The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.
My sous chef and I (and Brady Quinn!) were thrilled to partake in our first Daring Kitchen challenge, especially since this one offered an opportunity to split the pot, so to speak, into meat and non-meat versions.
I had never heard of Brunswick Stew, but I love a good soup and especially one that's so think that a spoon is supposed to stand up in it! Without further ado....
I chose Recipe #1, which included an impressive lineup of ingredients. We decided to split the recipe in two, buying half of the meat (and chicken stock) and all of the veggies (and veg stock) to do veggie-friendly and carnivores' versions. The one thing I couldn't bring myself to do was buy a rabbit (it was Easter, after all!), and one can't buy a 1/2 of a bunny at Treasure Island anyhow. So, alas, we used pork. The butcher told me it wouldn't have any of the gaminess of rabbit, but I don't think that was a huge issue with my porkophile sous chef. I was most intrigued by the red wine vinegar to finish off the stew... red wine vinegar sounds like a too-classy ingredient for some of these back-woods southern cooks. I assumed too soon!
We cooked the serrano pepper in EVOO (instead of bacon... sorry!)
And that's where the two versions parted ways.
This was the meat. Sous chef delighed in ripping all of the fat off, per the recipe, while I contented myself with chopping veggies: Papas, cebollas, zanahorias, y serranos!
Sous chef was impressed with how all of the meat fell right off those bones. That's what happens when you boil meat in stock for >1 hours! Also, this was the Fighting Sous' first experience searing meat. check!
Basically, we boiled the hell out of the pork and chicken in the traditional version and the veggies in both. The broth began to resemble a gravy much more than a broth, which was pretty exciting (plus it was nearing 10:30 pm and we were famished at this point!).
Above is pretty much the final product.
And the spoon stood up! Daring Kitchen challenge #1: Brunswick Stew. Success.
BRADY HUNGRY!
