Daring Cook's Brunswick Stew

Hi guys, I am still on holiday and just pop in to post my Daring Cook's challenge. Wish you are all well and thanks so much for your comments. Will get back right to normal communication with you on next Tuesday. Meanwhile, stay cool :-)



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.



Thanks, Wolf! It has been an exciting challenge!

BRUNSWICK STEW
From “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Serves 10



Ingredients:
- Slab bacon - rough dice > 75 grams
- Thai dried red chiles - trim stems, slice, seed, flatten > 2
- Pork shoulder - cut into 1 inch dice > 800 grams
- Salt for seasoning > 1/2 tablespoon
- Pepper > enough for seasoning
- Clean water > 6 cups
- Chicken essence powder > 3 cubes
- Dried bay leaves > 2
- Fried shallots > for garnishing
- Chinese celery stalks - cut into 2 inch strips > 30 grams
- Potatoes, or other waxy type potatoes - peel, rough dice > 450 grams
- Carrots - rough cut > 225 grams
- Onion - chop > 400 grams
- Canned corn kernels - remove juice > 230 grams
- Steamed red kidney beans > 150 grams
- Peeled tomatoes - 500 grams
- Red wine vinegar > 30 grams



Method:
- In the largest stockpot, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it just starts to crisp. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Reserve most of the bacon fat in your pan, and with the pan on the burner, add in the chiles. Toast the chiles until they just start to smell good, or make your nose tingle, about a minute tops. Remove to bowl with the bacon.
- Season liberally both sides of the pork pieces with salt and pepper. Place the pork pieces in the pot and sear off all sides possible. You just want to brown them, not cook them completely. Put the pork in the bowl with the bacon, and chiles. Set it aside.



- Add 2 cups of water and 1 cube of chicken essence, if you prefer, to the pan and basically deglaze the4 pan, making sure to get all the goodness cooked onto the bottom. The stock will become a nice rich dark color and start smelling good. Bring it up to a boil and let it boil away until reduced by at least half. Add your remaining stock, the bay leaves, celery, potatoes, pork, bacon, chiles and any liquid that may have gathered at the bottom of the bowl they were resting in. Bring the pot back up to a low boil/high simmer, over medium/high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover, remember to stir every 15 minutes, give or take, to thoroughly meld the flavors. Simmer, on low, for approximately 1 ½ hours. Supposedly, the stock may become a yellow tinge with pieces of pork floating up, the celery will be very limp, as will the chiles. Taste the stock, according to the recipe, it “should taste like the best chicken soup you’ve ever had”.



- With a pair of tongs, remove the pork pieces to a colander over the bowl you used earlier. Be careful, as by this time, the meats will be very tender and may start falling apart. Remove the bay leaf, celery, chiles, bacon and discard.
- After you’ve allowed the meat to cool enough to handle, shred the pork. Return the meat to the pot, throwing away the bones. Add in your carrots, and stir gently, allowing it to come back to a slow simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for at least 25 minutes, or until the carrots have started to soften.



- Add in your onion, red kidney beans, corn and tomatoes. As you add the tomatoes, crush them up, be careful not to pull a me, and squirt juice straight up into the air, requiring cleaning of the entire stove. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the stew has reduced slightly, and onions, corn and butterbeans are tender. Remove from heat and add in vinegar, lemon juice, stir to blend in well. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.
- You can either serve immediately or refrigerate for 24 hours, which makes the flavors meld more and makes the overall stew even better. Serve hot, either on its own, or with a side of corn bread, over steamed white rice, with any braised greens as a side.
- Garnish with fried shallots before serving.