Brunswick Stew and Honey Cornbread

Some of you may or may not know that I'm quite the domestic woman. I'm mostly a cooker, a little bit of a baker, but a lot of eater. I decided to post my recipe for Brunswick Stew, with pictures, so that those of you who are interested can take it and make it your own. I believe that food is very personal; the recipe I'm about to share is different from the one I originally found, but I have enough experience with food to be able to tweak it to my liking. Don't be afraid to do the same for yourself.

 I've never blogged food before, but I think it would be best to divide this recipe into two parts, accompanied by pictures for you to see.

Part I: Meat & Veggies

1 Rotisserie Chicken -- I use one prepared from a Wal-Mart or Kroger deli. Saves time and is already flavorful.

1 lb. Ground Round -- This has the most flavor of any ground beef I have used.
1 small Pork Roast -- I use the Hormel pre-cooked roast; 4 minutes in the microwave and it's ready to shred. It tastes just as good as any homemade pork roast, too.

1 sweet yellow onion

1. Dice the onion and cook it with the ground beef. You want the onion to caramelize so you get the sweet goody bits.
2. While the beef and onion are cooking up, shred the parts of the chicken you want to use (I normally stick with the breast meat) and shred the pork roast. 
3. After the beef and onion are done, toss the shredded chicken and pork in the skillet and give it a good stir to get heated through. The mixture should look something like this:

Last time I made this, I used a Dutch Oven. This time, I couldn't be bothered to constantly get up and stir it, so I used my trusty Crock Pot.

4. Toss the meat mixture into what ever pot you want to use, whether it be a stew pot, a crock pot, or a Dutch Oven.

Next, you need:

4 cups water or stock, or a mixture of both..what ever you feel like doing. I used a mix this time.
1-28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1-28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, with the juice
2-14 oz. cans of creamed corn

The can of chicken stock is just under 2 cups, so what ever you choose to do, make sure you put 4 cups of it. I used water to make up for the rest. The original recipe calls for 6 cups, but I cut it back for two reasons: you already have extra liquid when you include the juice from the tomatoes, and I like thick, stewy soups more than runny soups.

5.  Throw all the canned goods in the pot and give it a good stir with the meat.
Here's what it looks like without spices added:

Part II: Spices
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup barbecue spice (it's in the picture with the canned goods--sorry!)
dash of hot sauce

6.  Add everything to the mix.

7. Stir it up and let it simmer!

In a crock pot, it needs to simmer for several hours, and you only have to check on it periodically. One big difference is that if you use the lid, the condensation produced will add more water to your stew. After the stew was hot all the way through, I took the lid off to allow some of the moisture to evaporate.  In a Dutch Oven or a stock pot, the stew cooks up quicker (done in 1 hour) and thickens a little more. It's all about personal preference and time.

The perfect side for this stew is Honey Cornbread. I could make this from scratch if I really wanted to, but why would I when there's a mix that's just as good? You just need an egg, 2/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Bake it until it's a beautiful light golden brown and voila! I even top mine off with Country Crock Honey Spread.

Give it a whirl and make it your own. Enjoy your Brunswick Stew and Honey Cornbread!