Really Good Brunswick Stew......And I'm Not Even Southern!!
The Boss has loved Brunswick Stew ever since we moved to the South 24 years ago...
Me not so much.....
A concoction of pulled pork......"a Southern staple".....corn and
BBQ sauce....I have always found it hard to find a really good version
of this stew like dish...
My main complaint is that it's usually on the watery side.....
with more sauce then actual ingredients....
A little sweet and a little spicy we have always ordered it in
A little sweet and a little spicy we have always ordered it inBBQ joints as a side dish more then a main course....
A few months ago while eating at
I noticed they had done something different to their version....it was thicker with
more texture then just the pulled pork...
They added big chunks of chicken...
Not being a true connoisseur of Southern Food...I'll assume that Brunswick Stew must have been invented in Brunswick Georgia....
I didn't know what the actual true ingredients were suppose to be but
I knew this version was very very good....
I have bragged in the past that I'm able to taste something and re-create it.....
Something that will surely come in handy if I am ever on one of those
T.V. cooking challenges...
But back to the Stew...
I worked on it with a little of this and a little of that.....
And created a wonderful version of how I think it should taste...
Just the right amount of sweet to spicy seasoning...
And I have to say that adding the chicken
is the secret....
And did I say that eating a big bowl with a stack of saltine crackers is a Must!
You can adjust the amount of heat you add to it depending on how hot you
like things....
I prefer to actually taste the food instead of having a tongue on fire....
Here is the recipe....
A touch of the South from a girl from the North!!
SUE'S BRUNSWICK STEW
SUE'S BRUNSWICK STEW
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of pork
I used boneless ribs but you can use pork shoulder or pork butt....
You "Cannot" use pork tenderloin it will come too dry....
1 pound of chicken tenders cut into bit size pieces...
1/2 bag of frozen corn OR fresh corn taken off of 2 to 3 ears...
2 14.5 oz. cans of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce....I used Budweiser.
Another good choice is Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce
You want to use a sweet sauce
1/8 cup of ketchup
2 Tablespoons of A-1 Sauce
1/4 cup of brown sugar light or dark
a splash of Raspberry Vinegar
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning to taste
1/2 large onion diced
Olive oil
Start with cooking the pork in the crock pot for 8 hours
Think putting it in first thing in the morning so it's ready for dinner...
I make mine at night while I'm sleeping so I can make the
Stew for lunch...
when the pork is cooked remove it from the crock pot and pull apart using 2 forks....
Saute' the diced onion in a heavy pan until soft...
Add the chicken chunks and cook about 4 to 5 minutes .....much like stir frying...
add the corn and all the other ingredients...
simmer on low for about 45 minutes...
thicken the sauce
I used Masa Harina that I get inside Chili mixes...
it thickens nicely and doesn't alter the taste....
Use whatever you normally thicken things with....
Add more Cajun seasoning for extra heat if desired....
Serve with lots of Saltines....
Tired of Baked Beans when you have a BBQ....Try this as your side dish instead....
Bon Apetit!! Y'all
Oh did I really say that?????????
Comments
I'm a southern girl and do like a lot of southern food, but try to lighten things up a lot.
I would LOVE to see you on some food challenge show, you would be great and funny....so entertaining. Think about it when you come back from vacation. Not kidding.
I guess I grew up eating Gumbo, and to me that's a Southern Staple. Louisiana has the best of course. I had it once in Charleston and thought I had gotten the wrong order. It had a tomato base instead of a roux! Don't try to kid a gumbo addict with a substitute! LOL! But that's how they did it there. They thought I was crazy when I asked if I got the wrong order. They looked at me as if I were from Mars. But everyone at the table was STUNNED. So I wasn't alone.
It's like when you are in the Deep South, particularly from Mobile to New Orleans and throughout the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, you say, "PRAW-LEENS". Just like you saw "CRAW-fish." According to the wrapper on a praline I ate once in Biloxi (I think), they were invented there so they that's how they say it. ;-)
I think there's an argument going between Brunswick and another town about who invented the stew. I'm not getting in the middle of that! LOL!
XO,
Sheila :-)
I LOVE Brunswick Stew!
We like Sweet Baby Ray's too..
I looked up Smokey Bones there is one on LI.
I didn't know you have been a Southerner that long! I thought it was only a few years..no matter..can't take the Joisey out of the girl!
Joyce
The part of Georgia where I grew up it was pork only and the cook would try to use the brain in the stew. I grew up near a number of farms and when they killed a hog, they would use some pulled pork, but mostly brain as the meat. The goal of the stew was to use every portion of "meat."
I spent summers picking on Parks farm down between Reynolds and Roberta, Ga., and there was always something exciting going on and I don't think Miss Mattie Parks ever sat down in a chair. To help pay the bills, the Parks raised wigglers, but they had animals and lots of crops (including beautiful pecan groves) down on the farm. Your post brought back a vivid memory. On one of my trips to the farm they had just slaughtered a hog and Miss Parks asked me to come in to help her make stew. When we walked in the kitchen, the hog head was in a pan, sitting on the kitchen table!!! I opted to go out and package worms for an order she was trying to fill. Worms seemed easier to handle that a hog's head. It is still incredible to me that both the Mr. and the Mrs. had full-time jobs as well. A farmer's life isn't easy.
You've created a very upscale version of the stew I once knew but I bet it's a winning recipe.
I'm so glad you like Brunswick Stew...the Mother's Milk of the South. :) You've adjusted well!
Big controversy over where it began. Brunswick County, NC claims it, too, I think.
In SC they do "chicken bog." Dare you go there?
I didn't know you lived so long in the south, Sue!
Your recipe sounds great!
It was thick & hearty, like your version & had both pork & chicken, too. It had the corn AND the butter beans. I can still remember the wonderful flavor.
I can't wait to try making your version. Thanks for sharing it!