Kapusta (Polish Cabbage Soup)

Every Sunday, as a toddler growing up, we have a tendency to spent the afternoon visiting my Babci.  Babci suggests that grandma in Polish,* and he or she was my mother’s mother.  Like most ladies of her generation, she typically created dishes that originated from the ‘old country’ and therefore the distinctive tastes and flavors of these dishes ar hardwired in my memory.

Even today, I will straightaway return in time whenever I smell bound foods or bound dishes change of state. one among those dishes is Kapusta**, a conventional Polish cabbage soup. we have a tendency to were forever very psyched once Babci created her delicious Kapusta for US for dinner.

Years later, I discovered that my husband Jack – UN agency just about loves all-things cabbage – had ne'er consumed Kapusta!

Since I didn’t have my Babci’s actual instruction (it was one among those recipes that was boiled from memory and ne'er written down), I’ve done my best to recreate it from my very own memory, and that i assume I’ve gotten it pretty shut with this version.

Although not historically a Polish ingredient, my Babci adscititious canned poached tomatoes to her Kapusta which supplies it a further layer of flavor and very enhances the opposite ingredients during this dish.  Served with breadstuff and butter, Kapusta is one among those dishes that simply sends American state back in time.  And Jack, UN agency can’t get enough of this, wonders however on earth he disregarded on this terrific Polish classic till he met me!

INGREDIENTS

• 3–4 pounds of meaty pork ribs such as country style ribs
• 6 ounces diced salt pork (4 ounces after removing skin. The fatty type not the meaty type)
• 1 ½ cups onion, about one large onion
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound fresh sauerkraut with juice (found in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets)
• 1 medium head of cabbage, shredded (about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds)
• 2 14½-ounce cans of stewed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 pounds all-purpose potatoes
• Rye bread and butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place pork ribs in a large 8 quart heavy pot and cover the ribs with water almost to the top. Bring to a boil uncovered, lower to a fast simmer (low boil) and cook for 45 minutes, skimming off foam as they start to boil. Shut off burner and let them sit in the water for 15 minutes.
2. While the pork is cooking, in a medium frying pan, cook the diced salt pork on a medium high flame for 2-3 minutes or until just starting to brown. Add onion to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until just starting to get tender. Reduce to medium heat, stir in the flour and sauté for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
3. Once cooked, remove ribs from the pot and let cool. Save the liquid in the pot.
4. To the pot of liquid, add the sauerkraut and juice, shredded cabbage, stewed tomatoes, caraway seeds and salt as well as the cooked salt pork and onion mixture.
5. Cook over medium high heat until cabbage is cooked, approximately 30-35 minutes. While the cabbage mixture is cooking, remove the meat from the bones, shredding the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return the cooked pork to the pot once the cabbage is tender and heat to serving temperature.
6. Peel and quarter potatoes and place in cold sated water while cabbage mixture is cooking. Bring to a boil and over a medium boil, cook potatoes for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain water and cool potatoes to room temperature. Once the cabbage mixture has finished cooking, cut cooked potatoes into bite sized pieces and either add to the finished cabbage dish or serve on the side. (cooking in quarters and cutting after the fact will make them more firm and less mushy since less of the surface touched the boiling water.
7. Serve with rye bread and butter for a traditional Polish meal.

Recipe From : A Family Feast