Kentucky Bourbon Burgoo Recipes

KENTUCKY BURGOO

Steps:

• Brown the meats: Heat vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a large soup pot (at least 8 quart size). Salt the meats well on all sides. When the oil is shimmering hot, working in batches brown all the meats. Do not crowd the pan or the meat will steam and not brown well. Do not move the meat while browning a side. Let the meat pieces get well seared. Remove the browned meats to a bowl.
• Sauté onions, carrots, celery, and green pepper: Add the onions, carrots, celery and green pepper to the pot and brown them. If necessary, add a little more oil to the pot. After a few minutes of cooking, sprinkle salt over the vegetables.
• When the vegetables are well browned, add the garlic: Cook for 30 seconds more, until fragrant.
• Add back the meats as well as the chicken, beef broths, and the tomatoes: Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 hours.
• Remove the meat pieces, strip from bones, cut into smaller pieces, and return to pot: Uncover and remove the meat pieces. Strip the chicken off the bone and discard skin if you want. Break the larger pieces of meat into smaller, more manageable pieces. The reason you did not do this at first is because the meats stay juicier when they cook in larger pieces. Return all the meat pieces to the pot and bring it up to a strong simmer.
• Add potatoes: Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks about the same size as the meat pieces (if using new potatoes, you can skip the peeling, but russets you'll want to peel). Add them to the stew and cook them until they are done, about 45 minutes.
• When the potatoes are done, add the Worcestershire sauce: Mix well and taste for salt. Add more Worcestershire sauce to taste if needed.

TRADITIONAL KENTUCKY BURGOO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in an 8-quart pot over medium heat; brown pork and beef cubes in the hot oil, working in batches if necessary.
• Stir in chicken broth, chicken pieces, potatoes, and carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer stew for 1 hour.
• Stir in stewed tomatoes, barbeque sauce, green beans, okra, corn, onion, green bell pepper, celery, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper sauce.
• Bring stew back to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 more hour.
• Discard bay leaves before serving stew in bowls.

KENTUCKY BOURBON BURGOO

Steps:

• 1. Put the pork, veal, beef, lamb, and chicken into a large pot. Add the water and bring it to a boil slowly. Simmer until meat is tender enough to fall off the bones, about 4-6 hours.
• 2. Lift the meat out of the stock. Cool the meat, remove it from the bones, and chop it. Return the chopped meat to the stock.
• 3. Pare the potatoes and onions and dice them. Add them, plus the carrots, green peppers, cabbage, tomato puree, corn, red pepper, okra, parsley, lima beans, celery, and bourbon, to the meat and stock. Allow the stew to simmer until very thick about 6 hours.
• 4. Season to taste with the salt, pepper, Tabasco, steak sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

KENTUCKY BURGOO

Steps:

• 1. Place the chicken breast, thigh, and liver, the pork, and the cold water in a heavy, nonreactive 4-gallon kettle; set over moderately high heat and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the water bubbles gently, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and refrigerate all pieces of chicken. Cover the kettle again and simmer the pork about 1 1/2 hours longer or until very tender.
• 2. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken, cut the meat into 1-inch chunks, then pulse quickly in a food processor until the texture of coarsely ground meat (in the old days, the chicken was fed through a meat grinder). When the pork is tender, cut into 1-inch chunks, then pulse just as you did the chicken. Also pulse the chicken liver.
• 3. Return the chicken, liver, and pork to the kettle, add the beans and their soaking water, the onions, tomatoes and their liquid, the corn, and peas. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
• 4. Add the salt, pepper, and butter, reduce the heat to its lowest point, and simmer the burgoo uncovered for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally, or until as thick as chili. Note: If at any time the burgoo threatens to stick to the bottom of the kettle, slide a heat diffuser underneath.
• 5. Taste the burgoo for salt and pepper, adjust as needed, then ladle into heated soup bowls.