KENTUCKY BURGOO

Burgoo is served traditionally at the Kentucky Derby and at Festivals all over the state.

Kentucky Burgoo Recipe

This recipe makes a lot! Feel free to halve. Otherwise, it makes great leftovers.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3-4 pounds pork shoulder or country ribs, cut into large pieces (3 to 4 inches wide)
2-3 pounds chuck roast, stew meat, or other inexpensive cut of beef, cut into large pieces (3 to 4 inches wide)
3-5 chicken legs or thighs (bone-in)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 quart chicken stock or broth
1 quart beef stock or broth
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
2 large potatoes (we used russets)
1 bag of frozen corn (about a pound)
1 bag of frozen lima beans (about 14 ounces)
Salt and pepper
4-8 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco or other hot sauce on the side
Method
1 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.

2 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.

3 When the vegetables are well browned, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more, until fragrant. Add back the meats, and the chicken and beef broths and the tomatoes, stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 hours.

4 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.

5 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.

6 Add the corn and lima beans. Mix well and cook for at least 10 minutes, or longer if you’d like. Here is the point where you decide whether you want a burgoo that’s been hammered into a thick mass or a stew with bright colors in it. It’s your call.

To serve, taste one more time for salt, and add either Worcestershire or salt if you want. Serve with crusty bread or cornbread and a bottle of hot sauce on the side.

Serves a small army. Or 12-16.

BURGOO

I'm trying to get Eric to drive to Indiana with me on October 24, 2010 so that we can stop by St. Joseph's Parish in Evansville, Indiana. The St. Joe Men's Club will be cooking and serving their famous Burgoo. My parents always took both my sister and I to the festival each fall and late in life Daddy would go purchase containers of Burgoo "to go" and freeze it. I have not had Burgoo for probably 50 years or more. Southern Indiana is considered the Burgoo capital of the world. Following is an Indiana Burgoo recipe. There is also a Kentucky version that I'll eventually find.


Burgoo Indiana-Style

Serves/Makes: 10 gallons | Difficulty Level: 3 | Ready In: > 5 hrs

Ingredients:
3 pounds Cheap Beef Roast
2 pounds Pork roast
4 cups Dry northern beans
1 bunch celery
6 medium Turnips
8 medium Potatoes
8 medium Onions
1/2 pound Fresh green beans
3 pounds Carrots
1 small Head green cabbage
3 cans Corn
3 cans Hominy
3 quarts Tomatoes;canned or peeled fresh tomatoes
1 large Can Chicken broth
1/2 Lemon; chopped (rind and all)
3 tablespoons Mixed pickling spices -- tied up in cheesecloth bag
8 ounces ketchup
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Precook meats, and dry beans. Grind meats and vegetables in a food chopper or food processor (do not puree). Combine all ingredients in a very large pot. If using more than 1 pot, blend burgoo back and forth between pots as it cooks.

Cook 5 hours over low heat, stirring often and on a regular basis to prevent sticking on bottom. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

CHICKEN AND DRESSING FROM WAY DOWN SOUTH

This is the best chicken and dressing I have ever tasted in my life. It is also the highest calorie so really be careful with this. Make it once every five years for a church social or something. Makes 12 servings. Jeff Burkhart gave me this recipe. His family has been making it for years.

CHICKEN:

1 (6 pound) whole chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery
salt to taste


DRESSING:

2 (9 X 9 inch) pans of cornbread, cooled and crumbled
12 biscuits, crumbled
2 cups diced celery
2 large onions, chopped
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
seasoned salt to taste
1 or 2 dashes of red pepper flakes. To your taste.
9 eggs beaten. That is not a typo. Nine eggs beaten is what you add.

Directions:

Place chicken, 1 onion, 2 stalks celery, and salt in a large pot with enough water to cover. I cut the chicken as if I were going to fry it. Bring water to boil. Reduce heat and gently boil for 90 minutes or until chicken meat easily falls from the bone. Drain, Reserve broth. Cool chicken. Chop chicken up. Set chicken aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix crumbled cornbread, crumbled biscuits, 2 cups celery, 2 large onions, sage, poultry seasoning, seasoned salt and red pepper flakes. Stir in beaten eggs and the reserved chicken broth. The mixture should be very thin--not as thin as water--but very very thin.

Transfer mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir it often while baking.

After 45 minutes, mix the cooked chicken into the dressing mixture. Continue baking 15 minutes until lightly browned.

COUNTRY BEEF STEW

SERVE THIS STEW WITH POTATOES, GREEN VEGETABLES AND A MIXED SALAD. If you drink wine, a hearty Burgundy is the wine to serve. Also, serve with slabs of really good French or Italian bread.

COUNTRY BEEF STEW:

1 TABLESPOON COOKING OIL (Read, good olive oil)
4 ounce salt port cubed
3 pounds of top round of beef cut into 2 inch cubes
1 carrot scraped and sliced diagonally
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

4 springs of parsley, 1 spray of thyme and 1 bay leaf tied together in a little cheesecloth bag. Just cut a square of cheesecloth and tie the four corners together to make a little bag. You are going to throw this away so you don't need to buy something fancy.

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3 1/8 cups of red wine (Burgundy)
1 tablespoon tomato puree


ONIONS

2 OUNCE BUTTER
15 SMALL PICKLING PEARL ONIONS
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
1/2 TEASPOON BLACK PEPPER


MUSHROOMS

1/4 cup butter
1 pound button mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


In a large flameproof casserole, heat the oil over moderate heat. Flameproof means you can put it on top of the stove and then put it in the oven. Do not use cast iron unless it is protected by enamel. Tomatoes remove the seasoning from your cast iron. Paula Deen has some enamel covered cast iron that will work well.

Add the salt port cubes and fry, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes or until they look like small croutons and have rendered their fat. With a slotted spoon, remove the salt port to a kitchen paper towel to drain.

NOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT TRICK TO MAKING THIS STEW OR ANY STEW, IS TO DRY EACH OF YOUR PIECES OF MEAT. Pat each piece of meat dry with a paper towel and then add five or six pieces to the hot oil. Cook each piece until they are lightly and evenly browned. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside. Dry five or six more pieces and keep repeating this process until all your dried cubes are browned. The reason you do this is twofold. You want your meat to caramelize. That's why you dry it before browning it. And, you add it slowly, five or six pieces, at a time so that your pan keeps it's heat up and you don't end up boiling your meat in it's own juices. This is time consuming and annoying. But, it will make a very significant difference in this stew and in any stew. Caramelize your meat. Don't boil it.

So now, all the meat is browned and sitting aside.

Add the carrot, onion and garlic to the casserole and fry, stirring for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the onion is soft, translucent, but not brown. Stir in the salt, pepper, little bag of herbs, thyme and parsley.

Return the beef and salt port to the casserole and pour over the wine. Stir in the tomato puree. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat to very low, cover the casserole tightly and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Shortly before the 1 1/2 hours is up, prepare the onions. In a medium sized frying pan, melt the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the onions, salt and pepper. Stirring, fry for 8 to 10 minutes or until the onions are golden. With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to the casserole.

Once the onions have been added, put the butter for the mushrooms in the frying pan and melt over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the mushrooms, and nutmeg. Fry for three minutes or until they are just tender. Stir the whole time. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to the casserole. Cover the casserole again. Simmer 15 minutes until the meat is very tender, but the onions are still firm.

Remove the casserole from the stovetop,remove the little cheesecloth bag of herbs, put the casserole on a trivet, and serve immediately with slabs of really good French or Italian bread. The "gravy" in this stew is not runny, but you need those slabs of bread to "sop" up the gravy. Remember, this is a country stew.

JAMBALAYA

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
3 lean bacon slices, chopped
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
12 oz. (2 cups) long-grain rice, washed, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and drained. This is NOT minute rice.
1 pint (2 cups) chicken stock
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 large green pepper, white pith removed, seeded and roughly chopped
14 ounces canned peeled tomatoes
4 ounces cooked ham
8 ounces cooked shrimp, shelled
8 ounces cooked chicken meat, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley



In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderate heat.
When the oil is hot, add the bacon and fry, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes or until it is crisp and golden brown.

With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pan and drain on kitchen paper towels. Set the bacon aside.

Add the onions to the sauce pan and cook, stirring for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Add the celery. Then stir in the rice. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until rice is well coated with the fat. Pour in the chicken stock, stirring constantly. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the green pepper and tomatoes with the can juice and simmer, covered for another five minutes.

Add the cooked ham, cooked shrimp, cooked chicken and reserved bacon pieces and stir well. Re-cover the pan and cook another five minutes or until the meat and shrimps are heated through and the rice is tender.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parley and serve at once.

Have some Louisiana Hot Sauce available. Serve with a green salad and slabs of really good French or Italian bread.

CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE DANISH

I made these for breakfast this morning. As soon as they came out of the oven, I took four of the eight next door and gave them to our neighbors so we only had to deal with the temptation of four of them.

This recipe started life as a recipe from Giada De Laurentis who learned to make it during her cooking school days in Paris. I altered it as best I could so that it would be a tad safer for a diabetic to eat. It is still dangerous as all get out so be careful with the amount of these you consume.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

FILLING:

Mix together:

1/4 CUP FAT FREE CREAM CHEESE (at room temperature)
1/4 CUP MASCARPONE CHEESE (at room temperature)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons SPLENDA
1/2 TEASPOON PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt


Once the above is creamy and smooth, fold in 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips.

PASTRY:

ONE BOX OR 2 (9 INCH SQUARE) SHEETS FROZEN PUFF PASTRY, THAWED

1 EGG BEATEN


Cut each sheet of pastry into 4 equal sized squares. Put 4 pastry squares on each baking sheet. Spoon about 2 or 3 teaspoons of the filling into the center of each piece of pastry. Fold 1 corner of the pastry diagonally over the filling to within 1 inch of the opposite corner. You now have a triangle. Press the edges together all the way around so the chocolate and the cheese cannot escape. Using a pastry brush, brush the folded over section lightly with the beaten egg. Fold the very tip of the triangle over and seal it with your finger. Brush the whole top with the beaten egg. Cook for 15 minutes or so at 400 degrees F.

ET THESE THINGS COOL.

DO NOT TRY TO EAT THEM UNTIL THEY HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO COOL.

IF YOU DON'T LET THESE COOL, THE CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE WILL BLISTER YOUR TONGUE AND YOUR LIPS.

THE REAL HIGHLIGHT OF THE AIR SHOW

I met George Perez at the Air Show. Currently, he's the "groundsman" for the Golden Knights. He's a friendly, charming, smiling, bear of a man. A number of years ago, George was in Iraq. An IED got him. He was flown back home, got patched up, learned to walk again on his new leg, re-inlisted and headed back for Iraq for another tour of duty. Fortunately, he made it through the second tour without physical injury. Now, he serves a "groundsman" for the Golden Knights. And, he is a wonderful public relations ambassador for the ARMY. You cannot help but like George!