Kentucky Burgoo

Inventive Southern cooks created this thick stew using whatever meats--pork, veal, beef, lamb, poultry, and even rabbit or squirrels--and fresh vegetables they had on hand. Typically made to serve a crowd, Burgoo is now firmly identified with Kentucky's regional cuisine.

• Preparation Time: 1 hr 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 9 hr
• Total Time: 10 hr 10 mins
• Calories: 532 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
• 2 cups medium salsa
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen lima beans, thawed
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can green beans, drained
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen okra
• 2 (15 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 5 pounds bone-in mutton shoulder or leg, cut into 1 pound pieces
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil
• ¼ cup hickory smoke flavored barbeque sauce

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Day one: In a large heavy stockpot, add meat and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, and enough water to completely cover meat. Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Remove meat from stock; refrigerate stock for later use. Debone meat, discard bones, and place meat in a roasting pan. Roast meat for 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven or until tender when pierced with a fork. Cover pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate.

Step 3

Day two: Remove stock from refrigerator; skim off and discard top layer of hardened white fat. Pour 4 cups of stock into a heavy stockpot; add potatoes, carrots, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook vegetable mixture over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly and refrigerate.

Step 4

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion. Cook and stir until onion is transparent, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside. Remove meat from refrigerator and add remaining stock to pan. Cover the roasting pan with a lid or aluminum foil.

Step 5

Cook meat for 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven. Remove the meat from the oven and pour in the salsa, onion, tomato sauce, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and 1 can crushed tomatoes. Continue roasting for another 1 1/2 hours. Cool slightly and refrigerate overnight.

Step 6

Day three: In a large Dutch oven portable roaster or large stock pot, combine meat with the vegetable mixture from the day before, corn, green beans, lima beans, okra, and tomato juice. Cook for 3 hours at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) if using a roaster, or if using a stock pot, simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.