I am not one of those people who hoards recipes and shares with no one.  Not my thing.  If someone likes something I make, then I gladly share the recipe.  Hell, I’ve been known to share my entire personal cookbook when asked!

I posted on Facebook yesterday that I was spending the afternoon making my famous Brunswick Stew.  I had several friends request my tried and true recipe.  Then I took some to our monthly supper club last night and got more requests for my recipe… SO HERE IT GOES!  I can’t take total credit for this recipe because I did use a recipe the first time I made this, but it has changed so much over the years that it is completely mine now.

VAL’S BRUNSWICK STEW

I personally like to start with two very important ingredients that you will not find on the recipe…  I pour myself a glass of wine and turn on my Bose speaker.  You just can’t possibly cook for five hours straight without these two ingredients.  A sous chef would help too to chop everything up, but if I can do it, then you can do it!

1) Pour chicken stock into a Dutch oven.  Then, using a mesh strainer, pour canned lima beans and liquid through strainer into chicken stock.  Reserve the beans.  Process canned tomatoes and pour into Dutch Oven.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook (stirring often) for 40 minutes or until liquid is reduced by 1/3.

2) Mash reserved beans with a potato masher.

3) Add frozen beans…

4) Dice potatoes and onions and add to lima beans.

5)  I make my own barbecue the night before I make Brunswick Stew… everytime.  I like to add BBQ and I tried some stuff I bought at the grocery store once and it ruined my stew.  So I just take about a three pound pork tenderloin and put it in the crock pot with about half a bottle of Harris Teeter brand Eastern NC BBQ sauce (vinegar based).  Cook until you can shred up.

I choose to get my chicken from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store because it’s much easier than cooking my own.

Add shredded chicken, BBQ, mashed & frozen beans, potatoes and onion to the Dutch Oven.  Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 3 hours and 30 minutes.

6) Stir in corn and remaining ingredients.

7) Cook over low heat, stirring often, for an additional hour.

This is truly a crowd-pleaser!!!  Every time I make it people go crazy over it and thankfully it makes so much that you can easily divide it in plastic bags and freeze to pull out some other time.  It’s an easy recipe, but it is time consuming because you have to be nearby the entire time.  It can be ruined quickly if allowed to stick, so I like to stir it every five minutes throughout the entire five hour process.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!!!