Sunday Supper Booyah Recipes

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.

BOOYAH

Steps:

• Pat beef and chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and black pepper.
• Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown beef on all sides, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. Cook chicken until browned all over, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard it.
• Pour off all but 1-1/2 teaspoons fat from pot. Add onions and celery and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth and bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits. Add beef, beef bones, and chicken, and bring to boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until chicken registers 175° F, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to bowl. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size pieces, discarding bones. Cover chicken and refrigerate.
• Continue to simmer stew until beef is tender, about 1-1/4 hours longer. Transfer beef to plate. When cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size pieces, discarding fat. Remove beef bones and bay leaves; discard.
• Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle, about 5 minutes, then skim off fat and return liquid to pot.
• Add shredded beef, cabbage, tomatoes, rutabaga, 1-1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to liquid and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rutabaga is translucent around edges, about 15 minutes.
• Stir in potatoes and carrots and cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add chicken and peas, and simmer until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.