Sita's Pork with Cabbage

This recipe has been used for more than 50 years by S

As for most Bulgarian recipes, feel free to improvise a bit. You can use cut up pork butt instead of chops, add leftover ham, more cabbage and less sauerkraut. However, Sita says the combination of cabbage and salty sauerkraut is wonderful.

 

This dish freezes and thaws very well. Serve with sour dough French Bread for soaking up the juices...it's fabulous!!!!!

6 pork steaks

2 heads of green cabbage

1 pound bacon

2 large onions

1 tsp. Kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

3 cans sauerkraut (your favorite)

2 quarts chicken broth

salt, pepper, paprika

 

Fry the pork over high heat until seared. Set aside. Cut the bacon up and fry. Drain the bits and set aside.

 

Dice the onions and sauté till clear in the bacon fat. Add 1 tsp kosher salt and some grindings of pepper.

 

Take a few of the outer leaves of each cabbage and peal off and save. Chop up the rest of the cabbage and add to the onions and bacon fat. Cook for about 10 minutes, uncovered.

 

Rinse the sauerkraut about three or four times to remove most of the brine. Add to the cabbage mixture and mix as well as you can..

 

In a large cooking pot:

 

Starting with some of the cabbage/onion/sauerkraut, put a layer in the pot. Sprinkle with paprika. Add two or three of the pork steaks, however many will fit in one layer on top of the cabbage. Put a few large cabbage leaves on top of this. Sprinkle more paprika. Add more of the first mixture, and alternate with the steaks ending with the large cabbage leaves until you've used up everything.  Sprinkle the bacon bits on top.

 

Heat the chicken stock until hot and pour over the pork/cabbage mixture till just covered.  (If the pot is filled to the top, which mine is when I use too much of everything, don't fill the stock so high.)

 

Cook on top of the stove over very low heat for couple of hours. You will know it's done when the meat falls off the bones.

 

© Mother Linda's