Hopkins County Stew Family Size Food

SUNDAY NIGHT STEW

Steps:

• Salt and pepper stew meat. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add butter, and as soon as it melts, brown half the stew meat until the outside gets nice and brown, about 2 minutes. (Turn it as it browns.) Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on a plate. Add the rest of the meat to the pot and brown it, too. Remove it to the same plate. Set the meat aside.
• Add the onion and garlic to the pot, stirring it to coat it in all the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomato paste to the pot. Stir it into the onions and let it cook for 2 more minutes.
• Pour in the beef stock, stirring constantly. Add the Worcestershire and sugar. Add the beef back to the pot, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.
• After 1 1/2 to 2 hours, add the diced turnips and carrots to the pot. Stir to combine, put the lid back on the pot, and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be very thick, but if it seems overly so, splash in some beef broth until it thins it up enough. Feel free to add beef broth as needed!
• When the carrots and turnips are tender, stir in minced parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve piping hot in a bowl with mashed potatoes, letting the juice run all over everything. Sprinkle with extra minced parsley at the end.
• Cut the potatoes into quarters and cover with water in a large pot. Boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 25-30 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then put them back into the same pot. With the heat on low, mash the potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes to release as much steam as possible.
• Turn off heat, then add cream cheese, butter, cream, seasoned salt, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
• Serve potatoes immediately or spread them into a buttered baking dish to be reheated later. To reheat, put them in a 375 degree oven, covered in foil, until hot.

CROCKPOT CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Place veggies in the bottom of a 2 1/2 quart crockpot ( you know, the small one ).
• Sprinkle seasonings evenly over the veggies.
• Top with chicken, then cover with soup.
• Cook on low for 6 hours.

MARY AND CHARLIE CHARLES' HOPKINS COUNTY STEW

Steps:

• Cook chicken until tender in a 10-gallon (or larger) cast iron pot outdoors, over a hardwood fire. Use just enough water to cover the chicken as it simmers. When chicken is tender, remove it from pot and reserve broth. There should be about 4 gallons left after chicken is finished cooking. Bone, skin and dice chicken into bite-sized pieces.
• Place diced chicken, cream-style corn, tomatoes, vegetable juice, tomato juice, potatoes, onions, chili powder, and seasoning salt into the pot of reserved broth and heat over open fire stirring frequently to prevent scorching until potatoes are tender. Add sugar, then season with salt and pepper, to taste. Continue to simmer stew over fire pit until serving time.
• Transfer to individual bowls and melt a small amount of butter into stew just before serving. Serve with crackers or cornbread, cheddar cheese and dill pickles.

HOPKINS COUNTY STEW

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook whole chickens with skin intact in a roaster pans filled with a gallon of water per 2 chickens. Sprinkle each chicken with seasoning salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and top with sliced or chopped onions. Add 6 chicken bouillon cubes to each pan. Reserve all broth to use when cooking stew.
• Cook chickens for approximately an hour. Allow chickens to cool. Remove onions from chicken and transfer them into the broth. Remove skin from each chicken and discard. Bone all chickens.
• (If you plan to cook the chickens ahead of time, they can be frozen and stored in freezer bags separate from the broth. Allow 24 hours to thaw before preparing stew.)
• Stew Preparation: Heat the reserved broth to a boil in a cast iron kettle over an open fire. This will take about 30 minutes. Mix in onions and all cans of tomatoes. Continue heating for 30 additional minutes. Add diced potatoes, garlic, sugar and chili powder. Boil mixture for 1 hour. Add chickens and any additional spices or seasoning salts desired and let simmer for a few minutes. Finally, add the cans of kernel and cream-style corn just before serving as it will scorch if added too soon. Remove pot from fire when thoroughly heated.
• Serve with saltine crackers and cheddar cheese.
• A viewer, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.

HOPKINS COUNTY STEW

Steps:

• Assuming you don't have a huge iron pot, use a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot for cooking the stew. Place the chicken in a pot with the stock and salt.
• Over medium heat, simmer the chicken until it is tender and cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken, and set it aside until it is cool enough to handle.
• Bring the stock to a simmer, and add the potatoes and onion. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, skin, bone, and shred or dice the chicken. Return it to the pot, along with the tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, paprika, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer again. Add both types of corn and the butter.
• Cover the pot and continue simmering the stew for at least 30 minutes, until it is quite thick. Stir the stew up from the bottom frequently to prevent scorching, and add a little water if it starts to get dry. Don't let it boil - that would toughen the chicken. Continue to cook very low heat for a couple of hours.
• This stew is tasty with cornbread. In Hopkins County, though, it's usually served with fistful of crackers, slices of cheese, and plenty of pickles.

KATIE LEE'S LOGAN COUNTY HAMBURGERS

Steps:

• To make the burgers, combine the beef, egg, grated onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Mix until combined and then form into 6 thin patties.
• Spread the butter on 1 side of each slice of bread. Heat a large, heavy-duty skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Drain the grease from the skillet.
• In the same skillet, place 6 slices of bread, butter-side down. Top each with a slice of cheese, if using, some sliced onions and a burger. Top with the remaining cheese, if using, and bread, butter-side up. Cook the sandwiches until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
• Serve with mustard, ketchup, tomatoes, pickles or any other desired hamburger toppings.

SWEET KOLACHE RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare Fillings and topping desired and set aside until ready to use.
• For Posypka Topping mix all ingredients together until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• For Poppyseed Filling Combine poppyseeds, sugar and milk, and cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken.
• Add butter, then flour which has been dissolved in a little bit of water.
• Cook, stirring constantly until poppyseed is done, at least 30 minutes.
• Allow to cool before use.
• Leftover filling can be frozen.
• For Cabbage Filling Fry the cabbage in the butter until soft.
• Add the salt, black pepper, sugar and flour, and fry until golden brown, being careful not to burn.
• For Prune Filling Place the prunes in a bowl and cover them completely with boiling water.
• Let them sit overnight (or at least 6 hours) to rehydrate.
• Drain the liquid off and mash prunes thoroughly with a fork or run them through a food processor.
• Add the cinnamon, sugar, and lemon zest.
• Mix thoroughly.
• Fills 24 kolaches.
• For Apricot Filling Cook a 10 ounce package of dried apricots slowly in enough water to cover until fruit is soft and water is cooked out.
• Do not cover or fruit turns dark.
• Add 1 1/2 cups sugar or more to taste and mash with a potato masher until well blended.
• Filling for about 2 dozen kolaches.
• For Cottage Cheese Filling Mix all ingredients together until blended.
• If cheese is too moist, add very finely rolled crackers, about 10 or 12 to absorb liquid.
• If using country-style cottage cheese, cream cheese can be omitted or used for added flavor, according to taste.
• If using cottage cheese as a filling, be sure to enclose cheese in the dough.
• Spread dough balls out, place cheese in the middle and pinch all sides together to seal completely.
• Place sealed side down on the greased pan and butter the pastry.
• Let rise until light, sprinkle with topping and bake.
• For cream Cheese Filling Soften the cream cheese.
• Beat remaining ingredients together with cream cheese in a medium-sized bowl.
• Filling for about 2 dozen kolaches.
• To Make Dough And assemble Kolaches Dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water in a tall glass, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar and set aside to proof.
• In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter, add egg yolks and salt and mix well.
• Add the dissolved yeast, 1 cup of the flour and mix slowly with an electric mixer.
• Add the milk and continue adding as much of the remaining flour as you can mix in with a wooden spoon.
• Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough.
• Continue kneading until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
• Place dough in a greased bowl, turn once to grease surface.
• Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down and turn out onto lightly floured surface.
• Pinch off egg size portions and roll into a ball using the palm of your hands in circular motion.
• Place about 1 inch apart on greased pans.
• Brush kolaches with melted butter, cover with a cloth and let rise until light, about 1 hour.
• Use your fingers to make an indentation in each ball and fill each opening with about 1 tablespoon of filling.
• Sprinkle with posypka topping (optional) and let rise again for 20 minutes.
• Bake in a preheated 425ºF oven for about 10-15 minutes.
• Brush kolaches with melted butter as they come out of the oven.