DEAD-HEAT BURGOO

1 whole chicken
1 lb. pork butt
1 lb. beef shanks
1 lb. lamb shoulder
2 large onions
1/2 bunch celery
2 cups carrots
2 large potatoes
1/2 small head cabbage
6 oz. tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 dozen okra
1 (16 oz.) can corn
4 cloves garlic
1 green bell pepper
2 lemons
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup sweet sorghum or molasses
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
Tabasco to taste
10 strips cooked bacon, crumbled (for garnish)
1 bunch parsley (for garnish)

In large stock pot, pour 1 gallon water over chicken (3-4 pounds), pork (trimmed of excess fat), beef (trimmed of excess fat) and lamb (trimmed of excess fat). Bring to boil, then lower heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally and skimming off fat as needed, until meat is soft and falls off bone, about 2 hours. Then remove stew from heat. Remove meat from stew; set aside to cool. Strain and reserve stock.

When meat has cooled, shred it, discarding chicken skin and bones, and combine it back in pot with roughly chopped onions, roughly chopped celery (with leaves), carrots (peeled and roughly chopped), potatoes (peeled and cubed), roughly chopped cabbage, tomato paste and whole tomatoes. Add enough stock to cover. Simmer 2 hours, again stirring and skimming occasionally, and adding more stock as necessary to keep stew from drying.

Introduce chopped okra (frozen or fresh), drained corn, chopped garlic and chopped bell pepper; simmer another 30 minutes.

Then stir in juice from lemons, vinegar, Worcestershire, sorghum or molasses, salt and freshly ground pepper. Add Tabasco, in single drops, to taste. Ladle into bowls; garnish with sprinklings of bacon (cooked crisp, then crumbled) and roughly chopped parsley.

Makes 10 or more servings
Source: The Washington Post