Brunswick Stew
Filed in archive Recipes on February 6, 2007
If my hubby still owned a BB gun, if I were a sharp shooter, and if I relished the idea of beheading and de-furring a fuzzy grey squirrel, you can bet I would have made this dish with it just to try what's traditional. Am I ever so glad that chicken is now the meat of choice when preparing this dish, at least according to Betty Crocker. The inspiration came from Breadchick.
I keep a Crockpot on hand just because everyone says I should have one. We got two of them as presents on our wedding day, but they sat and sat in the cupboard, taking up space, until a few years later I gave them away. As I got to know other moms, though, I began to realize just how many of them depended on crockpots. I finally realized I *had* to get one when my aunt (who by the way is a great cook) came to visit and help take care of our youngest when she was a newborn, and one of the first things she asked when she stepped into my kitchen was "Do you have a Crockpot?". I shook my head, embarrassed, but as fate would have it, just a few weeks later I found one at a thrift shop, unused, for $3. Of course it was destined to come home with me.
I'm still not a Crockpot cook, not by a long shot, but I have learned to take it with us on long trips. I pre-cook whatever stew or soup or other saucy dish it is that I want to take along -- the "regular" way, in a pot or skillet on the stove, or in the oven, and THEN I transfer it into the Crockpot, where it stays until we get to the hotel. There I plug it in and heat it up.
There are only two dishes that I really like cooking in a crockpot -- chili, and white chili :D. And now there are three!
Brunswick stew, as it turns out, is the subject of some controversy, most of which does not interest me. I'm providing a link to some information about it though, because it might interest you, dear reader. I followed Breadchick's recipe, except I changed the amounts, and the time, to suit our schedule the day I cooked this (a Sunday when we were out most of the day and came home for dinner).
1 tablespoon canola or other cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 3-4 lb chicken, cut up (I didn't use the breasts and saved it for a stir-fry instead)
1 large package ham steak, cubed
1 quart chicken stock
1 28-oz. diced tomatoes and their juice (I used fire-roasted from Muir Glen)
1/2 lb. boiling potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 lb. frozen baby lima beans
1 lb. frozen corn
1 tsp sugar
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and saute onion until golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to crockpot and add chicken parts, ham cubes, and chicken stock. Cook 2 hours on "High". Remove solids from pot and de-fat cooking liquid if desired.
Return everything to pot. Add tomatoes and juice, potatoes, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook 4 hours more on low.
Add lima beans, corn, and sugar and cook on high 1 hour more. Add sugar and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve over noodles or rice if desired.
The results were very good and my brother who is somewhat of a picky eater even asked how to cook it. A good thing since he's moving into his own place soon and should learn to cook a greater variety of dishes for himself. If I make this again I'll take a suggestion from one of my cookbooks though and add some hot chilies -- yeah! However, I will leave the squirrel slaughtering to people who might actually get a kick out of it.
Breadchick adapted a recipe from this book: 
If you're looking for other soup, stew or crockpot recipes, here are some more you might want to check out:


Permalink: Brunswick Stew
Tags: brunswick stew cook kitchen food brunswick+stew gypsy+king king+chai
Vote for Brunswick Stew:
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Rating: 8.50 out of 4 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Caley Walsh
(02/12/07 5:59pm)
I recently came across a crockpot recipe that calls for quick-cooking tapioca, and I don't know how I feel about that. It's for a garlic chicken recipe. Any thoughts?
Response from:
stef
(04/09/07 10:29pm)
Hi, Caley, sorry, I guess I missed this comment!
Tapioca should be fine, but I would use the tiny ones. It's used to thicken mixtures, although I've never used it for chicken stew. It should be fine, as tapioca simply absorbs whatever flavors it is cooked in. LMK how it turns out!
Tapioca should be fine, but I would use the tiny ones. It's used to thicken mixtures, although I've never used it for chicken stew. It should be fine, as tapioca simply absorbs whatever flavors it is cooked in. LMK how it turns out!
Response from:
Eating Disorders
(05/02/07 10:48am)
The main difference between the Georgia and Virginia versions have been the types of meat used. The Virginia version tends to favor chicken as the primary meat, while the Georgia version tends to favor pork and beef as the primary meats. As there is no "primary" recipe for Brunswick stew it is usually possible to find chicken, pork, beef, and any other type of meat mixed together in the same recipe from either location.
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