Great American Picnic
Burgoo Update
The Great American Picnic of 2009 was a great success. It was a little warm but flying water balloons by the kids kept it all manageable.
The burgoo was well received with a line shortly after the dinner bell sounded and bulk orders filled until the caldron was scraped clean by the burgoo team of Tac Milne, Don Owen, and Dennis Lorenz. This complemented the hotdogs, hamburgers, bratwursts, and dishes everyone brought.
This batch of burgoo was improved by exhausted taste test of the test batch. (See Below) We prepared the meat a few days ahead of time using modern equipment (Pressure Cooker) and added it at the appropriate time. We also added about a pound of venison and some additional vegetables: Green beans & carrots along with some garlic.
We hoped to finish it off over an open fire to get a some smoky flavor introduced but quite frankly it was just too hot to mess with it.
Test Batch
Well the
burgoo team decided to cook up a test batch of burgoo in the great cast iron pot we got from Gary Bower and the recipe we 'Goggled' up on the internet
for western Kentucky style burgoo. Memorial Day we got an early start and a
break from the weather to knocked out a batch.We learned quite bit on how to cook with such a big heat sink and how to shorten the kitchen time using the stove and microwave to quickly bring up the temperature in the preparation process.
About 1800 we switched from the traditional Memorial Day/Cookout brews and celebrated our completion with some island cocktails. We grilled up some Ho cakes with fresh corn off the cob and ladled up some big bowls for the crowd that had gathered. It was a unanimous thumbs up from all after some minor adjustments to the seasoning.
If you have somehow missed this Kentucky favorite, especially the style from the Owensboro area, be sure to make your reservation today for the Great American Picnic. The secret ingredients to turn it into "Tartan's Stew" will be published here after the picnic batch is made.
Tac stirring the pot of burgoo
Moonlite Tartan's Burgoo Recipe
Ingredients (3 gallons)
1 to 3 lbs. chicken
¾ lb. cabbage ground or chopped fine
¾ lb. onion ground or chopped fine
5 lbs. potatoes peeled and diced
2-17 oz. can corn (we like shoe peg) or 2 cups fresh corn
¾ cup tomato ketchup
3-10 ¾ oz. can tomato puree
Juice of one lemon
¾ cup distilled vinegar
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 ½ tablespoon salt or more to taste
2 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne (more if you like)
Water
Note: Although some area cooks add dried or lima beans we most likely will not. We will most likely add fresh tomatoes and a little boiled shredded beef or wild game.
Directions:
Boil mutton in enough water to cover it. Cook until tender, about 2-3 hours. Throw out the broth and bones, chop meat fine and set aside. Boil chicken in 2 gallons of water in large kettle until tender. Remove chicken; add potatoes, cabbage, onion, corn, ketchup and one gallon of water to chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, chop chicken meat, discarding bones and skin. When potatoes are tender, add chicken, mutton, lemon, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and puree. Let this simmer for 2 hours or longer, stirring often from the bottom as it thickens. Yields 3 gallons. Burgoo is often served with bread, but crackers or corn bread are also good with burgoo.