We've made half-sour pickles from scratch.  We've mastered the art of making pierogis.  We've triumphed over a pot of pickle soup.  We've celebrated the incredible yumminess of bigos.  We've shared with the world a secret family stuffed cabbage recipe.  We've been working hard making Polish cuisine posh, one post at a time.

"Fasolka po bretonsku" is a baked bean and meat stew, a grown-up verison of "frank and beans" that is traditionally prepared in the cooler months.  Although meant as a stew I "Americanized" my mother's recipe and created, what could be, the most scrumptious summer side dish ever.  As always I managed to find a gazillion short cuts making this dish nearly fool-proof.  I can't even begin to describe to you how utterly fantastic it turned out.  As utterly fantastic as a toddler in fleece cow costume in 110% humidity.

The ingredients:

• 4 cans of large white beans (Great Northern and/or Butter)
• Pork and/or bacon (I used 11 strips of bacon from the butcher - not the cheap kind)
• A dozen links of Polish kielbasa (Clevelands' Heniens now carries Kowalski products)
• 1 large onion
• Tomato ketchup (2tbsp)
• Tomato paste (1 tbsp)
• Vegeta to taste
• Salt and pepper
• Oil for frying

1.  Wash

Before the invention of canned beans you needed to soak beans for 24 hours for an authentic stew-like "Fasolka po bretonsku."  However, I wanted more of a summer side dish so I emptied my four cans, washed them, got rid of any beans that floated to the surface and dried them.  Set aside and forget about them.

2.  Pork & Onions

Dice one onion and saute over heated oil.  While browning, cut your pork and/or bacon.  You can use both or just one that you prefer.  Add to onions.  Sprinkle a healthy dose of Vegeta over the onion/pork mixture and sprinkle salt/pepper to your taste (I added none because we rarely use sodium in our kitchen).  Stir and cover for ten minutes.

3.  Sausage

Dice kielbasa, add to pan.  I added about a cup-and-a-half of water to the pan, to avoid any burning.  You can add more spices here, if you so desire, like oregano and paprika (I did).  Cover and occasionally stir.  Allow 45 minutes of "sweating" making sure the sausage mixture is extra tender.

4.  Candles!

Light some candles around the house because your covered onion/bacon/vegeta/sausage mixture "sweating" while covered for 45 minutes might begin to smell like a Polish restaurant and neighbors will run over to check everyone's green cards.  Yup, it's that authentic of a smell.

5.  More secret short-cuts revealed

After 45 minutes take mixture off of heat and squirt some ketchup (about 2 tbsp - we added more by accident because the middle child was having so much fun) and add 1 tbsp of tomato paste to the onion/bacon/vegeta/sausage.  Eye the mixture and add more paste/ketchup to your own taste.

6.  Add beans

The washed/dried canned beans you forgot about?  Add them to the mixture now.  Toss around gently and place over low heat for just five minutes or so.

7.  Eat

Eat with a loaf of bread as a main dish or use as a side dish at your next BBQ.  It's like the more mature version of "franks and beans, yo!" seriously. Like any "stew" it gets better the next day and freezes great.  I fed an army of ethnically-palate-challenged people at my latest posh backyard BBQ and everyone loved this bean side dish.  I hope you do too.

Taking one ancient Polish recipe "Fasolka po bretonsku" and making it posh again, yo!