Home is where my kitchen is.

For me, cooking is an emotional and relaxing activity. And my kitchen is a happy place. I appreciate when I am left alone there. Solitude can be very inspirational when you cook. All I need is music that helps create a dish and focus on the recipe as a starting point, never a rigid instruction.

Yes, I could use some help with washing and peeling the vegetables, chopping and cleaning the countertops. Yet, it would be a distraction. I would be deprived of my ability to create, to relax my mind, to step away from the issues and change my focus.

But, once the cooking is over, I need noisy and hungry eaters.  I love spoiling people with food. I want my family and my guests to feel happy, full and tipsy.

I have a list of old fashioned dishes that are always a success and don’t require following the strict recipe. One of the dishes that call for improvisation and goes well with beer on a summer day is Bigos. The only necessary constant in the recipe is cabbage, fresh or fermented. I prefer fresh cabbage. The rest is your imagination.

The old fashioned Bigos that some translate as “hunter’s stew” is sometimes referred to as the national dish of Poland, but also cooked and loved in Russia and Ukraine.

Here is my bigos for today:

1 pound boneless pork shoulder cut into 1-inch chunks or 6 sausages;

1/4 pound of smoked pork, cut into small pieces 4  cloves garlic, finely
chopped;
1 ½  tablespoon whole caraway seed;
1  teaspoon of Charissa;
1  large onion, sliced 1/4-inch thin;
3  medium carrots;

2 Leeks (light parts only);

2 celery stalks;

2 diced tomatoes;

2  pounds cabbage, sliced;

2 red sweet peppers diced;

3  bay leaves;
1 cup of olive oil;

1 cup of red wine;

1 teaspoon of sugar.

If you are going to use meat, pat the meat very dry with paper towels. Season it with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, add some oil to a large, heavy pot. Sear the pork in one layer until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a large bowl. Repeat until you cook all the pork shoulder.

Place the clean frying pan over medium heat with a slick of oil. While it heats add previously cut smoked pork or bacon.

Brown it until deep golden, about 2 minutes per side.

Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, then add caraway seed and a teaspoon of harissa, and stir for 20 seconds or until very fragrant.

Add the chopped onion. Cook onions, stirring frequently, until soft.

Add the carrots, tomatoes, celery, leeks, sautéed meat and it’s juice, and raise the heat to high.

When it starts boiling, add the cabbage, red peppers.

Sprinkle with salt and sugar. Cook, stirring, until the cabbage is wilted and has released its juices. Add a splash of wine if needed.

Bring the pot to a simmer, add the bay leaves, sautéed smoked pork, then turn the heat down to low to maintain a barely bubbling simmer. Simmer the stew for 1 ½ hour occasionally stirring. The meat should be tender.

You can stop or continue simmering for more time until the meat and cabbage will be very tender. Adjust seasoning with salt or pepper to taste.

I often saute sausages instead of meat, which makes cooking faster. You can slice them or just place them whole into a cabbage stew.

Without meat or sausages, cabbage stew is an excellent side dish. Just remember to add the smoky bacon for flavor. But again, it’s up to you.

P.S. All the food featured in this post has been prepared and photographed by me.