Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker. 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.

Fry the bacon in a Dutch oven to render the fat, and then toss in the pork chunks, garlic, onions, and mushrooms. That's good: Bigos is a "dry" stew, and besides, the ingredients will give off more liquid as they cook. Bigos - Polish Hunter Stew - is a traditional Polish dish that originated in Medieval times. You can cook Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker using 19 ingredients and 12 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker

You need to taste of Olive oil and Butter.
You need 800 g of Kielbasa or smoked pork sausage.
Prepare 1000 g of Pork (shoulder or neck meat steaks or chops).
It's 2 of x medium Onions rough sliced.
You need 2 cloves of Garlic sliced.
You need 200 g of mushrooms quartered.
It's 1 TBS of Beefbroth.
You need 800 g of diced Tomatoes (canned).
It's 2 TBS of Paprika.
It's 1 TBS of Pimenton (smoked Paprika) or more regular Paprika.
You need Pinch of Cheyenne.
It's 1500 g of Sauerkraut (drain of excess fluid).
Prepare 2 of x Bayleaves.
Prepare 2-3 of Allspiece (pimento) Berries (grind to powder with pestle).
It's 2-3 of Juniper Berries (crush under a knife).
It's of Handfull of Parsley (chopped).
Prepare 2-3 of Pickles (sliced roughly).
Prepare of Salt/White Pepper.
Prepare 4 TBS of Tomatopaste.

Sauerkraut, Kielbasa, Wild Mushrooms, Prunes, and spices are braised in red wine for hours to achieve this amazing comfort food. Bigos - Delicious Polish Hunter's Stew. Today I'm going to share my recipe for Bigos - Polish Hunter Stew. Melt butter in a large pan and fry the onions until golden; Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water and drain well, and mix with the onions.

Bigos (Hunters Stew) for Slowcooker step by step

Cut all your ingredient up but not too fine. You want to retain texture and tastes..
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..
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.
Reduce heat and add some butter..
Once the butter is at temperature add onions and garlic and caramelize them until they glaze over. Transfer to slow cooker.
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..
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....
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..
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..
Add some water until everything is wet and can be cooked. Make sure the meat is covered. Just like in the picture.
Cook on high for 5 hours and let rest for one 1 or more hours. Remove bones before serving..
A side of sourdough bread or simple mashed potatoes are ideal. Some sourcreme or creme fraiche to reduce acidity maybe? Certainly....

Add the tomatoes You'll be sure to find it in the food booths at any festival in the old square. Big flat cast iron pans of simmering meats, wine, mushrooms, and sauerkraut - the perfect thing to warm the heart and the belly, that's Bigos Polish hunter's stew! This Bigos recipe is adapted from Nela's Cookbook and From a Polish Country House Kitchen. This recipe for bigos makes a hearty, long-simmered meat-and-sauerkraut stew that goes back centuries and is a national dish of Poland. It was traditionally served at the start of the hunting season, from fall through Shrove Tuesday , or until the family's supply of barrel-cured sauerkraut ran out.