Preparation / Directions:
Good use for old Q:
Since I like to experiment/practice a lot, I tend to accumulate a refrigerator full of OLD Q every week or two (OLD Q, to me, is 4 to 7 days old. Over a week, and I feed it to the dogs or toss it). Being one who hates to waste Q, I developed a good use for it. Here's what you do:
Get a pot with a capacity of 4-5 cups. Fill it approx. 1/2 full of water, put on the stove to warm up on med.-low heat. Get out your non-toxic old Q, chop it up into tiny pieces. I like to use pork shoulder, chicken (pulled strands of breast meat from a whole one or finely chopped), and smoked sausage (not the store-bought junk. Smoke it yourself. Hot Italian sausage smokes up real good. Slice it ~1/4 inch thick). I never let ribs or turkey get old enough to use, so I can't say if they will go well or not. Chop up 2 onions, a hot pepper, 2 or 3 garlic cloves, and small tomato. Add a generous amount of fresh or frozen corn kernels.
Add enough of the above (in your own proportions) to fill the pot almost to the top. Add spices below to suite your taste. If you like beans, add some with a slice of bacon. Bring to a HIGH SIMMER/ LOW boil. Cook down until the liquid level just barely covers the rest of the ingredients (takes a long time).
After it has boiled down, add tomato paste/sauce to thicken (a good, thick RAGU sauce without mushrooms works OK). Add a little vinegar (no more than 1/8 cup. Just barely detectable). Simmer/low-boil some more. Periodically taste and adjust seasoning during this time. You will note that grease collects on top. I stir it back in, but it is healthier to skim most of it off. It tastes better if you leave it.
Once you achieve the stew-like consistency you like best, eatitup! It goes excellent with cornbread.
If you cook it down too much, you can add more vinegar and ketchup/tomato paste, simmer more (stirring frequently to prevent scorching), and you have yourself the makings of several DANDY sloppy-Joe style BBQ sandwiche
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