Old-Fashioned Kentucky Burgoo

Burgoo isn’t complicated to make, but is has a lot of ingredients and requires a lot of simmering and cooling. My Kentucky cousins used to joke that it was made from whatever didn’t make it across the road the night before – i.e. roadkill! Yikes!

Not too appetizing.

And it normally takes days of cooking shanks and cooling the resulting stock – skimming the fat – adding more ingredients and starting again. Who has time for that?

But this stew is fantastic. It makes a nice mixture for entertaining – one dish style. Corn bread muffins are great with it, another southern favorite. So this is my short cut method that can be made and eaten today. The most difficult part is gathering all the ingredients.

* Quick Burgoo *

1 roasted chicken
1/2 lb pre-cooked pulled pork
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups beef stock
2 cups vegetable stock
1 large can pre-cooked potatoes, cut
Into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and
chopped
2 carrots, scraped and thinly sliced
1 cup frozen sliced okra
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 cup frozen lima beans
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz.)
1 small can tomato paste (6 oz.)
1/2 tblsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp liquid smoke

Remove chicken from the bone and skin and roughly chop the meat. Set aside with the pulled pork.

Brown hamburger together with the onion, green pepper, carrots and celery in a large stock pot. Drain off fat and returned to pot. Add chicken, pork, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thick.

Serve hot!

*If you can’t get pre-cooked pork, use country style ribs and cook them in a covered pan with 1/2 cup water for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool just enough to handle and shred the lean pork.

The added liquid smoke will give this dish the ‘cooked outside over an open fire’ taste – the traditional method for making burgoo.

It is said that when a spoon stands up by itself in the stew that it is ready.