January 2019
Elizabeth made this with Carroway. It tasted great. She put in some of the ground pork I made from the last shoulder pork slow cooker piece.
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Elizabeth did not like an apple in the mix.
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Gail Guzik:
Take county style pork and brown it. combine a sliced cabbage with a can of sauerkraut and cook the entire mix with black pepper for a few hours in a large stove top pan. Keep it covered but turn the mixture every so often.
I suggested carroway seed and that seemed okay.
the recipes I have seen so far call for onion as well.
Gail also puts in an apple, skinned and cut in pieces.
11-08-08
Tried the recipe in the old cast iron fry pan. I did have to watch for burning and added water part way through the cooking. It smells good. The pork is beginning to get so it will fall off the bone. I used the country pork rib pieces. I did not add spices, even avoided onion, deciding just to do what Gail recommended and add variations another time.
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April 11 2009 - Used the mandolin to shred the cabbage. Made it with carroway this time.
No onion. Elizabeth is better with no onion. If I want onion I'll use a jar in the part I heat up for myself as left over. Again it needed extra water part way through the cooking.
I did not have an apple.
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Easter morning- April 12
Yes, we had left over kapusta for brunch. Yum! I had mine with a slice of Rubslager Westfalian style pumpernickle which is made with whole rye flour (the stuff that keeps the prostate healthy). Much smaller and thinner than a conventional slice of bread and yet not as ridiculous as a cocktail bread, this is a fine compromise. I added pot of Stash's double bergamot tea and the taste blendings were exquisite.
Note for next time: Two pieces of country ribs is plenty of meat for a large cabbage with sauerkraut to taste. The carroway worked just perfectly.
February 2010 in Tampa
No carraway here. I used lean boneless pork chops and liked it better without the fat. I browned them i olive oil. They did not easily break up, so we might eat this with chunks of pork rather than shredded. I'll cut the pork smaller next time.
Bruce and Abigail liked it fine. I liked it too even with bite sized chunks of meat.
March 2010
at Chapel Hill
Took the left over barbecue from Florida and chopped it into the cabbage and sauerkraut. Used a larger kettle this time and liked it better than a fry pan. Added some chicken broth and boiled it up. I used the juice of the sauerkraut but that was a mistake. Too harsh. If I need more vinegar it is better to add some smoother basil vinegar. I added carroway seeds. The smokey flavor of the barbecue ribs and chicken added a nice flavor to the mixture. We both liked it.
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ANN MARIE IS THE FIRST PERSON I KNOW WHO TRIED A RECIPE FROM THIS BLOG;
Ann Marie writes:
A few months ago, Elizabeth had described the kapusta and it sounded good, so I put about half a good sized cabbage, a large size can of saurkraut and a mess of lean pork short ribs and cooked and cooked it. I really liked it the first 3 meals, but I had made way too much for 1, didn't think it would freeze well, so kept eating it over the next week. (Too scotch to throw it away). I didn't want to even think about it till about now, so when I do it again, I'll cut way back on the ingredients. I really loved the smell as it was cooking, and that first meal!
October 1, 2010 for poker buddies
More carroway this time and used the country pork ribs Gail used in original.
I did not have an apple.
I used a good shake of carroway seeds. I really like carroway in this recipe.
I made this as one choice for the poker players. Roasted a turkey at the same time so the smells are interesting and sweeter than the smells of just the cabbage. I used a large cabbage and two large cans of kraut.
I did Gail's country ribs again, browning them before I started the cooking, but I like the other more tender cuts of meat better in this in spite of getting the ribs for a dollar a pound.
For six hours the mixture sat on low in the slow cooker while we played cards. It was not the favorite of the group so there were leftovers.
Wow, what a concentration of flavors!! My mind tells me it can't be good to cook something for about 12 hours total, but this stuff is even better over cooked. Is there any food value left? I don't know. But it does seem like a good diet dish.
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At Foxwoods a Polish fellow taught me that the particular mix of cabbage and saurkraut is actually called Bigos Kapusta. Here is a follow up recipe:
http://www.transparent.com/polish/im-hungry-lets-make-bigos/
note 2024 - A search through the internet seemed to suggest that bigos is more a stew often confused with kapusta and that kapusta can have meat and not be called "bigos."
2024 from internet. Not tried yet
Ingredients
¼ medium head cabbage, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons butter, divided
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large portobello mushroom, sliced
1 ½ cups sliced white mushrooms
1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained and pressed
½ teaspoon white sugar
½ teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Buy all 9 ingredients from this recipe for $22.04
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place cabbage in a medium saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat; cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
While the cabbage is cooking, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms; sauté until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Combine drained cabbage, onion-mushroom mixture, sauerkraut, sugar, thyme, salt, and pepper in a 9x13-inch baking dish; mix until well combined. Cut remaining 2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and arrange over top. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.
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April 2017
No apple again.
I used the granite pan. The cover is not very tight, so it cooked off the liquid and needed more. I watched it and put it on low, so nothing burned.
I bought a bag of Shop Rite sauerkraut and a small cabbage. I had no carroway, but used some other small poppy seeds and a small amount of cumin seeds.
A small cabbage was still a lot of cabbage for a large bag of saurerkraut.
I used the mandolin to shred the cabbage course. I cut the ends. Seemed to work pretty well.
I put in one and a bit jar of veggie juice. Later I added another jar of veggie juice.
I drained and rinsed the sauerkraut to keep the harsh taste out.
I added a bit of the sherry we have not been drinking for a unique taste, vinegar like but not as strong.
I used up the last couple spoonfuls of a wine vinegar.
It all seemed to work. It is an unusual kapusta, but tasty. I would not want to put too much cumin in as that flavor came out fine.
November 2024
Elizabeth is making the kapusta with red cabbage and sauerkraut and boneless pork chunks. I'm hungry already.
She is making it using the new baking recipe I found. This one did not call for caraway, just thyme.
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2024 from internet.
¼ medium head cabbage, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons butter, divided
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large portobello mushroom, sliced
1 ½ cups sliced white mushrooms
1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained and pressed
½ teaspoon white sugar
½ teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Buy all 9 ingredients from this recipe for $22.04
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place cabbage in a medium saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat; cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
While the cabbage is cooking, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms; sauté until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. We used whole portobella mushrooms rather than the sliced white mushrooms.
Combine drained cabbage, onion-mushroom mixture, sauerkraut, sugar, thyme, salt, and pepper in a 9x13-inch baking dish; mix until well combined. Cut remaining 2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and arrange over top. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.
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This was very tasty, rich in bites of pork and not as strong as some sauerkraut concoctions. It won't last long.
November 16, 2024
No mushrooms so Eliz substituted carrots. grated ed cabbage and a pillow pack of sauerkraut with the juice drained.
Two regular center cut pork chops were precooked with onion powder and Trader Joe's and thyme.
Then the mix was made and baked as it says in the recipe with the pork chops on top, the butter added last, the sugar skipped. Again baked for an hour with stirring every 20 minutes. Salt and pepper in the finish. I used Benson's.
We missed the mushrooms and the mixture was more sour than the last time. Also, Eliz remembers adding Madhava agave the other times and that cut the sour a bit. Better than sugar for the diet.
Good meal.
