Grandma's Polish Kapusta with Pork Spare Ribs
Update 9/9/2019: I started this blog in 2009 as an online journal to chronicle my journey and record my favorite recipes. Ten years later I can look back and see how much I’ve learned. As I reduced the amount of processed food in my pantry and freezer, I began preparing more and more meals from scratch. This resulted in a change in tastes, likes, and desires. So much, in fact, that I feel it’s time to launch and entirely new blog! I'm going to keep this blog up and running just in case people have linked or pinned the recipes. Here's a link to this recipe on the new site.
I've been meaning to publish this post for a while now. You have to understand that writing about this recipe is a little surreal because I didn't know this Grandma. I never met her. I think she died before I was even born. You see, my dad is the youngest of ten kids and he loved this meal so much that he described it to my mom so she could make it for him. I "stuck my nose up" to this meal as a kid, but a couple of months ago I had an insatiable craving for it. Ha! The joke is on me. It must be in my blood. So what's a girl to do, but call her mom who probably has made this 100 times, and ask her how to make this wonderful, authentic, family recipe.
Grandma's Polish Kapusta with Pork Spare Ribs
1 slab of pork spare ribs
2 bay leaves
1 head of cabbage
2 1/4 cups of sauerkraut
salt and pepper to taste
1. Cut spare ribs into individual portions
2. Place pork in a large pot, top with water, and bring to a boil
3. Lower the heat to medium, and skim until there is nothing left to skim
4. Add two bay leaves and simmer on low for about 2 hours until fork tender
5. Cut cabbage into 1/4 inch slices
6. Add cabbage and sauerkraut to pot (note I had to remove half of the pork, add half of the cabbage and sauerkraut, add the pork back in, and top off with the remaining cabbage and sauerkraut in order to fit it in my pot)
7. Here is what it looked like after three hours of cooking (think low and slow). Don't forget to fish out the bay leaves which was my dad's job when he was a kid. Serve the kapusta with some boiled potatoes for a hearty meal.
I've been meaning to publish this post for a while now. You have to understand that writing about this recipe is a little surreal because I didn't know this Grandma. I never met her. I think she died before I was even born. You see, my dad is the youngest of ten kids and he loved this meal so much that he described it to my mom so she could make it for him. I "stuck my nose up" to this meal as a kid, but a couple of months ago I had an insatiable craving for it. Ha! The joke is on me. It must be in my blood. So what's a girl to do, but call her mom who probably has made this 100 times, and ask her how to make this wonderful, authentic, family recipe.
Grandma's Polish Kapusta with Pork Spare Ribs
1 slab of pork spare ribs
2 bay leaves
1 head of cabbage
2 1/4 cups of sauerkraut
salt and pepper to taste
1. Cut spare ribs into individual portions
2. Place pork in a large pot, top with water, and bring to a boil
3. Lower the heat to medium, and skim until there is nothing left to skim
4. Add two bay leaves and simmer on low for about 2 hours until fork tender
5. Cut cabbage into 1/4 inch slices
6. Add cabbage and sauerkraut to pot (note I had to remove half of the pork, add half of the cabbage and sauerkraut, add the pork back in, and top off with the remaining cabbage and sauerkraut in order to fit it in my pot)
Exactly as my little Polish Gram taught me. I also add a brown gravy mix packet to thicken the "pot liquor". The BEST!
ReplyDeleteDelicious!!!
DeleteTraditional Polish kapusta uses brown sugar vinegar and onions.
DeleteLooks like my babcis,will make it this week
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother also added some kind of peas/bean I forget which kind?
ReplyDeleteProbably the same as my mother added. Chick peas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans)
Deletemy grandmother and mother always added yellow peas from dried peas and sometimes barley
DeleteDried Marrowfat Peas? or Butter Beans?
ReplyDeleteYesterday i asked my 95yr old grandmother for her Kapusta recipe and she gave me almost the same recipe!
ReplyDeleteThat’s amazing. Thanks for letting me know because I never got to meet this Grandma.
DeleteThis was really informative and helpful. I love grilling but hardly ever do it because getting the meat as tender as I like it takes sooo long! cooking
ReplyDeletebuy gas grill
grillsman
smokeless grills
So most of the time, I don’t even bother and end up making something else. I’ll definitely be trying that rub too, it sounds absolutely delicious. I think it’ll be a hit in this house, especially since we hardly ever enjoy grilled meat. It’ll be a wonderful treat. Thank you for sharing!
My Polish mother always boiled a pound of split YELLOW peas until softened and added them to her kapusta!
ReplyDeleteOr instant potatoes to thicken yum
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a different idea w the ribs! I'm from Russia & my mom had made something similar.
ReplyDeleteYour recipe reminds me, as much as I can remember, of my mothers spare ribs and sauerkraut recipe. like you recipes, hers had fresh cabbage and sauerkraut. What she had that your recipe doesn't have was salt pork. I remember her first dicing and frying the salt pork before she continued. I'm going to look at some of her recipe notes and see if she wrote this down! Even as a young child I loved this dish. It was served with simple, boiled potatoes. I think she may have also served some N.Y. rye from our local bakery to go with it. Thanks so much for the recipe. If I can't find my mothers,, your is so close I should be able just add the salt pork and get pretty close. Some of your readers said their moms added dried peas to their kapusta dish. My aunt made those and I'm not sure of the spelling, but it was called Krayana Kapusta. It looked like thick pea soup and everyone loved it. My Aunt always made a big pot of it for any family birtday and other celebrations.
ReplyDeleteMy Babcia's also included lima beans and mashed potatos
Delete