Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew from Caswell County, NC

Courtesy of the Bethel Church of Christ

Several churches do an excellent job with brunswick stew. If you are a brunswick stew lover like I am, then you probably won’t be disappointed with this church recipe. It has a very nice red color that comes from the tomato products. Bethel Church has used it every year for more than 25 years. A quart sells for about $4 in 1997 dollars. A quart is two adult servings. Bethel Church’s brunswick stew is the best I’ve had, and I’ve tried a lot of them. It is very similar to the brunswick stew served at Bullock’s Bar-B-Cue in Durham, NC.

The following brunswick stew recipe came from Bethel Church:

Use tight-fitting cookware to hold in the flavor as the ingredients are boiled separately. Cook everything in separate pots and put them together at the end.

Start out by slowly boiling the meats until they are tender. Remove the bones and skins from the chickens. Re-use the broths to boil potatoes and butter beans. Then cook the onions and corn in reserved broth. Do not add any of the tomato products during the initial cooking process.

When all of the ingredients are cooked, add them together in one big pot. Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix them well. Bring the pot to a boil and continue stirring with a wooden spoon or a boat oar to keep it from sticking to the pot and burning.

An appetizing presentation is made to the general public with someone stirring a large cauldron mounted to a tripod over an open fire. Stir the stew for approximately one hour over the fire as it continues to get thicker with the water boiling off of it. This step is very important, the stew must be boiled down until it is quite thick.

Serve stew with a mayonnaise based slaw and saltine crackers. It is best during the colder months of the year. Brunswick stew freezes well.

Enjoy!