Happy St. Joseph's Day! Hickey's Kapusta Soup

I love Polish food.  Hell, I love food.  One of my favorite dishes at every Hickey gathering was my Aunt Aurelia's Kapusta. My Uncle Sylvester Hickey had the good sense to marry a Polish girl from over by St. Michael the Archangel on South Shore Drive.

Kapusta is a stew of bacon, Polish Sausage, onion, garlic, apples and sauerkraut.

I have been making a soup using the basic ingredients.

Here 'Tis,

1 1/2 lb Pork Shoulder (Mariano's)
1 lb. jar of excellent Polish Cracovia Sauerkraut ( Mariano's)
1 lb of Bobak's Polish Smoked Sausage (Mariano's) cut into thick chunks

1 large carrot diced small
1 medium onion diced small
2 stalks of cellery diced small

I thumb sized cut of brown sugar

1 500 ML Box of Bandit Pinot Grigiot ( Mariano's) :

Radiant and fresh, Bandit Pinot Grigio charms the senses with aromas of citrus, peach and pear followed by flavors of lemon and green apple. A splash of sweet is tempered by a tiny bit of tart, resulting in a vivacious wine that pairs perfectly with everything from delicate dishes to fiery fare.

Well, I dump over the meat and vegetables

1/3rd cup of brown apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons of Smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon of dried ground sage

6-8 black peppercorns

I tablespoon of Kerry Gold butter - ( anywhere but Wisconsin)

Using the wonderful Hamilton Beach 5 quart slow cooking set on low - LOW

Place pork shoulder covered with mierpoix ( onion, carrots, celery), ground sage, the peppercorns, the thumb of brown sugar and pour the box of wine over all. Cook on low for ten hours. then shred the pork, removing anything feeling like a chunk of bone.

You can place the mixture in the icebox over night.

After a nice cool marinade in the ice box, set on High and return the vessel to the heating element.

Now, add the Cracovia Sauerkraut, the smoked paprika, as much crushed garlic as you like, the apple cider vinegar. Cook on high for two hours and then set to Low.  Add the butter and Bobak's Polish Sausage chunks and cook on low until you can no longer resist great aroma emanating from the bubbling cauldron - about an hour and a half.

Soups on!~

Serve with good Polish Rye bread.  Ten irlandzki bum umie gotować!

St. Joseph would elbow the balance of the Holy Family out of way to get at this, as nice a guy as he is.