Brunswick Stew

The birthplace of Brunswick stew is either Brunswick County, Virginia or Brunswick, Georgia–depending on who you’re talking to.  It’s a very popular side dish in North Carolina barbecue restaurants, and a favorite fundraiser dinner for volunteer fire departments, Kiwanis clubs and churches, sold by the quart for takeout and hoarded in deep freezes for another day. It was originally made in huge iron pots over open fires, with rabbit and squirrel as well as chicken.

Before I moved to the Southeast ten years ago, I had never heard of or tried Brunswick stew; it’s definitely a regional treat. There are almost as many different Brunswick stew recipes as there are Brunswick stewmasters; this is the kind of down-home dish that lends itself easily to improvisation.  There are even annual cookoff contests. I wouldn’t really call Brunswick stew “Cajun cooking“, more like low-country cooking.

So, there’s no one right way to make it, but plenty of folks who are convinced that their way is the right way and your way is just all wrong. I feel pretty safe in saying that Brunswick stew must include corn, butter beans, onions, and tomatoes.  Okra? Your choice. Worcestershire sauce? Your choice. Squirrels? Up to you!

I’ve got hundreds of squirrels in my backyard,  but I haven’t managed to catch one yet! This version is heavily adapted from the Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook, and streamlined for the slow cooker. It makes enough to feed 8 or 10 people, and freezes beautifully. Coleslaw and cornbread are perfect sides.

Use a 5-quart slow cooker for these amounts. 

Fry up 3 slices of thick-cut bacon till it’s barely crisp, chop it up and toss it in the crock, along with the rendered bacon fat.

Now add to the crock pot:

1 dried chili, stemmed and seeded

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 quart chicken broth

2.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, each cut in half crosswise

1 bay leaf

1 large celery stalk, chopped

1 pound yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced

3 small carrots, peeled and diced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1.5 cups frozen butterbeans

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

Give it a good stir, and cook on low for 8 hours. 

Then add:

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

the juice of 1 lemon

Give it another stir and taste for seasonings;

let simmer with the lid off for another 10 minutes.

Serve it up in bowls.