Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew – An Exploratory Adventure of Taste

I had Brunswick stew once in my life. It was at my friend Jane’s house, and I completely loved it. Mind you, this was many years ago, but I never forgot the orgy of flavors that unfolded in my mouth.

Fast forward to 2014. I was going to have a house concert with a country singer. What better food to cook for 16 people than something Southern? Brunswick stew popped into my head!

And so began my quest for a good recipe. I Googled “Brunswick Stew” and found all sorts of strange recipes that required several bottles of barbeque sauce, pre-cooked, shredded pork, and other processed foods. This sounded nothing like the stew I had enjoyed years earlier. In fact, it sounded pretty horrible.

Just don't do it.

 

The afore-mentioned Jane was then so kind to send me her recipe, which had been passed down from her grandmother. They are all from Alabama – so bingo! Simultaneously, I received a recipe from a friend’s friend in San Francisco, which apparently was also from the days of yore. Now I had something to work with!

After perusing both recipes (both of which were more suggestions than actual recipes, which is fine with me, since I never follow a recipe anyway), I came up with my own version. Now mind you, I don’t know if I committed some horrible fallacy by southern standards when I added celery, or seasoned the broth – but the end result was pretty damn tasty, and therefore I will share it here with you!

First let me say that the meat choice is pretty much up to you. I’ll tell you what I used, but you can also add beef, or – if you want to explore your deeper southern roots - more exotic meats, such as possum, coon, squirrel, and so forth. 

Also let me mention, you cannot (I mean CAN NOT) make a little bit of this stew. Prepare to either feed the masses or to have Brunswick stew until all eternity.

You will need a very large pot. And no matter how big your pot is, you’ll still wish you had an even bigger one. I used a menudo pot, which holds just under 4 gallons. It wasn’t big enough – but it worked-ish. You can use a huge stock pot or two large pots - though that is a pain.

Finally – make this stew ahead. It definitely improves with age and reheating. 

Ingredients

5 pounds chicken leg quarters

2-3 pounds pork butt

2-3 pounds turkey legs

4 bay leaves

1 tbsp pepper corns

1 tbsp celery seed

4 tbsp salt

5 pounds potatoes

3 pounds onions

8 ribs of celery

2 large cans tomatoes (whole or diced)

1 large can (or two small) tomato paste

1 large bottle of Worcestershire sauce

3 green bell peppers

5-10 jalapeno peppers

1 lb. bag of frozen Lima beans

2 lb. bag of frozen corn

4 cans of creamed corn

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce

Directions 

1. Place all your meats into the giant pot and cover with water. Add bay leaves, pepper corns, celery seeds, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer until meat is done and tender – about 1 hour.

2. Remove the meat and let it rest until it is cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, strain the broth into various containers and discard the solids (pepper corns, bay leaves…). The fat will rise to the top of the broth. With a shallow spoon, skim off some of the fat and discard.

3. De-bone and skin the cooked meats. Shred the chicken and turkey with your fingers. Cut the pork in small cubes. You don’t have to get too precise about it since the cooking process will further dissolve the meats.

4. Add about 2+ gallons of broth back to the (washed) pot. You can always add more later if it is too thick. Use the remaining broth for soup – or whatever. It freezes well. The broth should be well salted at this point. If it tastes a bit too salty, don’t freak out – it will be absorbed by the gazillion ingredients you’re about to add.

5. Peel and dice the potatoes. Peel and dice the onion. Wash, trim and dice the celery. Bring the broth to a boil and add the vegetables. Let them simmer for about 30 minutes; stir occasionally. 

6. Meanwhile, core and dice the bell and jalapeno peppers (cut the jalapenos into smaller dice). When the potatoes are just about cooked, add 2 cans of tomatoes, ½ bottle of Worcestershire sauce, and the peppers. Stir and bring back up to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

7. Add your diced and shredded meats and stir to combine. At this point you want to taste what’s going on in the pot. You might want to add some more Worcestershire sauce and/or salt. But be conservative, since there is more to come!

8. Once the meat is simmering and you’ve tasted your fledgling stew, add the tomato paste. You can put the tomato paste in a bowl and loosen it up with some broth so it will integrate better. Stir it in really well – this might take a while.

The stew will now get thicker. It should have a good tang from all those tomatoes and the Worcestershire sauce.

This is the point at which you can stop. In fact, you should stop. Let the stew cool and then refrigerate overnight (if you can get the giant pot into your fridge).

Note – my pot was completely full at this stage, so I removed about ½ gallon of stew and reserved it in a container for later use. 

 To continue…

Heat the stew to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the stew is bubbly, add frozen the Lima beans and frozen corn, stirring well. Keep heating over medium heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Taste the stew and add salt, more Worcestershire sauce, and ½ bottle of hot sauce (optional). In the end, you’ll probably use the entire large bottle of Worcestershire sauce.

Now stir in the 4 cans of cream-style corn. Stir stir stir! The creamed corn is going to totally transform the stew and pull it together. Bring everything back up to a simmer, taste, adjust, and serve!

I let people add their own hot sauce instead of putting it IN the stew. 

This will keep in the fridge for about a week and in the freezer for about a month. If you reheat it, do so slowly. 

This is best served with Southern Corn Bread - drenched in butter and syrup.