A little pot of Brunswick Stew

Hammer12b said:
A pound and a half of good pulled pork. A pound of stewed chicken. Taters, carrots, green beans, onions, cabbage, green peas, garlic, tomatoes and corn.
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Question (really for anyone): what makes this 'Brunswick stew' to you??

I love Brunswick stew (ironically, I have to be at work for a couple hours this morning and a coworker brought me some for dinner), and have seen some regionally different recipes.
 
Chuckman said:
Question (really for anyone): what makes this 'Brunswick stew' to you??

I love Brunswick stew (ironically, I have to be at work for a couple hours this morning and a coworker brought me some for dinner), and have seen some regionally different recipes.
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Tomatoes, Lima Beans, Potatoes, Corn and Onion and what ever meat you choose, most commonly chicken and pork.

But, make it however you want, I'm curious how the cabbage would taste.
 
BowWow said:
Tomatoes, Lima Beans, Potatoes, Corn and Onion and what ever meat you choose, most commonly chicken and pork.

But, make it however you want, I'm curious how the cabbage would taste.
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That's what I think, too. I am not a purist, I am not going to fisticuffs over it like some people will.
 
Chuckman said:
Question (really for anyone): what makes this 'Brunswick stew' to you??
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I don't make it but I always thought Brunswick stew was tomato based, potatoes and whatever meat you have in the fridge + vegetables.

I prefer when a leftover smoked meat is used but I've had it various ways. Hard to be picky and die on a hill if I do not cook it lol. I always welcome cabbage to a dish.

Picture looks tasty @Hammer12b is that for dinner?
 
Squanchy said:
I don't make it but I always thought Brunswick stew was tomato based, potatoes and whatever meat you have in the fridge + vegetables.

I prefer when a leftover smoked meat is used but I've had it various ways. Hard to be picky and die on a hill if I do not cook it lol. I always welcome cabbage to a dish.

Picture looks tasty @Hammer12b is that for dinner?
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Pork was cooked last week and frozen. Chicken was done yesterday for supper. And it has a lot of tomatoes and tomato sauce in it. I like to simmer mine all day and add the taters half way to keep them from turning to mush.
 
My mother always made it with ground beef. Usually left over from taco night.

She never called it Brunswick stew. She called it leftover stew.

It wasn’t till I moved to NC and had Brunswick that I realized it was pretty much the same thing.
 
Made a couple crock pots of it when I had a ton of leftover pulled pork a couple months ago.
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Mine has half pulled chicken thighs / half pulled pork. Plus I use 3/4 cup Vinegar based NC BBQ sauce and 1/4 cup Sweet Rays sugar free BBQ sauce in addition to chicken stock plus the fire roasted diced tomatoes, onion, lima beans, corn, Worcestershire, pepper, kosher salt, cayenne pepper. Probably a couple other leftover things thrown in that were in the fridge.

I don't like mine all that sweet so don't put any brown sugar, etc in it.

Also freezes great.

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Hammer12b said:
I never have enough left to freeze. I divide it up and take it to our shut ins from church.
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My wife doesn't really like Brunswick stew so she humors me and has a bowl so I can spread it out a bit (same thing with chili). I introduced it to my French Canadian neighbors who had never had it before and they are all in on it, lol. They got a couple containers from the second batch.
 
BowWow said:
Tomatoes, Lima Beans, Potatoes, Corn and Onion and what ever meat you choose, most commonly chicken and pork.

But, make it however you want, I'm curious how the cabbage would taste.
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That cabbage tastes good! The cabbage, celery and onions give it a really good flavor.
 
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Chdamn said:
My mother always made it with ground beef. Usually left over from taco night.

She never called it Brunswick stew. She called it leftover stew.

It wasn’t till I moved to NC and had Brunswick that I realized it was pretty much the same thing.
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Was looking at left over smoked pork and chicken in the freezer, now I have a weekend project.
Are peas and carrots a violation of some code?
Have quarts of chicken stock that I made with too much onion, maybe use that up rather than water and skip the onions.
 
JimB said:
Was looking at left over smoked pork and chicken in the freezer, now I have a weekend project.
Are peas and carrots a violation of some code?
Have quarts of chicken stock that I made with too much onion, maybe use that up rather than water and skip the onions
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And don’t use too much liquid!
 
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JimB said:
Was looking at left over smoked pork and chicken in the freezer, now I have a weekend project.
Are peas and carrots a violation of some code?
Have quarts of chicken stock that I made with too much onion, maybe use that up rather than water and skip the onions.
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Thanks kind of what Brunwick Stew started out as... what you have left over or available, make something out of it!

Traditionally it's Chicken, pork, lima beans, maters, taters, onions and corn.... or it's the most common ingredients most people use.

I'm making a batch Saturday, I will post a pic.
 
Sleipnir said:
To each his own, but if it doesn't have squirrel in it it's not Brunswick stew.
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Funny, the wife was reading this thread and reading the recipe out loud. I told her the exact same thing. No squirrel, not Brunswick stew. That’s as bad as calling drink “pop”.
 
Sleipnir said:
To each his own, but if it doesn't have squirrel in it it's not Brunswick stew.
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I agree, the recipe started out using squirrel, but the most commonly accepted recipe these days uses pork and chicken. Whatever I made was damn good for supper!
 
I wasn’t there, but I’d guess that early Brunswick stew incorporated any type of bird that one happened to shoot. Small birds have far less meat than chicken, turkey, etc but they are plentiful and easy to add to the pot. The idea reminds me of the delicious coquina, the common tiny bivalve that lives in the tidal zone. So little meat, but they make a great stock.
 
A little history about Brunswick stew:

www.southernliving.com

The Complicated History of Brunswick Stew

Is Brunswick stew from Brunswick, Georgia, or Brunswick County, Virginia? The evidence favors Virginia, but Georgia's version wins on flavor.
www.southernliving.com www.southernliving.com

It also talks about squirrel being the original protein.

Meanwhile eastern NC quietly makes the best barbecue pork in the world....
 
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