Brunswick Stew and Barbeque

Happy 4th. of July!

Brunswick Stew…

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Soup Spoons On!

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Seasoned Crackers

Our Seasoned Crackers with store bought Dried Tomatoes, etc.

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And, BBQ…

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With, Pickled Red Onions…

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Along with a few of our other homemade condiments.

Our Corn Relish:

Click Here For: Corn on the 4th. of July

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Our Homemade Mustard’s:

Click Here For: Pork, Sausage, and Mustard

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Our Pickles

Click Here For: In a Christmas Pickle

(Although I am still working on the write ups for the pickles.)

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I have done a Brunswick Stew Website Page before:

Brunswick Stew, Cheese Straws, and Angel Food Cake

If You Would Like To Check It Out

I Just Wanted The Repeat For Our 4th. Foods

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And Now For a Side…

Making My Baked Beans

This is a recipe that I can do short, or long.

My long version is to take all of these ingredients and bake into a casserole dish in the oven for about 45 minutes.

The short version is to just do it on the stove top.

This is more of my long version. I empty the liquid of 2-3 cans of Van Camp Pork and Beans into the sink. I then place the beans into a casserole dish. I add lots of Freshly Ground Black Pepper, some Chopped Onions, Chopped Green Bell Peppers, a squeeze or two of Yellow Mustard, Lots of Ketchup, a spoon full or so of Molasses. A nice wad of Brown Sugar, and several dashes of Tabasco Sauce. I then stir it all together, tasting if I need to add more of any of the ingredients. If I am happy with it, then I place it into a 350F oven for about 35-45 minutes. Depending on how large the casserole dish is.

When done, add some already cooked Bacon to the top. Or, chop it up and distribute it throughout the beans…..

It’s just not the 4th. without Baked Beans!

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Taking the Gift of Brunswick Stew and Barbeque over to Brodie and Mackenzie’s

(Along with my Baked Beans)

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House Warming Gifts

Mackenzie and Brodie in Their New Home (2022)

Although Off Topic, I Did Take Brodie Over Some nice Asian Things 🙂

A Very Comfortable Living Room

Julie, Sparky, Hank and Gordon

Sparky, Spooky, Brodie, and Mackenzie

Theater Seating

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Cutie Spooky

We Did Take Over a Few Cocktails

Ignore the Mess, They Just Did Move In!

All Dogs Love Gordon 🙂

Sparky, Spooky, and Hank

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Our Gifts To Brodie and Mackenzie

(All The Bowls, some Soup Spoons, and the Condiments we Made Ourselves)

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Setting the 4th. Table of Foods and Condiments

Julie’s Cooked Baked Beans, Adding the Bacon

Along with our homemade condiments!

Also some ready made snacks from Sprouts, along with my homemade Seasoned Soup Crackers.

What a Delicious Plate!

We also brought over the Buns, and some bags of Potato Chips.

We also gave them a big pot of Brunswick Stew and BBQ for them to freeze and save for their 4th. celebrations.

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Our Home Table

(This is next day eating.)

You see, we did all of this cooking in early June. We wanted to make it ahead of time to give as house warming gifts to Brodie and Mackenzie, but, we made so much extra that we froze the extra BBQ and Brunswick Stew to save for our 4th. Turns out, everyone saved the extra for their 4th. That made our holiday so much easier. We also took over a big pot of stew for Veronica and Brian.

The Bowls and Spoons in the photo above are for Brodie and Mackenzie. Also, the larger pot filled with the stew. (They also got to keep the pot.) The smaller pot is for Veronica and Brian. We also gave each family a jar of our Pickled Red Onions.

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Corn on the Cob in a Pool of Butter

BBQ Sandwich with Corn Relish, Pickled Onion, Mustard and Pickles on a Pretzel Bun

Pretzel Buns, Potato Salad, Corn on the Cob, Baked Beans, etc.

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Adding our Homemade Corn Relish to the BBQ Sandwich

We did cut corners and bought the Potato Salad already made.

Hey, we can’t do everything!

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Great 4th. Inspired Dinner

Don’t forget the Butter, Salt, and Pepper…

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The BEST BBQ Sandwiches

The Buns, the BBQ, the Mustard, the Pickled Red Onion, the Corn Relish, the Pickles, and the BEER!

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Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This!

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Recipes Start Here

Flowers from Brodie and Mackenzie’s Garden

(My Souvenir)

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It is a tradition in my Georgia family to eat Brunswick Stew and BBQ on July 4th.

My Grandmother would make the Brunswick Stew, and my mother would pick up the BBQ from this small little shack of a business near downtown Rome. I would usually make the Baked Beans. My Grandmother would also make her Pressure Cooker Green Beans. She would snap them herself while sitting on her front porch. Other than the Buns and Condiments, and Potato Chips, I can’t really remember what else we would have? Other than perhaps Homemade Ice Cream hand cranked by me. It would get really hard to crank so I would have my little brother Johnny sit on it while I turned it. That was always the best ice cream I had ever eaten in my life. Every time! 🙂

We would then load up the car with blankets/towels/folding chairs etc. and then head down to the Levy to sit and watch the fireworks. We would find a nice spot, while surrounded by other Roman’s coming to watch the show. Always beautiful!

So, I present to you My Brunswick Stew….

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Brunswick Stew

Although I am tripling the batch here, I will give you the ingredients for just one batch to make yourself..

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken

1 lb. Onions

3 lb. Potatoes

2 Cans Crushed Tomatoes

2 Cans Cream Style Corn

1 Can English Peas

1 Can Lima Beans

1 1/2 Bottles of Ketchup

1 Bottle Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Cup Vinegar

3/4 Cup Lemon Juice

4 t. Tabasco Sauce

2 T. salt

Black Pepper

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Pink Post-It: Thaw Chicken

Whenever I make my Brunswick Stew, I always double/triple the batch.

Why? Because we love it!

We make so much of it because we enjoy it, we give it to our children and their families, and we freeze some to enjoy throughout the year.

Here I am Thawing Out Two Chickens

If they aren’t fully thawed before you start to cook them, you can place them into a batch of warm water in the sink until they are ready to cook.

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Where Do I Even Begin Here? 🙂

ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS!

You Will Need Some Sort of Food Processor

Like I said, I am tripling it and making it more towards our tastes.

I May Start Out With Two Pots, But It Ends Up Being Four By The Finish

My Two Chickens Boiling

Here I am making the Broth to use in the Stew. You can see the “Scum” on top of the pot at top, right.

I use that screen thingy to remove the scum and I place it onto another bowl or plate.

I want to try and keep my broth “clean.”

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I start out by boiling my chickens on a high heat, then when it becomes a rolling boil I turn the heat down a few notches so that it will continue to boil, but not boil over.

I also boil the chickens until the meat is falling off the bone.

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I have removed my whole chickens from both pots and placed them into a colander with large bowls underneath them.

You can see the Chicken Broth in the pot above? You can also see the rings around the pot from where the Chicken cooked? Well, I want to clean that pot before I continue to use it.

The Colander at left has one of my Chicken’s in it, and I’ve got the blue rimmed screen to the right, to strain my Chicken Broth into.

With the Broth safely in another pot, I will now wash the white one because it will be a pot I will need to continue cooking my stew.

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My Two Whole Chicken’s in the Colander’s/Bowls above.

This gives the Chicken’s a chance to drain the rest of the broth into the bowls.

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Time to Clean the Green Pot, left of the “rings” from boiling the Chicken.

Getting All My Clean Pots Together

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Letting The Chicken Cool

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Time For The Potatoes

Here I am using several Idaho Potatoes for my Stew.

You just want to wash them, peel them with a Potato Peeler, Poke Holes in them with an Ice Pick or a Fork…

Now, place your Potatoes into a large pot of water, set up to boiling, until tender.

So, while the Potatoes are Boiling….

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Time To Pick the Chicken

The Chicken has cooled a bit and now it’s time to pick it off the bones.

I prefer to remove the Chicken from the bones and place the good meat into a large bowl, while placing the bones and bad stuff around the Colander to be thrown away.

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The Potatoes Are Boiling

The fork is there to insert into the Potatoes to determine doneness.

You want the fork to slide in with no trouble. Then you know they are done.

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The Food Processor

The Food Processor is for grinding up the cooked Chicken. That is the traditional way of eating this stew.

Once I have ground all the Chicken, I place it all into a large bowl.

Like so….

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When the Potatoes are Fork Friendly….

Then remove them from the pot of boiling water and place them onto a cutting board to cool.

I’ve Got My Pots All Lined Up And Ready

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The Chicken Broth

Although I do have the broth from two Chickens, sometimes I need more broth so I make sure I have some on stand by.

I want to have 4 large pots of Brunswick Stew.

All Burners Are On a Medium-High Heat, Above

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Now, To Start Adding To The Pots

Our Ground Chicken Goes In First

You Can See That Beautiful Golden Broth!

My 4 Pots of Broth and Ground Chicken I Distributed

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Time To Chop The Potatoes Into Chunks

When they are cool enough, you want to chop them into bite sized chunks.

Then place them into a large bowl.

Time to distribute the Potatoes into all 4 Pots.

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Now for The Onions

These Are Yellow/Spanish Onions

They Are Perfect Here

It’s Really Just a Matter of Peeling Them and Chopping Them

They Are Going Into The Food Processor

Placing Them Into The Food Processor

You Want To Grind Them All Up

Now, Distribute Them Between The 4 Pots

Look! A Full Moon! 🙂

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At This Point, I’ve Got 4 Pots Simmering Away On Low

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At This Point I Need To Wash All These Dishes

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Time To Finish Making This Stew

The Rest of The Ingredients:

Chicken Broth, Ground Chicken, Potatoes, and Chopped Onions

I like to first add all the liquids. The Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce, Vinegar, and Lemon Juice.

The levels will rise in the pots as we add the ingredients.

Because I have been making this Stew for so long, I go by my taste buds.

I also go by how I know the Stew should look, as in what color it should be.

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This Stew Needs To Thicken and Simmer Away

Look At That Beautiful Color

This Stew is NOT Brown, it is Burgundy!

Although I don’t have it pictured, I did add all the cans to all 4 pots. I did also drain the liquid out of all of the cans before adding the ingredients to the pots.

Now, it is a runny soup. But, we want a Stew.

It needs to simmer away some more…..

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I love keeping a stool in the kitchen for these long attention getting food projects.

The pillow that says, Monk, was our pug’s pillow. He died a few years ago. But, never forgotten.

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Whenever I do my Brunswick Stew I start the project early in the morning with coffee, and end it at night with wine. I stir pots and make sure that nothing is sticking or burning to the bottom of any of my pots. I also monitor the thickening.

Still Simmering Away…

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Adding Our Heirloom Tomatoes

I love to throw in any extras that we have that may go with the stew, such as tomatoes.

Now, It Simmers. And, We Wait. 🙂

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Look How THICK It Is!

This is what we want.

Now, it’s time to allow the pots to cool before putting them away in the refrigerator or freezer.

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The Last Bowl of Brunswick Stew

When it was all over, this was the last bowl.

Topped with my crushed Soda Crackers.

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Always Recycle!

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Seasoned Oyster Crackers

I believe that some people could state that these flavors clash with our Brunswick Stew. They would probably be right, except that we don’t seem to care, and we don’t just eat them on the Stew. Sometimes, they are just a savory snack that we enjoy.

Ingredients:

One Bag, or 5 Cups of Oyster Crackers

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Packet of Ranch Style Dressing Mix

1/2 t. Dried Dill Weed

1/4 t. lemon Pepper

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You want to combine all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, then place them into a 250F oven for about 20 minutes.

Remove From Oven and Let Cool

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Pickling Red Onions

Enough to Make Two Pint Jars

Ingredients:

2 Large Red Onions – sliced thinly

4 Tbsp. Sugar

~ 3 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Pinches of Sea Salt

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Start by removing the root and stem end of your Red Onion.

Slice the onion in half the slice the Onions thinly as shown.

Pack the sliced Onions into the jars. Add your sugar into a small container…

and pour some Apple Cider Vinegar into the bowl to let the sugar dissolve.

Stirring the mixture will help the sugar to dissolve. Now add your Sea Salt to the mixture and when the sugar is dissolved, pour it into the jars of onions.

Let the mixture sit for at least an hour before using or let sit within your refrigerator for a month or more. These make great quick gifts as well. The pickled onions are great on burgers, hot dogs, and BBQ pulled pork.

TIP: This can also be done with most any other type of vinegar. Examples are White, Red or White Wine, Rice Wine, Balsamic, Malt, Asian Black Vinegar etc…

Enjoy!

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Pulled Pork Barbeque

Write up by: Gordon

(Made in a Dutch Oven and a Crock Pot)

Here you can see the ingredients and bowls I used to create these two recipes.

All the ingredients help to flavor the meat during the cooking process.

I love Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, which I use after I have cooked the pork.

I love to use a lot of seasonings when I make my pulled pork as I feel it gives the BBQ a deep depth of flavor.

This recipe below is for two sets of pork done in two different cooking methods… Dutch Oven and Crock Pot. The ingredients are the full amount I used and will need to be halved in order to cook both methods. The above Vidalia Onions help to add sweetness to the BBQ.

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Ingredients:

~ 8.25 Lbs. of Bone in Pork Shoulder “Picnic”

~4 Lbs. Pork Roast

To Make one pot, half the ingredients listed below…

4 Vidalia Onions – chopped

3 – 6oz. Cans Pineapple Juice

1 1/2 Cups Muscovado Sugar

2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin

4 Tbsp. Ground Mustard

2 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika

I Tbsp. Ground Nutmeg

2 Tbsp. Ground Ginger

2 Tbsp. Ground Coriander

2 Tbsp. Honey Hickory Rub “Grill Mates” McCormick brand

2 Tbsp. Smokehouse Maple “Grill Mates” McCormick brand

2 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

14 Cardamom Pods – seeds removed from the pod

4 Tbsp. Sweet & Smokey Rub – “Grill Mates” McCormick brand

Unsalted Chicken Stock, as needed

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Remove the onion skins and chop the onions.

Place half of the onions in your Dutch Oven and the other in your Crock Pot.

Pineapple juice is a great thing to use as it naturally breaks down the meat.

It is also used in many Hawaiian pork recipes.

Again, place half of the pineapple juice in Dutch Oven and the other in the Crock Pot.

This is a great type of brown sugar which has an interesting sweet flavor.

If you can’t find this, any brown sugar will work.

Again, be sure to split the amount in half.

Here is a great picture Julie took of the Crock Pot.

Now with the spices…Cumin.

Then add your Mustard which is in most every BBQ recipe … then your Smoked Paprika and Nutmeg.

Now Ginger, Coriander, and Honey Hickory Rub.

This last seasoning provides a great smoked Hickory flavor to the meat.

Next is your Smokehouse Maple and Sweet Paprika which both add to the sweetness of this recipe.

Cardamom is kind of my SECRET ingredient as I love the sort of ethnic sweetness it provides.

This is the main ingredient in Chai tea.

These come in pods, which have to be opened to get to the seeds. The pods are very soft and easily opened.

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Here you can see the seeds at the end of my Chef knife.

Now I used some Sweet & Smokey BBQ rub.

Here you can see all the ingredients in the Dutch Oven pre-mixed and mixed.

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Shown are the two types of pork I used.

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Always rinse the meat to remove any leftover blood and bone fragments.

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Now, I slice some of the fat off the pork.

Fat is flavor so don’t take too much off.

Here you can see the bone in the pork which provides the meat a great flavor.

I slice the pork into small sections so it will fit nicely into both pots and cook quickly.

When the meat is cut, begin to fit them into the pots.

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It’s gonna be so great!

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The Picnic shoulder has a good amount of skin and fat on it which I like to remove.

Use your knife to get under the fat to cut it away from the meat.

Slice around the bone as best you can.

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Here you can see the Crock Pot start to fill with the pork.

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Still slicing around the pork shoulder bone.

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After you have added all the pork to the pots, mix them around with the seasonings.

Add Chicken stock to your pots to ensure the meat is submerged.

Heat your oven to 400’F and place a sheet pan on the bottom shelf under the Dutch Oven just in case it overflows.

I like to cook the pork on High for 6 hours in the Crock Pot.

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Here you can see all the dishes washed and out of the way for the next step in the process.

Thank you Julie!

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You can see the BBQ is cooked and swimming in some delicious sauce. I remove the meat chunks with tongs and place them in a colander with a bowl underneath it in order to drain off the sauce.

Save The Sauce

This is another great shot of both the pots of cooked pork.

Both methods are good, but I do prefer the Dutch Oven method on the right.

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I poured the sauce from the Crock Pot into the dutch oven and placed it over medium high heat to reduce the sauce by about half.

While the sauce is reducing, shred the meat using your hands getting rid of any bone or fat chunks, and place the meat into a bowl.

Here is what you should have when done.

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While the sauce is reducing, be sure to stir it so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

You can see the fat rise to the surface which you will remove with a spoon.

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Here I am liberally pouring the Sweet Baby Ray’s into the pulled pork.

Add as much or as little as you like leaving room for the sauce you are reducing in the pot. You can also use the pot’s BBQ sauce to top your buns with when making a BBQ sandwich!

Here you can see the pulled pork in one of our largest Tupperware containers.

This will make many sandwiches!

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Here the BBQ sauce has finished reducing.

Let this rest a bit and remove any excess fat that will be on the surface.

This is what you should have when the sauce is done… deep brown rich sauce that still has a little fat in it.

TIP: To take away even more fat…

If you place it in the refrig for an hour or so, the fat will harden and you can easily scrape it away with a spoon as shown.

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Enjoy Your Dinner

Have a Very Tasty 4th. of July!

Happy Independence Day!

Julie and Gordon

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Freezing Brunswick Stew

I love that it freezes so well. Just place some of your stew into a freezer safe container. When ready to thaw it out, just whip up some nice seasoned crackers to eat with it. Great leftovers!