Brunswick Stew / Tocana Brunswick

Directions

1. Coarsely chop onions and garlic.

2. In a large soup pot (about 5-10 L size), heat a bit of oil, and sauté onions and garlic until soft.

3. Put whole chicken in the pot (make sure it’s fully thawed if it used to be frozen, remove neck etc. from inside – they can go in the pot too). Cover with water and bring to a boil. Add peppercorns, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour.

4. When chicken is done, scoop it (and neck etc.) out and set on a plate to cool.

5. While chicken cools, clean and chop carrots. Add them to the soup pot.

6. Add canned tomatoes, corn, peas and frozen veggies to pot – cover and continue to simmer.

7. If using sausage – slice into chunks, and add to soup pot now. Stir occasionally.

8. When chicken is cooked enough to handle, you can either dismember it (separate legs, wings, breast etc.) and put the parts you want back in to the pot, or you can strip the meat from the carcass, dice it and return that to the pot. It depends how “rustic” you like your soup.

9. When the chicken goes back in, add the canned beans (you can add the juices too – if you like the bean flavor).

10. Simmer soup for at least 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary. If you cook it for a couple of hours or more, you will get a very nice thick stew.

                                                              

Notes: This hearty winter soup cooks for a few hours, but involves very little labor. It is great served over rice* or with cornbread**. This soup is ideal for a crock pot if you have one (just add everything at once and cook all day).

 

Variations: You can make this soup vegetarian if you’d like, just omit all meats. You can also substitute fresh for frozen and canned veggies (it’s a bit more work, but healthier this way). You can also substitute dry beans for canned. Really, you can use any veggies you like – chose flavors you enjoy.

 

Substitutions: Canned black beans/Any canned beans or dried beans***

 

References: *See the Basic Rice recipe. **See the Cornbread recipe. ***Info about preparing BEANS can be found in the Food Tips section on FAQ page.