Bigos

After going an entire day without meat (a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner is "meatless," meaning there's only fish), what you really want -- no, what you need is meat. Lots and lots of meat. Well you're not gonna find it here, though if you want to substitute the real mccoy for the fake-meat ingredients, feel free to go ahead and do so (just make sure to cook them before adding them to the stew).

Bigos is also known as Hunter's Stew, and it uses a variety of meats (chicken, veal, beef, sausage, ham, bacon -- pretty much anything you can think of). It's known as the official dish of Poland -- there's even an official recipe, though each person who makes it seems to have their own version. I make make it about a week or so before Christmas so that it can sit in the fridge and the flavors can mix and meld even longer. It also makes Christmas dinner a hell of a lot easier than Christmas Eve -- all I have to do is get out the crock pot at about noon, stick the bigos in, and let it heat up. Unlike most stews, which tend to use one pot, bigos uses a few, and because of the number of ingredients, it really can't be made in small quantities. This is my very own recipe, adapted to be meat-free. To make it, you need:

1 qt. sauerkraut
1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded
3 onions, chopped
2 tart apples (like Granny Smith), peeled and chopped
4 prunes, also chopped
2 oz. dried mushrooms
butter
2 cups dry red wine
2 bouillon cubes
2 bay leaves
1 can tomato puree (or diced tomatoes that have been crushed)
about 1 T or so of allspice
salt and pepper to taste

Meats (thawed):
2 1/2 pkgs. Morningstar Farms bacon, diced
2 pkgs. Morningstar Farms chicken strips, cut into small pieces
1 tube of Lightlife Gimme Lean sausage, crumbled and lightly browned
8 veggie brat-like sausages (I used to use Boca, but they were discontinued. You can also use Field Roast, or Tofurkey brats), sliced into smaller pieces


1. Drain, rinse and coarsely chop sauerkraut. Add to pot and add 2-3 cups of water (not enough to cover it, but just shy of doing so). Bring to boil, turn heat to low, and cook for 1 hour or until no longer crunchy.

2. While the sauerkraut is cooking, re-hydrate the mushrooms (if they are not already in small pieces, cut them up so they are) and shred the 1/2 head of cabbage. In another pot, melt 3 T of butter. Add the cabbage and sauté for i minute, then add the mushrooms -- liquid and all. Stir it up, then cover the pot and turn heat to low. Cook until the cabbage is well done (about half an hour to forty minutes).

3. While cabbage and kraut are cooking, chop and sauté onions in 2-3 T of butter until they are soft. Then add the chopped onions and prunes and brown them. Once they are lightly browned, add the bacon and cook (while stirring periodically) for 3 more minutes.

4. Add bouillon cubes to the sauerkraut, stir until dissolved, then add the cabbage/mushroom mixture and the onion/apple/prune/bacon mixture. Stir will and add tomatoes, meats (cut up), bay leaves, allspice and 1 cup of wine. Stir well again and turn heat to low. Cook slowly for at least 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste, cook half an hour more (slowly), remove from heat and refrigerate. Before reheating, add 2nd cup of wine.

Serve over small boiled potatoes and with rye bread and chilled vodka.

Hot noodles with poppyseeds (kluski z makiem)

To prepare the poppyseeds, do the same as you would to make the filling for poppyseed rolls, except omit the egg.

1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup poppyseeds
1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
1/3 cup honey
1 t grated lemon peel
1 egg white, stiffly beaten

Pour boiling water over poppyseeds, let sit for a minute or two and drain. Cover the poppyseeds with the lukewarm water and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Grind the poppyseeds in a food processor. Stir in chopped nuts, honey and lemon peel.

For the noodles, boil a package of egg noodles, drain, and dot with butter. In a small saucepan, heat up the poppyseeds (but don't let them boil), then pour them over the buttered egg noodles. Stir so that the noodles are all nicely coated with poppyseeds, and serve.

Poached Pike (gotowany szczupak na gorąco)

Well, not really pike -- I use walleye, instead (you can use most freshwater white fish). This recipe comes from a book my mother got me several years back called The Best of Polish Cooking. Before you poach the fish, you need to make court bouillon first, which is fairly simple to make.

Court Bouillon:

1 quart water
2 cups white wine
1 heaping t of salt
1 onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 bay leaves
1 lemon, sliced (with peel still on)
a handful of whole cloves

Combine the ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer for 1 hour. When done, strain out everything so that all you're left with is the broth.

Now, on to poaching the fish. You'll need:

2 lbs. fish
court bouillon
1/2 cup butter
4 T lemon juice
1 T flour
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
fresh chopped dill

After rinsing the fish, place it on the bottom of a deep pot and cover it with the court bouillon (which should still be hot). Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from the heat, while the fish is only partially done. Remove the fish carefully and place it in a baking dish. Dot it with the butter and sprinkle it with lemon juice. Next, mix the flour and sour cream and spread it over the fish. Bake at 300˚F for 20 minutes (basting with the sauce if necessary). Just before serving, scatter the chopped dill on top.