By Doc Lawrence
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| Classic Brunswick Stew |
ATLANTA-The Fourth of July celebration is just around the corner. I’m on the road again for most of this week and for the 10th consecutive year, here is a signature recipe for our American feast.
There
is a mystique about Brunswick Stew: Did it originate in Georgia or Virginia?
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in her classic book, Cross Creek Cookery
concluded that it’s German in origin. We’ll settle everything by proclaiming it
to be very American with a Southern accent.
The
most authentic recipe came from Jim Sanders, the unchallenged “father of fine
wine” not only in Atlanta but the entire Southeast region. A French-trained
chef, Jim Sanders stayed true to his Southern roots, producing a cookbook
pairing the great dishes of the South (his recipes) with the great wines of
France. No counterpart exists today.
Each
July 4, Sanders served his barbecue pork along with his treasured, venerable
recipe Georgia Brunswick Stew, something he learned during his childhood days
in Covington, Georgia. It is the traditional accompaniment to genuine Deep
South barbecue.
INGREDIENTS:
1 four-pound
baking chicken
4
pounds ground pork
1/2
teaspoon ground black pepper
1
teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1-tablespoon
chili powder
1
tablespoon thyme
1
tablespoons cayenne pepper
2
cups chopped onions
1
cup red wine, preferably Rhone style
3 to
4 tablespoons bacon drippings
36
ounces tomato juice
4
ounce tomato catsup
3
cups cut corn
Kosher
salt and black pepper
PREPARATION:
Boil the chicken until it
is very tender, cool, de-bone and chop the meat finely. Meanwhile, in a large
pot over medium heat, braise the pork until half done. Add half the chopped
onions, one chopped garlic clove, chili powder, thyme, cayenne pepper and a
generous sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper. Continue to braise until
the meat is well browned, stirring every few minutes to break up any lumps and
combine with chicken. Add the tomato juice and catsup and simmer for 11/2
hours. Add the rest of the chopped onions, another chopped garlic clove and
simmer for another 30 minutes. Taste for salt and spoon off the fat before serving.
WINES:
Beaujolais goes well with
Brunswick stew. It does not fight the spices and it has a lot of refreshment
value. Otherwise, fairly heavy red wines like Cotes du Rhone complement the
spice and flavors nicely as do several Italian reds like Chianti, Bardolino and
Montepulciano.
NOTE:
Over
three decades, Jim Sanders taught thousands in his wine classes in Atlanta, a
rich mixture of governors, members of Congress, physicians, Georgia Supreme
Court Justices and regular men and women. Although a product of the Deep South,
Jim was more French than anything. After World War II (he was wounded five
times in the Pacific campaigns) he went to France, bicycled the countryside and
found his passion in wine and food. He learned to cook in Lyon and Paris and
met Armand Cottin, president of Labourie-Roi and through this brotherly
friendship, developed his own cuvee of 179 Burgundies garnering numerous
awards. Each day, in the rear of his retail wine shop in Atlanta’s Buckhead,
Sanders served most anyone who came in wonderful dishes he prepared along with
pours from countless bottles of perfectly paired wines. There was no charge.
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| Recipes &Wine Pairing |
On
the eve of his death in 1999, Jim Sanders entrusted me with his priceless wine
notes, lectures, stories and recipes.
