Kitty Kazmierczak (deceased) was my neighbor when I lived in the melting-pot neighborhood of "The Bush" in South Chicago. Houses were packed closely together and every woman old enough to scold you became your mom. And that's how we were raised, with a sense of responsibility and respect for our elders, parents or not. Recipes were exchanged at the many PTA meetings, church suppers and when baskets of food were brought by people in better financial shape to the men who were on strike from the steel mills and struggling.

Owning a neighborhood tavern, Kitty was one of those persons. It was also her good heart that compelled her to give a helping hand. I remain friends with her daughter, Diane Rozek Hentges, who has many of her mother's characteristics. She graciously shared her mother's recipe for sauerkraut or kapusta kiszona (kah-POOH-stah kee-SHOH-nah) with me.

As everyone knows, there are sauerkraut recipes galore but this one is a step up from the traditional version. It combines sautéed onions and mushrooms with jarred Polish-style sauerkraut for a really pleasing spin. It's a good candidate for a potluck, carry-in or tailgate. It will hold well in a steam table so it's a perfect Super Bowl dish.

Yield: 4-6 servings Kitty's Saukeraut

See Also

10 Eastern European Sauerkraut Recipes

Polish Sauerkraut Pierogi Recipe

Serbian Sweet Sauerkraut Salad Recipe

Preparation

1. Sauté onion and mushrooms in butter until cooked and onion is translucent.
    
2. Add drained and rinsed sauerkraut to mushroom-onion mixture, and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes until flavors have blended. Adjust the seasonings.
    
3. This recipe was contributed by Kitty Kazmierczak’s daughter, Diane Rozek Hentges of LaPorte, Ind.

Note: It's a funny thing about the word kapusta in Polish. It can mean "cabbage" and it can mean "sauerkraut." When the word kiszona or "soured" is added as a qualifying adjective to kapusta, it becomes clear that this is "soured cabbage" or "pickled cabbage" -- sauerkraut.

The same is true of plums. The real word for prunes in Polish is actually suszone sliwki or "dried plums," but often just sliwki is used for both dried and fresh plums, with suszone implied.

So when you see the word kapusta in a Polish recipe, you can't always be sure that raw, unbrined or pickled cabbage is called for. The author of the recipe may actually mean "sauerkraut."

Here are more Polish sauerkraut recipes and more about sauerkraut, in general:

All About Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut Factory Tour

Popular Sauerkraut RecipesCreamed Sauerkraut Soup Recipe

Polish Sauerkraut Soup Recipe

Noodles and Sauerkraut Recipe