Daring Bakers April Challenge - Brunswick Stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.




This was super simple - which usually means it's going to turn out brilliantly. I think that what made this a daring dish was that you can get pretty creative with the ingredients, but I didn't do that. I attempted to find a decent price on rabbit, but the best I could find was $15/pound and I didn't want to risk paying for rabbit and then having a family that wouldn't touch it. From my own personal experience, whenever we were served rabbit as kids, my mother would make a great deal about eating Bambi's friend, Thumper. And as we had spent all afternoon playing with a bunny the day before I made this stew, I wasn't sure how the girls would take rabbit stew.

So, I used bone in chicken thighs and skinless breasts for this stew. I'd love to try it again with more rustic meat just for a change in flavor. I also think that using a really good quality bacon is a must - even though there is only a tiny bit of it in the dish, bacon has a huge role in the overall flavor.


This is what your stew should turn out like - this enough for a ladle to stand in:




Thanks, Wolf, for a great challenge! Want to see what the rest of the Daring Cooks did? Click here.