Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew

2 quarts water
1/2 whole fryer chicken, cut up
Salt and Black Pepper
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 (15-ounce) can baby lima beans, undrained
1 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 yellow onion, diced
2 splashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 cups frozen baby lima beans
3 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1(15-ounce) can cream-style corn
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 teaspoons hot sauce
1 tsp McCormick's Salt Free Garlic & Herb seasoning
Drizzle of Pickled Jalapeno juice

Bring water, chicken, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to a boil in a Dutch oven. Reduce heat, and simmer for 40 minutes or until tender.

Remove chicken, and set aside. Reserve 3 cups broth in Dutch oven. Pour canned lima beans and liquid through a wire-mesh strainer into Dutch oven. Reserve beans. Add tomatoes and chopped onions to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, for 40 minutes or until liquid is reduced by 1/3.

Skin, bone, and shred chicken. Mash reserved beans with a potato masher. Add chicken, mashed lima beans, Worcestershire sauce and Liquid Smoke and continue cooking another 40 minutes.

Add frozen beans, potatoes, corn, butter, garlic-herb seasoning and hot sauce to Dutch oven. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for an additional 40 minutes or so.

I added the last couple of ingredients and the extra hot sauce to try to cut the sweet taste. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of sugar (!) and even though I only used half that amount I thought this tasted unreasonably sweet. Next time I'd only add about 1-2 TEASPOONS of sugar, if I add sugar at all! This was definitely good enough to give it another try!!!

This is adapted from a Food Network recipe "courtesy of Bob Garner; Author North Carolina Barbecue".