Midwest Living Burgoo Stew Recipes

BURGOO RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a very large pot (at least 8 quarts) to medium-high heat. Season the pork, beef and chicken with salt and pepper. Sear them in batches in the pot a few minutes per side to brown them. Remove and set aside.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, peppers, carrots, celery and okra. Cook for 5 minutes to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.
• Add the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, bbq sauce (if using), hot sauce to taste and bay leaves. Return the browned meats to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
• Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
• Remove the chicken and pull the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and return the tender meat to the pot. Break apart any larger chunks of meat with forks.
• Add the potatoes, corn, lima beans, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are softened and cooked through.
• Taste and adjust for salt and pepper and hot sauce. Serve with extra hot sauce!

BURGOO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large stockpot (8-quart) over medium-high heat. Season the chicken and beef with a few pinches of salt and several grinds of black pepper. Add the chicken to the hot oil skin-side down and cook until the skin is golden brown and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue to cook until golden, about 2 minutes more. Carefully remove to a plate. Working in batches, cook the beef in a single layer spaced about an inch apart, turning a few times, until browned on at least three sides, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. As the beef finishes browning, transfer to a large plate.
• Add the sausage to the pot and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon into small bite-size pieces, until cooked through and browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, onion, bell pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until the vegetables are crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and bay leaves, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
• Return the chicken and beef to the pot, along with any juices that may have accumulated on the plates. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper, then give everything a good stir. Bring to a boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the chicken and beef are very tender, about 2 hours.
• Keep the burgoo over low heat. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool slightly; remove and discard the skin and bones, then shred the chicken and return it to the pot. Skim the fat from the surface of the stew, discarding all but 1 tablespoon. Stir the 1 tablespoon of skimmed fat with the flour in a small bowl until a thick paste forms, then stir the paste into the stew. Add the potatoes, butter beans, corn and Worcestershire sauce. Increase the heat to medium-low, then continue to simmer uncovered until the potatoes are cooked through and the stew has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and stir in the vinegar, if using. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve warm.

MIDWEST LIVING'S BOUJA / BURGOO

Steps:

• In a large cooking pot, cook the chicken in 1 tablespoon hot cooking oil until no pink remains; remove the chicken from the pot, cover and chill but reserve the drippings in the pot.
• Brown the cubed beef chuck in the remaining drippings in the pot, adding more oil if needed.
• Add the water, chopped onion, instant bouillon granules and the dried thyme to the pot; bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the cooking pot and stir to combine; return the mixture to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes more, or until vegetables and meat are tender.
• Stir in the cooked chicken and heat through; season to taste with some salt and some additional pepper, if you like.

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.

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.

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.