Virginia-Style Brunswick Stew

Brunswick stew is -- or might be, there's some confusion -- a Virginia original. There are variants up and down the southern US seaboard and I have had many of them. It's interesting, the different twists that each locality puts on this classic. In Georgia, the broth is thin and very spicy.  in North Carolina, pulled pork is used in place of chicken or beef, and the stew tends to be so thick that you can stand your spoon in it. Virginia-style Brunswick stew falls somewhere in between and therefore is juuuuust right, like Goldilock's porridge.

Brunswick stew is one of my favorites for pulling dinner together in a hurry out of the odds and ends left in your freezer at the end of a busy week. Once you have the base, which is smoky, spicy, and tangy, you can add almost any protein, veggies and legumes you want and it still comes out delicious. I know some purists say there must be okra. Some say there have to be butter beans or peas. This week, we made our Brunswick stew with corn and lima beans that I excavated from the bottom of the freezer, some spicy pork sausage (from Crabill's, by way of Greenway Beef), and the leftover rotisserie chicken we had earlier in the week. We're looking forward to trying a version with venison during hunting season. And my friend's mom assures me that when she was growing up in Virginia, squirrel was a necessary staple of Brunswick stew.

You can find the recipe that we use most frequently below. I promise there is no squirrel in it.

Brunswick Stew

-2-2.5 lbs chicken
-1 onion
-4 cups chicken broth
-2-3 russet potatoes
-1 can (28 oz) stewed tomatoes
-3 tbsp barbecue sauce
-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 cup corn
-1 cup butterbeans
-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Cut chicken into pieces and saute in cast iron pot with onion in butter or oil until just barely cooked through. Add chicken broth, stewed tomatoes, diced potatoes, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil. Add corn and butterbeans, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until meat and potatoes are tender to the point of falling apart (stew should be on the thick side). If you've pre-cooked the chicken, this should take 1.5 to 2 hours or so. About 15 minutes before taking the stew off the heat, stir in the second tablespoon of vinegar, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve piping hot.

My little cooking buddy was lured in by the smell of onions frying and watched the whole process with great interest.