar and ¾ cup cream. Whisk until smooth. In a medium bowl beat remaining 1 cup cream until soft peaks form. While still beating, pour in milk and gelatin mixture. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into peanut butter mixture in 3 additions. Spread mousse over chocolate layer. Chill at least 1 hour.

Drizzle reserved ganache (You may need to whisk in a little whipping cream to make it spreadable) over peanut butter mousse layer in a crisscross pattern.

Whip 1 cup whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and continue whipping until peaks are stiff. Do not overbeat. Pipe whipping cream around edge. Garnish with honey roasted peanuts (chopped if desired). Tuck peanut butter halves into the whipping cream around the edge of the pie. Chill at least 3 hours before serving.

Prize Winning Pies

I was surprised that they didn't post any of the recipes for my prize-winning pies in the newspaper article. I'll try to get a few of them up. If you haven't read the article about me, "The Pie Guy," in the Naples Daily News, here is the link.

And here is a picture of the pie after the reporter and the photographer had pieces of it!

Polish Easter Soup (Adam's version)

We had a tradition of everyone getting their own Easter egg. We would then partner with someone and try to crack the other person's egg. We would continue until there was only one person left with an uncracked egg. That person would have good luck for the rest of the year.

I like to make my own red horseradish as shown in the picture above. I cook one small beet, puree it, then add it to white orseradish. It has a much better flavor than buying a jar of red horseradish.

I

The pictures above are from my Easter table. The soup is more traditionally served on the Monday after Easter in Poland. Following that tradition I had it for lunch today (Monday) and it was absolutely delicious.

I always had trouble with the original version curdling on me. As I got older I also found it too vinegary for my taste. After a little experimentation I found that Cream of Mushroom Soup will work as a thickener and it doesn't curdle! Here's my version.

Polish Easter Soup (Adam's Version)

2 links smoked Polish sausage (Polska Kielbasa)

1 baked ham

1 3" piece of salt pork (optional--but I always include it)

1 dozen hard-boiled eggs (dyed)

1 loaf seeded rye bread

1 jar horseradish red or white (see note below)

1 3" piece of feta cheese (see note below)

3 tablespoons white vinegar

3 cans of mushroom soup

In a large soup pot, place sausage and add water to cover, about one quart. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour. Every few minutes puncture sausage skin to allow juice to flow.

Remove sausage, allow broth to cool, add vinegar, and refrigerate overnight.

Bake ham. Do not add an cloves or other spices or sweet glazes and refrigerate overnight.

Cook salt pork in water until tender, about one hour and refrigerate overnight.

Cover feta cheese with milk and refrigerate overnight.

The next day skim the fat off the broth. Add mushroom soup. Whisk together until well blended. If desired, strain to remove mushrooms (I don't even worry about them any more). Bring soup just to boil, reduce temperature to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Whisk from time to time. Taste it and if too salty or vinegary you may add a can of whole milk.

Cut about 2 cups each of sausage, ham, rye bread and eggs into 1/2 inch cubes.

Rince, dry, and cut feta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes.

Cut salt pork into 1/4 inch cubes.

Arrange meats on one platter, bread, cheese and eggs on another.

In soup bowls, allow guests to combine meats, bread, cheese and eggs as desired. Add hot soup. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons horseradish as desired.

Note: I like to make my own red horseradish. I cook one small beet until soft, peel it, coarsely chop it, then put it in a blender and blend until fairly smooth. I mix the beet with a fresh jar of white horseradish. It gives the soup a pretty pink color and the beet cuts the intensity of the horseradish.

Polish Easter Basket Blessing

On Saturday morning I took my Easter Basket to St. Leo's for a blessing traditional especially for folks of Polish ancestry. One person had a dish with nothing but seven Easter butter lambs. Another had a can of Bud Lite in her basket along with the food. Many had beatiful decorated eggs. Hope you enjoy the pictures of my basket. Last year Publix, the local supermarket, carried butter lambs, but not this year so at the last minute I carved my own!