How to Make Mulligan Stew

Mulligan stew goes by many names: irish stew, hotch-potch, hot pot, burgoo.  This recipe is believed to have first originated in the early 20th century in hobo camps.  The beauty of this recipe is that its not so much a recipe as it is a guideline.  If you’ve ever heard the story of stone soup, mulligan stew is the epitome of this idea.  The idea was that a bunch of hobos would get together and add whatever they could scrounge or scavenge together in a pot and cook it.

Mulligan stew is essentially the combination of chunks of meat and chunks of vegetables.  It doesn’t matter what kind of meat or what kind of vegetables because it will all come together just fine in the end.  To make the stew, you need a pot and a fire.  Cut whatever meat and vegetables you have into bite-sized pieces and put in the pot.  Fill the pot up with water just enough to cover the contents.  Place the pot on the fire, covered, for at least 2 hours.

Example Recipe:

• 1 pound of meat
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion
• 8 ounces of mushrooms
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 6 ounces of tomato paste
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 can of beer
• 6 carrots
• 2 potatoes
• parsley

Further Reading:

• http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmulliganstew.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulligan_stew_%28food%29
• http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t–2346/mulligan-stew.asp#