Brunswick Stew: The Perfect Fourth of July Dish

Brunswick Stew

Making Brunswick Stew is a summer tradition in the South when the tomatoes are ripe and the corn is sweet. Using all the leftover smoked meat from the many “smoking and grilling” dinners is perfect for this stew. The freezer usually has several bags of pulled pork, smoked chicken and always some kind of smoked beef.

The trick to good homemade Brunswick Stew is the barbecue sauce that is used to season the sauce. Homemade is the best and it will distinguish the stew as your own.

We like to prepare the tomatoes and the barbecue sauce the day before. This allows the sauce to blend the flavors of the spices and it gives the tomatoes extra time to release their juices.

It is important to remove the skin from the tomatoes before they are diced. An easy way to do this is to score an “x” in the bottom (opposite end of the stem) of each tomato and drop it in boiling water for about a minute. Remove the tomato and the skin should easily slide off. I like to do this over a Pyrex dish so I can catch all the juices. The next step is to core the tomatoes and then diced them right in the dish. At this point you can either freeze them in a freezer Ziploc bag for a later use or refrigerate them overnight for Brunswick Stew.

Barbecue Sauce

1 cup of ketchup

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

2 T of yellow mustard

1 T of Worcestershire Sauce

2 T Molasses

1 T lemon juice

2 T brown sugar

2 T chili powder

2 T tomato paste

2 t black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a medium size saucepan and whisk them together. Bring to it a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30-45 minutes until it is a nice mahogany color. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate overnight.

Brunswick Stew

2 T Canola oil

4 cups of diced onion

3 cups of chopped smoked chicken, preferably dark meat

3 cups of pulled pork

3 cups of smoked beef short ribs or brisket

4 cups of diced fresh tomatoes with their juices, skinned & cored

4 cups of chicken broth

1.5 cups of barbecue sauce, divided

4 ears of corn, shucked and kernels removed from husk (discard the husks)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Hot sauce to pass at the table

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until they are transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, pork, beef, tomatoes, chicken broth and 1 cup of barbecue sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and stir occasionally for 2 hours. Add the corn, the last ½ cup of barbecue sauce and salt & pepper to taste. Cook for 10 minutes and serve.