Adventures in Slow Cooking

Since I have moved home, I have cooked maybe twice. I recently moved back home with my parents and my grandmother in hopes to buy a house soon. Since my mother has cooked for a full house for so many years, and my dad is picky, I don't have to cook which is a perk. Every once in awhile, I will come across a recipe or a craving and want to create it.

So this time I picked Brunswick Stew.

I am in no way a beef eater so I figured this would be an interesting task to take on. I tried to find a recipe true to the kind of Brunswick Stew I enjoy and found one at  Southern Living.  Below is the recipe and what it should look like!

My goal was to cook it in a crock pot and let it cook all day long. Well once I added the 2.5lb pot roast, some water, the liquid from the lima beans and the two cans of tomatoes... the pot started to overflow! And I still needed to add in all the beans and potatoes! So Plan B came into place and I put everything into a large roaster, stuck it in the oven at 275 and watched/smelled it cook for almost 9 hours! Man was it good!

Note: I am writing out the recipe as it is and in PINK I will put my notes!

Preparation Time: 30 minutes (It took maybe 15 minutes)

Cooking Time: 6 Hours (I left it in the over for almost 9 hours)

Yield: 3 1/2 quarts

Ingredients

2 quarts of water ( I only used the 3 cups you needed in the end)

1 (3 1/2lb) whole chicken, cut up (I used a 2.5lb Boston Butt Pot Roast, whole)

1 (15 Ounce) can baby lima beans, undrained ( I used an 8 ounce can of light red kidney beans)

1 (8 Ounce) can baby lima beans, undrained

2 (28 Ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped (to save time I used diced tomatoes)

1 (16 Ounce) package of frozen baby lima beans

3 Medium potatoes, peeled and diced (I used 5 medium size red potatoes)

1 large yellow onion, diced
2 (15 Ounce) cans cream-style corn (I used one 8 Ounce can, mainly because I hate corn)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

2 teaspoons hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot Sauce)

( I put all ingredients into the large roaster and put in the oven at 275 for several hours, stirring occasionally.)

Bring 2 quarts water and chicken to a boil in a Dutch oven; reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until tender. Remove chicken, and set aside. Reserve 3 cups broth in Dutch oven. (Reserve remaining broth for other uses.)

Pour canned lima beans and liquid through wire-mesh strainer into Dutch oven, reserving beans; add tomato to Dutch oven.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook, stirring often, 40 minutes or until liquid is reduced by one-third.

Skin, bone, and shred chicken. Mash reserved beans with a potato masher.

Add chicken, mashed and frozen beans, potato and onion to Dutch oven. Cook over low heat, stirring often, 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Stir in corn and remaining ingredients; cook over low heat, stirring often, 1 hour.