My husband is a huge Brunswick Stew lover! Before I met him, I never really ate it too much, but I do remember my mother making it for us when I was young because my father LOVES Brunswick Stew. My husband shared his love for the stewy goodness with me and I have not been the same since.
In fact, I'll never forget eating Mr. Tillman's Brunswick stew when my husband would bring it home from a rabbit hunting trip. Mr. Tilllman knew how much I loved his stew and he even tried to get me to trade my shotgun for a gallon of stew one time. Yeah, I love my little 20 gauge shotgun my husband went with me to buy after we were married. It's something I would NEVER get rid of it, especially for food. :)
If you are one who really doesn't care for the taste of foods cooked in the crock pot, then I have a secret to share with you... this recipe is extremely easy to cook on the stove top. Just put everything in a stock pot and simmer on low for about an hour. I will tell you this much, the taste improves the longer it cooks. You can add a little water or chicken broth to the pot to keep it from sticking while it cooks.
If I find a really good sale on pork chops, I use them instead of ground pork. I just fry the chops, and then chop them up and pour BBQ sauce on them and put them in the freezer until I need them. I do the same thing with boneless chicken breasts. If you have any left over meat from a meal use it, instead of cooking it all. Also, I chop up everything before adding it to the pot. In a true southern stew, you can not tell what is in it according to our friend Mr. Tillman.
Making Brunswick Stew in the crockpot is easy since all you have to do is dump everything and let it cook.
CROCK POT BRUNSWICK STEW
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 1/2 pounds stew beef chopped into small pieces
1 whole chicken, cooked, deboned and chopped into small pieces
3 cans whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hickory flavored bbq sauce
2 cans whole kernel corn, reserve the juice of one can
2 cans creamed corn
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste (optional)
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and saute the onions until soft. Mix in the pork and beef, and cook until evenly browned. Do not drain.
In a food processor, place the meat and give it a whirl for just a bit. Transfer the pork and beef mixture to a large crock pot. Stir in the chicken, tomatoes and their liquid, whole kernel corn, ketchup, and bbq sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Stir the cream style corn into the stew mixture about 30 minutes before serving.
If your stew is extremely thick, you can add the reserved corn juice to thin it down to your preference.
