Appylover--you have never had Brunswick stew??? oh you poor dear! When I first heard what was in it I sort of said "yuck" but oh man it is good! My neighbor makes a HUGE 20 gallon pot of it every fall and freezes it in quarts and pints. Somehow he always knows when I am needing it and a little frozen thing of it shows up on my porch table. I pulled this off of a website for you:
"According to one story, Brunswick stew was named for Brunswick County, Virginia, where in 1828 Dr. Creed Haskins of the Virginia state legislature asked for a special squirrel stew from "Uncle Jimmy" Matthews to feed people attending a political rally. Brunswick, Georgia residents claim their stew is the original. It's just as likely the stew - at least a very similar version - was created much earlier. With the original ingredients of game (usually squirrel) and corn, and long simmering over an open fire, it's typical of early native dishes.
Brunswick stew is now most commonly made with chicken, or a combination of several meats, which might include rabbit, beef, and pork. Onions, corn, and tomatoes are usually included, and many recipes call for lima beans, peas, and/or okra. "
Around here all of the churches, fire departments, etc. make huge vats of stew and sell it as fund raiser. It usually has shredded beef and chicken (and I don't want to know what other meats if there are any!!) corn, lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes and other things. It is spicy since they use hot sauce (like tobasco) but they soften the blow of the hot by using sugar I am told. I can't explain it and would never try it on my own, but of MAN is it good!! I have had it with venison in it and really enjoyed that as well. It is a southern thing that I just can't go through the fall and winter without now. Sort of like sweet potatoe pie...just plain YUM! oh yes...that was another thing I had never had before I came here. Ya know, with food like this, no wonder I have made southern VA mu home!
of course as long as there is pizza around I am always happy.
:
-Amy
PS--you have all made me hungry this morning! It is all your fault I had to throw half a dozen potatoes in the oven and am making crab/cheddar twice stuffed potatoes (and mushrooms!) and have bread rising in the bread machine! Oh mmmmm it smells good in here!
