Here you go. My brothers and I (all Duke grad school grads) got together and made this several times.
If you wish you may use squirrel or 'possum in place of pork or beef. My dad would claim to do such.
BRUNSWICK STEW
Equipment
1 large stock pot (22 qt)
1 boat paddle or large stirrer.
The recipe makes around 12 quarts of brunswick stew so a big pot is necessary. Of course if you can do the math you can make a smaller portion. We used a large wooden stirrer about 2 feet long, purchased from a kitchen supply store. - Camion
1 - 5 lb. hen
2 lbs. lean pork
2 lbs. lean beef
Boil the above until tender in a small amount of water and salt well. Cut finely when done and cooled. Pork and beef may be cooked together. Retain the stock that the meat and chicken are cooked in.
6 qts. tomatoes
1 lb. dried baby lima beans, cooked and mashed tine (4 cans limas may be used instead)
4 cans (16 oz.) cream style corn
10 lbs potatoes, cooked soft and mashed fine
3 lbs. onions, cut fine and boiled tender
1 lb. butter or maigarine, or less if preferred
1 cup vinegar, more or less as preferred
1 cup sugar
salt and pepper to taste (Salting each ingredient makes it easier.)
Cook the meat first. (Usually the day before I cook the rest of the stew.) Set these aside. Place the tomatoes in very large pot and break them into as small pieces as possible. Let them come to a good boil. Add meats and water they were cooked in. Bring to a boil over medium heat - stirring often or over high heat - stirring constantly.
Add beans - let boil. (Watch the heat as the stew gets thicker; do not let it stick. Turn the heat down if necessary.) Add corn - boil. Add onions - boil. Add potatoes - boil. By the time you add these last ingredients, it will be necessary to stir constantly. The length of time needed to finish cooking stew, depends completely on how thick it is. If it is thick by the time I have added the last ingredients, I cook for about 20 or 30 minutes longer.
The finished stew should be thick enough to be eaten with a fork so cook until this consistency is reached. A few minutes before I take the stew off of the heat I add butter, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt. (Do not skimp on the salt, because stew spoils easily. The more salt the less chance there is of this happening.) Makes 3_ to 4 gals.
Blanche Carr Allen
(Originator of recipe)
Notes:
1. We made the stew a little loose then put it in large freezer bags. It freezes nicely and reheats well in the microwave, but may splatter.
2. This version is the closest I've found to the Brunswick stew at Bullock's BBQ in Durham. Maybe it's because this recipe comes from the Raleigh-Durham, NC area. It is very different from the Georgia variety.
- Camion
