Brunswick Stew

My friend Hakucho has a new site dedicated to her love for cooking called Hakucho's Kitchen. So, I would like to post my recipe for Brunswick Stew in her honor.

This is the soup my Grandmother Blake so often cooked for us during the late summer and fall months when her garden was brimming with fresh corn, butter beans, okra, and tomatoes. It is a traditional southern dish, often found at barbeque lodges and the like. There are some variances in recipes. Some use just chicken, while others go all out with chicken, pork and beef. Some recipes use a more tomato based broth. The basics of the recipe are the same, though. Mine is like Grandma's, but without the okra. Add some to yours, if you like. I always cook mine in a large stock pot and my family eats it for days.

You will need:
1 med to large whole chicken or packaged cut up chicken
1 lg onion
2 cloves garlic
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 pkg frozen baby lima's (I usually buy Pictsweet)
1 pkg frozen cream-style corn or 3 ears fresh corn (can substitute 2 can creamstyle corn)
1 pkg frozen cut green beans
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes

Start by boiling a chicken for broth. I generally throw mine in a large pot, covered with water, with an unpeeled onion and two unpeeled cloves of garlic. Salt liberally. The result is a fragrant, rich broth. I usually cook mine about 35-45 minutes.

Remove chicken, onion, and garlic cloves from broth and strain. Set chicken aside to cool.

Return broth to pot and simmer. Add butter beans and potatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add: corn, tomatoes and green beans. Remove chicken from bone, shred or dice and add to the soup pot. Simmer soup for another 30-45 minutes. Serve with corn muffins or yeast rolls....yummy!