Grilling with Wolf - Ramblin Wreck Brunswick Stew

I challenged myself to find a way to start the season off that tested our skills on the grill, but still allowed us to shake the dust of while bringing in the tailgate season. I wanted to pick a recipe that is easy to pull off at the lot, but could be just as easily tossed in a crock pot. I also wanted something that embodied the rivalry that represents the Tecmo bowl, and something that could embody the triple option from GA Tech. So I took something that I always loved to make in a crock pot at home and decided to move it to the grill in order to enhance the tailgate experience. So for opening week I will be making Brunswick stew and hope that this kicks off the season with a bang.

There is an argument on weather Brunswick County Georgia or Virginia is the original location of Brunswick stew. Regardless of where it came from, each area’s recipe is about as eclectic as their barbeque recipe. We are going to focus on what I think makes a great stew, and try not to make it a “whatever is left in the fridge” type dish. You will need the following:

1 full chicken oven roasted, rotisserie chicken, or what I prefer Beer Can Chicken
1 3-5lb smoked pork butt
3/4 cup barbecue sauce (homemade of course)
about 1 cup of chicken stock
1 can (16oz) cream-style corn
2 cans (16oz) lima beans
2 cans (16oz) diced tomatoes
½ can (3oz) tomato paste or 1 can (16oz) tomato sauce
2 cups chopped okra
1/8 cup of rub
3-4 cloves of garlic diced
1 large onion
a large grill ready pot or a boiler

First off my rub I use for pulled pork is
Mix 1/3 cup paprika, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons pepper, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons ancho chili pepper and 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper together. Adjust to taste.

My bbq sauce recipe that I prefer to use in stew is
1 and 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup water or stock
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
pepper to taste
1/2 tbs onion powder
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs yellow mustard
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes of hot sauce
Heat all ingredients to a boil on stove, and then reduce to simmer for about an hour.

Prepare your pork butt and chicken ahead of time and bring them to the lot, or if you plan on being there all day you can cook them there (but good luck not eating them). Once your grill is hot, toss in garlic and onions with a little butter and cook them until they are translucent. Add all veggies, meats, and condiments, then add in the chicken stock. I said about 1 cup because I never measure how much goes in, I add enough stock so that it covers up enough of the meat that when it cooks down it will be about the consistency I want ( I tend to make stew very thick). Depending on your grills heat control the dish should be done between 1 – 2 hours. You can cook this dish in a large pot on the grill or use a gas boiler. If you want to spend your lot time differently, you can always toss everything in the crock pot at home and bring it finished to the lot.