Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew)

by Tom Ashworth

20 servings

Dried Mushrooms

• 3 cupsdried mushrooms (porcini or other forest mushrooms)
• 3 cupswater, for soaking

Stew

• 1.1 lbpork shoulder
• 1.1 lbbeef chuck
• 2 tspsalt, for the meat
• black pepper, for the meat
• ¼ cup to 6 tbspoil
• 12 slicessmoked bacon
• 2large onion
• 16 ozbutton mushrooms
• 2 headssmall head of white cabbage
• 2.2 lbsmoked kielbasa
• 2 ⅛ cupschicken, beef or vegetable stock
• 12 oztomato paste
• 1 ⅓ tbspsalt
• 8 to 10 leavesbay leaves
• 2 clovesgarlic
• 20whole black peppercorns
• 20whole allspice berries
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 6.61 lbsauerkraut
• 12pitted prunes