Brunswick Stew

A great recipe for a cosy family meal when it’s cold outside (and my first Daring Cook challenge)

Source 

April 2010 The Daring Cook Challenge

Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 sausage (130 cal)

- 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (very spicy East Asian chilly paste)

- 2 tbsp canola oil (240 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz stewing beef, cubed (860 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cubed (475 cal)

- 1/2 tbsp sea salt for seasoning

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 celery stock (10 cal)

- 450 g / 1 lb potatoes (350 cal)

- 2 medium carrots (25 cal)

- 1 large onion (65 cal)

- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (135 cal)

- 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (365 cal)

- 2 cups / 6-7 whole peeled tomatoes, drained (140 cal)

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (5 cal)

- juice of 1 lemon

Total 2820, servings 6, 470 cal/ serving

Instructions

1. Very thinly slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the sliced sausage with 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek. Fry until the sausage is well done. Transfer into a small bowl and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil in the pan. 

2. Season the chicken and the meat with salt and black pepper to taste and brown in the pan on high heat for up to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a large bowl. 

3. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the frying pan to deglaze it and simmer until it reduces in half. In the meantime peel and dice the potato and chop the celery. Puree the sausage in a blender to a uniform paste. Add the sausage puree to the reduced stock, add one more cup of stock and mix well. 

4. Pour half of the hot broth in a slow cooker then place the meat, arrange the potatoes and the celery on top. Pour the remaining stock over the vegetables. Add a bay leaf, close the lead and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.

5. In the meantime, chop the onion and cook with 1 tbsp of oil over low heat for about 30 minutes until caramelized. Stir occasionally. When the onion is ready you can either puree it in a blender or leave it as is.  Chop the tomatoes. 

6. After 3 1/2 hours, take out the bay leaf from the stew. Add the onions, the beans and the corn. Stir them well to evenly distribute them in the stew. Spread the carrots and the tomatoes on top and cook for 1 1/2 hours more. 

7. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and the lemon juice. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

Afterthoughts

- It turned out really good, but I think it would been ready much faster and would have been even softer and juicier without the slow cooker. 

- This was my first daring cook challenge, which I enjoyed a lot. So thanks to the Daring Kitchen for the forum, to Wolf for the recipe and to Audax Artifex for all the slow cooker tips.