Stewing Georgia Style

About author / Josh Gunn

Bachelor chef; southern cooking; mixologist; university professor. Josh's recipes will delight (and sometimes terrify) you.

Way down in South Georgia, not too far from the Florida border, is one of the most active port towns on the Atlantic: Brunswick. Most of we sons of Georgia make it through Brunswick at least once, sometimes on the way to Jekyll or St. Simon's island (where I camped as a Boy Scout a few times). One of the town's claims to fame is Brunswick stew, a tomato based vegetable stew that my grandmother loves to eat with saltines.

Now, I gotta say that this stew looks just like you-know-what, replete with chunks of corn and strings of smoked pork. I swear Brunswick stew is what they must use in the teen comedy movies for gross-out scenes, you know, when young bachelors have their first booze binge at the frat party and sickness ensues.

Well, anyway, as I was saying, as a consequence of its unfortunate appearance, I never really liked Brunswick stew until I was an adult and moved away from the Deep South to the Midwest. There's something about moving away from home that causes you to crave things from where you grew up, even if you hated those things. Like Moon Pies and RC Cola. That particular combination of sugary mush was just nasty to me as an eight year old, but these days Brunswick stew and a dessert of Moon Pie are just short of God's ambrosia. Seriously.

Last week I offered advice to the bachelor on what to bring to a potluck. This week, I'd like to offer up my Brunswick stew recipe as something you might bring to a potluck. If you're not from the south, this dish is different and really has a lot of exciting (strange to some) flavors that are oddly addicting.

I cannot explain why, but for some reason the sweet tangy tomato base with the liquid smoke flavor really draws a crowd. It is practically a vegetable soup, but has the consistency of gumbo. Corn and lima beans are staples, as is smoked ham or another kind of pork product. I also like to add lots of hot sauce to make mine spicy.

Like gumbo, there is a key ingredient: whereas gumbo demands a really good roux, Brunswick stew requires a really good sauce. The most complicated part of Brunswick stew is making the sauce, which has a complex set of flavorings. Fortunately, you can make this stuff up and freeze it for later use, since it can take a while to make and get just right.

Make the stew in a large pot or Dutch oven, and then bring it to a potluck with some paper bowls and plastic spoons. If you're making it at home, try serving it this way: in a medium size bowl, put a round piece of day-old or crunchy, almost stale, bread. Pour the Brunswick stew over the top. There's something about eating the bread at the bottom of the bowl at the end of the meal that is satisfying. Then, if you can manage, have yourself a Moon Pie for desert.

Serves/Makes: 6

***For the Sauce***

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (or to taste)
• 1 dash freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 ounce liquid smoke
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 ounce Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 dash hot sauce (or to taste)

***For the Stew***

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 pound chicken meat (canned chicken is ok)
• 1 pound pork (smoked preferable, also pre-cubed ok)
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can early peas
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 can baby lima beans
• 1/4 cup liquid smoke