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Community Corner

Burgoo, another name for stew?

It's all that and more.

I’m Chef Eric and here’s what’s on my plate this week. 

The winter months have settled in around us, the chill in the air has gotten bone deep.  This is the time of year I like to serve food that stirs the taste buds and stimulates the soul.  For me, nothing does that better then a hearty pot simmering on the stove filled with tasty and nutritious ingredients.  Whether I am making my famous chicken potpie with homemade noodles or an aromatic lamb and barley stew or a white meat chicken chili the family is grateful for mealtime to begin. 

It's reminiscent of times gone by; simple family moments.  Grabbing your favorite bowl, stepping up to the kettle and scooping out a hearty portion.  Then ripping off a hunk of crusty bread and bellying up to the table.  These are the types of meals that warm us from the inside.  They are filled with tasty and nutritional ingredients bathed together in a hearty broth chalk-filled with flavor. 

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There is one dish I have been making for years and I have always wondered the origin of the recipe and particularly the name.  I’ve always called it Chicken Burgoo.  This got me wondering what the origin of Burgoo is.  So I hopped onto the internet...a little research and the world of Burgoo was opened up to me. 

I never knew there was such storied history behind this simple cold weather dish.  The traditional Burgoos were community stew pots.  Townspeople would bring ingredients that were available.  Usually whatever livestock was killed that day, seasonal vegetables or anything that was being kept in the root cellar. In order for the dish to be considered a Burgoo it has to be thickened with either oat or corn meal The exact ingredients differed every time.  The concoction simmered in a kettle over an open wood fire for hours as the community reveled in the anticipation of latest public offering.

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My recipe is prepared on a smaller scale and just for my family.  Perhaps the next time it well be Burgoo for the community.  How will you Burgoo?

Chef Eric’s Chicken Burgoo

16 – chicken drumsticks                                    1 lb – ground beef

1 lb – smoked kielbasa (or sausage)                1 lb – onion, Julianne strips

½ lb – celery, chopped                                     ½ lb – carrots, chopped

¼ cup – garlic, chopped                                    1 ½ quarts – chicken stock

1 lb – potatoes, diced                                         1 can – crushed tomatoes

½ lb - lima beans, frozen                                   ½ lb – corn, frozen

½ lb – okra, frozen                                            ½ lb – red peppers, diced

¼ teaspoon – clove                                            2 each – bay leaves

3 Tbsp – Worcestershire sauce                        To taste – Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

¾ cup – cornmeal                                                ¼ cup – parsley, fresh, chopped

Season chicken legs and sear golden brown evenly on all sides.  Put aside. Make sure the carrots, celery, potatoes, and peppers are uniformily chopped. In a heavy bottom pot, cook the ground beef until the fat is rendered add kielbasa, onions, celery, carrots and garlic, cook until onions are translucent.  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add the seared chicken drumsticks, potatoes and tomatoes.  Simmer 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.

Add lima beans, corn, okra, red peppers, clove, bay leaves, Worcestershire salt pepper and crushed peppers.  Bring to a boil add the corn meal and reduce the heat simmer 15 minutes.  Correct the thickness and flavoring.  Add the parsley. Serve at once by placing a drumstick in your bowl lading the vegetables and broth over it and enjoying.

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