Cookbook Review 5 - Stews, Bogs And Burgoos!

Still have any leftover turkey? By this time, probably not. If you do, here is a yummy way to use it up. Saturday I was tired of turkey soup, turkey sandwiches and poultry in general. But still starring me in the face when I opened the fridge was a good portion of left over turkey. So off to the book shelf I went. Now here is a book that I have had for several years and enjoy turning to when I want a one pot meal.
Stews, Bogs, and Burgoos – Recipes from the Great American Stewpot by James Villas. James has been the food and wine editor at Town and Country magazine and he has had several articles in Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit, New York Times and Esquire. I like his comment at the beginning of his introduction, “In a large, heavy pot… Just these five words, repeated over and over in recipes throughout this book, immediately evoke timeless memories of sitting around a big wooden kitchen table in North Carolina and watching my grandfather fill blue and white bowls with his steaming rabbit stew…”
This is just the beginning of a wonderful book filled with “down home” cooking such as stews, ragouts, burgoos, mulls, braises, bogs, hotpots, kettles, gumbos, chilis – whew, now I am hungry. After his introduction, which will keep you turning the pages of this book, James has chapters on Beef Stews, Pork Stews, Lamb and Veal Stews, Poultry Stews, Game and Variety Meat Stews, Seafood Stews, Vegetable, Bean and Fruit Stews and to accompany all these delicious pots his last chapter is on Biscuits! Another informative feature of his book are the "Stew Savvy" comments throughout the chapters. These are great helpful hints to make life easier while spending time in your kitchen. Here is an example of one of his tips - "To prevent small whole onions from coming apart during the cooking of stews, take a knife and score the root ends with an X". Good advice James!
Now it is time Mr. Turkey leftovers, you are headed for a Mull. Here is my version of James’ Turkey, Corn and Lima Bean Mull.

Turkey, Corn and Green Pea Mull

4 slices of pancetta, or you could use bacon
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 pieces of celery finely chopped
1 green bell pepper finely chopped
3 cups turkey stock and 1 cup chicken stock
One 10 oz. package frozen corn, thawed
One 10 oz. package frozen green peas – my favorite ingredient!, thawed
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
Whatever leftover turkey you have cubed, I had about 2-1/2 cups
One teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large heavy pot, fry the pancetta or bacon till crisp, remove from pot, drain on paper towel and crumble. Add a touch of olive oil to the pot if it is too dry and add the onions, celery, bell pepper and cook until soft. Add the remaining ingredients plus your bacon and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are fork tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.




As you can see, this is a great alternative to those cold turkey sandwiches. I served it for lunch, but you could definitely do this for supper and just add a crisp salad and some great biscuits to make a satisfying dinner on a “cool” fall evening.

If you are doing it for dinner, a nice wine to serve aside would be a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio!

Cheers!