Midwest Livings Bouja Burgoo Recipes

RIEDER'S BOUJA

Steps:

• Boil chicken and beef in a heavy kettle until tender.
• Use enough water to cover.
• Remove meat and cut into small bite-sized chunks.
• Discard fat and skin.
• To broth, add celery, cabbage, onions and boil until almost tender.
• Add remaining vegetables according to taste and desired thickness.
• After vegetables have cooked a short time together add meat and simmer until meat breaks apart.
• Stir occasionally with a wooden paddle.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Put (VERY IMPORTANT) dry pickling spice in a strong cloth bag and tie firmly with string so it won't come apart.
• Drop the bag into simmering bouja plunging it in and out after a short time, tasting as you go until it tastes right.

BOUJA (BOOYA)

Steps:

• Boil chicken, beef & pork in a heavy kettle in enough water to cover until tender. Remove meat from broth and cut into bite-sized chunks. Discard fat, skin, and bones.
• Add in the cabbage, celery, and onions into the broth and boil until almost tender. Add in the remaining vegetables. When vegetables are cooked through, add the meat back into the broth, stir in the barley, and cook over medium heat until the meat breaks apart. The entire cooking process takes about 5 hours. Stir with large fork to break up the meat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Broth should have a slightly peppery quality to it.
• Once the meat is cooked tender, it is time for the "secret ingredient". Put the pickling spices into a small cloth bag (you can make one out of some cloth and string) and dip into the bouja. You can let it sit for a couple of minutes, moving it around throughout the pot. Remove and stir. You can add more if you'd like a stronger flavor.
• Until you add this, it's just vegetable soup. Once you do this last step, it will be BOUJA!
• If you don't have a cloth to make a spice bag, you can also boil the spices in 1 cup of water for 3-4 minutes. Strain and add the clear liquid to the bouja pot.

KENTUCKY BURGOO

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven, combine the chicken, beef, lamb, water, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until the chicken, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Remove the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Continue to simmer the other meats, partially covered, until they are tender, about 1 1/2 hours longer. Add the meats to the plate of chicken and keep covered.
• Add the cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, okra, corn, onions, bell pepper, garlic, sage, thyme, bay leaf, hot pepper sauce, and cayenne to the stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Cut the chicken, beef, and lamb into bite size pieces and add them and the ham to the Dutch oven. Continue simmering until the meat is heated through, about 10 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley and serve hot.

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.

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.

KENTUCKY BURGOO

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except the barbeque Put in crock pot, Pour barbeque sauce on top.
• Cook 6-8 hours on low setting.
• Stir before serving.

BURGOO

Steps:

• Combine meat, chicken, and water in a very large kettle. Season with salt and bay leaf. Simmer until the meat is tender and falls from the bones. Lift it out, cool, and cut all meat from bones. Cut meat into bite size pieces. Skim off the fat or chill the stock and remove all hardened fat. Return meat and chicken pieces to the stock.
• Peel potatoes and onions, scrape the carrots, and dice the vegetables. Add to stew along with sliced celery, green pepper slivers, tomato puree, tomatoes, hot peppers, corn, okra, lima beans, and cabbage.
• Simmer slowly until stew is thick and vegetables are done, 2 to 3 hours. Burgoo should be thick but still soupy. Season with Worcestershire, A.1. Sauce, cayenne, and additional salt, if needed. Just before serving, sprinkle stew with parsley. Serve in soup plates or bowls. Makes about 25 servings.
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