Georgia Brunswick Stew

The flavor in this soup comes from the mingling of the previously cooked meat and the vegetables. So the fresher your vegetables, the sweeter the stew.

Start with a large pot set over medium heat. Add the chicken, pork, tomatoes, peas, corn, okra, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, pepper and salt. Allow the mixture to start to come to a boil.

While this is coming to a low boil, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, celery and bell pepper into the melted butter. Sauté over medium heat until the onions and celery are translucent. Push vegetables to the edge of the skillet and add the garlic. Allow the garlic to heat up for about two minutes. When you can smell the garlic add all of the skillet ingredients to the main pot of soup.

Allow soup to simmer for two hours. Add water if soup becomes too thick.

Crockpot version: Instead of starting by adding the initial ingredients to a pot, add them to your slow cooker. Then proceed with the onions, celery, pepper and garlic as directed above. When you are finished cooking the onions etc. add them to the crockpot and set on low and cook for 6-8 hours.

Healthier version: Saute vegetables in a few tablespoons of olive oil.