VD Stew

[Dave the Cook]

I bought everything to make the VD stew too, except I'm going to use lightly smoked bacon instead of side meat. I'll report after dinner tomorrow.

This is very cool. It will be good to have a back-up tasting/technique review.

I made two batches last night, one with water, and one with vegetable stock. Brunswick stew is reported to be "better the next day." And since I had a half-butt in the fridge, I brined it overnight, and it's smoking now. We should have as close to an authentic pig pickin' experience as possible. I'll also report tomorrow.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . other sorts of interesting woodland creatures would be tasty, but can be cost prohibitive in a hurry . . .

Yeah, I noticed while I was at the market that elves are up to $13.99/lb.

Not to mention how tricky it is to get the little fuckers in the pot since they keep coming back to life and casting spells on you.

Maybe we should start a new thread on the most humane (and safe) way to dispatch elves, along the lines of our "how to kill a lobster" thread.

[Varmint]

Maybe we should start a new thread on the most humane (and safe) way to dispatch elves, along the lines of our "how to kill a lobster" thread.

There's no inhumane way to dispose of elves. Trolls are even worse, but they're a bit too gamey.

[Jaymes]

And since I had a half-butt in the fridge...

Man, is that ever the story of MY life.

[Dave the Cook]

[Varmint]

And since I had a half-butt in the fridge...

Man, is that ever the story of MY life.

I love you, Jaymes!!!!!

[jackal10]

And since I had a half-butt in the fridge...

Man, is that ever the story of MY life.

I love you, Jaymes!!!!!

Something cool to slip into..

[guajolote]

Are giblets the liver, gizzard, and heart? My buther have me the giblets from about 8 different chicken because he knows I like them. I can't imagine that chicken liver in a dish like this would be a bad thing.

[Dave the Cook]

Are giblets the liver, gizzard, and heart? My buther have me the giblets from about 8 different chicken because he knows I like them. I can't imagine that chicken liver in a dish like this would be a bad thing.

Yes, though I left out the gizzard, because the amount of cooking theywere going to get wouldn't have been enough to soften them.

Rabbits, of course, don't have gizzards, but compared to chickens, they have huge livers!

[guajolote]

The VD stew was very good. I had to shorten Dave's cooking times a bit because the family was yelling for dinner. I definately thought the rabbit in the stew tasted better than the chicken, which had most of its flavor cooked out. I also had to season quite a bit at the end, I added about 1.5 Tbs salt and two tsp. of black pepper. After tasting the finished version I added about 2 Tbs. of Sriacha to my bowl, which really made it good, although not too Southern. I served this meal with fresh made biscuits, tomatoes with alst and pepper, and watermelon.

Here's how it looked:

Many thanks to my sous chef who cleaned the lee-ma beans and the corn, and made the biscuits:

[Varmint]

That looks delicious, Dean. Brunswick Stew has a much thicker consistency than what you made. It truly is a "stew" rather than a "soup." A lot of that may have been due to the shortened cooking time.

And I love your sous chef! The L'il Varmints provide some good help from time to time!

[Richard Kilgore]

This is simple food, and I have no desire to turn it into something exotic. Fucking tasty, yes. But it's still Brunswick Stew.

Stew with chicken, without game, can be very, very good, but is....well, chicken stew.

[guajolote]

How did yours turn out Dave? Was it too soupy like mine? I followed the recipe pretty closely.

[Dave the Cook]

I was waiting until I could post pictures, but I'll do that later. Mine was thicker, mostly because of longer cooking, I think. Some notes:

- I completely understand the impulse to add the additional seasoning. It wasn't overpoweringly sweet, but it was unbalanced. I think black pepper, a touch of lemon and some Tabasco or Worcestershire would restore it, and, unlike the sriacha (bless your heart), would be entirely Southern. I now understand why these are common ingredients.

- On one hand I agree about the chicken drying out, but I don't think the answer is to substitute more rabbit. The bunny remained moist, but didn't add much gaminess to the pot. I'm thinking that using all dark chicken meat would fix the moisture problem, and we'd save some on the expense of M. Lapin ($3.50/lb -- or did you get it cheaper, Dean?). As for gaminess, Richard (and others) might be right, but I'm not sure it's a realistic ingredient for us, given that we'll have to make about ten times this recipe. Duck, maybe? Or some red meat? I'm open to suggestions. I suggested tossing a lamb shank in the pot, but Varmint vetoed it.

- I thought it needed more tomatoes, for acid, color and richness.

- Using vegetable stock did add depth, and it certainly made a darker brew (you'll see when I post the pix). The veggie stock had a lot of mushrooms in it, and while there was no noticeable mushroom flavor in the VD Stew, it did have a non-specific meatiness that was missing in the plain version. This, I'm thinking, must be unami. I'm debating how to get this into the stew without going to the trouble of making veggie stock, because it's going to be too much trouble to make stock and stew in the same 24-hour period, not to mention consuming mass quantities of alcoholic beverages and helping to eat a whole pig. OTOH, it answers the question raised by Jaymes' mushroom-inclusive recipes.

[guajolote]

My rabbits were only $2.29 a pound .

The chicken thigh/leg meat did taste better than the breast meat, plus it's cheaper. I also added the gizzards. After the I drained the stock I put the chopped up gizzards in the stock while it was reducing, and then added them to the veggies right away. They came out cooked perfectly. You might want to add some extra chicken livers like I did.

[Dave the Cook]

My rabbits were only $2.29 a pound .

The chicken thigh/leg meat did taste better than the breast meat, plus it's cheaper. I also added the gizzards. After the I drained the stock I put the chopped up gizzards in the stock while it was reducing, and then added them to the veggies right away. They came out cooked perfectly. You might want to add some extra chicken livers like I did.

So what's your advice on the rabbit? Regaradles of price, do you think it adds much to the dish -- aside from being able to say, "Oh yeah, that's rabbit in there"?

Good idea on the gizzards; I wish I'd thought of that.

And I had planned on more livers the next time around.

[guajolote]

I really like the rabbit, even more than the dark meat chicken. I definately think you should add as much as you can afford.

I also took the corn cobs (after the kernels were removed) and simmered them along with the meat. I don't know how much it added, but I always do this when I'm making corn soup.

I also used about 2 cups of corn (I had 3 ears and wanted to use it up). If I were making this again I'd double the amount of lima beans too, especially since I have an assistant to clean them .

[slkinsey]

If I can butt in here with my two cents about the rabbit... domestic rabbit is very mild flavored and not gamey at all. Wild rabbit or, better yet, hare is much gamier. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely you will be able to get any of that at a reasonable price unless you know some hunters.

If Brunswick stew is prototypically supposed to include a fair amount of game, this might be exactly where you are running into the "too thin versus dry chicken" problem. Modern chicken is simply too tender for long cooking, whereas squirrel, pigeon or venison needs the longer cooking to become tender. One thing you might do is buy "old stewing hens" for the chicken component. These are typically old egg-laying hens that have passed their productive years. Very flavorful, but also quite tough and they require long cooking. For a more gamey flavor without adding either A) expensive game from the butcher or B) actual game like squirrel, I'd think of adding some sauteed livers, hearts, and gizzards. One can often buy big packages of hearts/gizzards in supermarkets, and chicken livers are cheap enough. A hunk of wild venison from a hunter's freezer could make a big difference, though.

[Dave the Cook]

I also took the corn cobs (after the kernels were removed) and simmered them along with the meat. I don't know how much it added, but I always do this when I'm making corn soup.

That's funny -- I do the same thing.

I also used about 2 cups of corn (I had 3 ears and wanted to use it up). If I were making this again I'd double the amount of lima beans too, especially since I have an assistant to clean them .

Yeah, more veggies all around, I think.

I've been thinking about the game component. It's almost 400 miles from my place to Varmint's. I'll bet that on the way, I can scrape enough opossum and coon off the road to give us what we need.

[Varmint]

I was waiting until I could post pictures, but I'll do that later. Mine was thicker, mostly because of longer cooking, I think. Some notes:

- I completely understand the impulse to add the additional seasoning. It wasn't overpoweringly sweet, but it was unbalanced. I think black pepper, a touch of lemon and some Tabasco or Worcestershire would restore it, and, unlike the sriacha (bless your heart), would be entirely Southern. I now understand why these are common ingredients.

- On one hand I agree about the chicken drying out, but I don't think the answer is to substitute more rabbit. The bunny remained moist, but didn't add much gaminess to the pot. I'm thinking that using all dark chicken meat would fix the moisture problem, and we'd save some on the expense of M. Lapin ($3.50/lb -- or did you get it cheaper, Dean?). As for gaminess, Richard (and others) might be right, but I'm not sure it's a realistic ingredient for us, given that we'll have to make about ten times this recipe. Duck, maybe? Or some red meat? I'm open to suggestions. I suggested tossing a lamb shank in the pot, but Varmint vetoed it.

- I thought it needed more tomatoes, for acid, color and richness.

- Using vegetable stock did add depth, and it certainly made a darker brew (you'll see when I post the pix). The veggie stock had a lot of mushrooms in it, and while there was no noticeable mushroom flavor in the VD Stew, it did have a non-specific meatiness that was missing in the plain version. This, I'm thinking, must be unami. I'm debating how to get this into the stew without going to the trouble of making veggie stock, because it's going to be too much trouble to make stock and stew in the same 24-hour period, not to mention consuming mass quantities of alcoholic beverages and helping to eat a whole pig. OTOH, it answers the question raised by Jaymes' mushroom-inclusive recipes.

One thing that I do with the chicken is to pull the white meat into threads -- that thickens up the stew, keeps the protein level high, and the dryness of the chicken is less noticeable. Adding bigger chunks of dark meat would help for sure. Duck would help, as would Sam's idea of using older hens. I think Jeffrey Steingarten wrote about the merits of stewing hens.

Brunswick stew is generally bland. I like the idea of adding lots of depth to the overall flavor without adding "foreign" flavors. If you've never had the standard Brunswick stew, try to think of Campbell's vegetable soup (not vegetable beef, but just their plain vegetarian vegetable soup with the alphabet noodles). That's the standard, and it really sucks. However, by working from that palette, you can expand and intensify the flavors. I like the use of the organs and gizzards, but hopefully, they will just become "mystery meat" in the final product.

Tomatoes are essential.

It may not be traditional, but adding some roasted beef bones early on may be helpful. I'll ask around to see if I can find any venison chuck roasts, as that might be helpful.

This will be pretty damn awesome!

[Varmint]

I really like the rabbit, even more than the dark meat chicken. I definately think you should add as much as you can afford.

I also took the corn cobs (after the kernels were removed) and simmered them along with the meat. I don't know how much it added, but I always do this when I'm making corn soup.

I also used about 2 cups of corn (I had 3 ears and wanted to use it up). If I were making this again I'd double the amount of lima beans too, especially since I have an assistant to clean them .

Lotsa veggies are good. I'm not so sure on the cabbage, though. I've never really seen a stew with cabbage, but that shouldn't prevent us from trying it.

Scraping the cobs would be helpful, as that adds some additional thickener.

[Varmint]

I've been thinking about the game component. It's almost 400 miles from my place to Varmint's. I'll bet that on the way, I can scrape enough opossum and coon off the road to give us what we need.

Mmmm, RK ("Road Kill") Stew.

[maggiethecat]

If there be rodents in that stew, I'll be passing on it.

Sissy boy.

We'll get possum instead then. Or coon.

Y'all could just bring down some of your pigeons, too.

If there be rodents, possum, coon, pidgeons or elves in the stew, this Sissy Missy is gonna skip it.

I'm fascinated by the existence of our own eGullet CI Test Kitchen---Dave, my brother Dean, and Dave's other brother, Dean. One thing, gentlemen: please don't eat so much DDD stew before the event that you can't bear the sight or smell come October.

Edited September 7, 2003 by maggiethecat (log)

[guajolote]

My sister ate the last of the VD stew last night while we aere at the White Sox game. She must have liked it because it was gone, and there was a lot left.

Have you considered adding some goat Dave?

Maggie, what ever happened to those squirrels in your attic?

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, what ever happened to those squirrels in your attic? 

Humane trap and release in the local forest preserve, the little bastards.

(Did the Sox win? Why not get the Brunswick Stew concession at Sox Park?)