Brunswick Stew

I grew up in Atlanta and had my share of bbq and brunwick stew before moving North and going vegan. Needless to say, I was intrigued by this month's VegNews magazine which had a recipe for Southern Vegetarian Brunswick Stew and Cornbread. I thought this might be a good stew but had no notions that this would actually taste like the stew that I grew up eating. My husband Mike did not either and was a little afraid of my dinner plans. After we started eating it, we were shocked to find it did actually taste like brunswick stew. SHOCKED. It was really good.



The recipe is from Robin Robertson:

Vegetarian Brunswick Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 12 oz package vegetarian sausage links, cut into 1/2-inch pieces *
1 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
2 large white potatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger **
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) package frozen succotash
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (12-ounce) package frozen vegetarian burger crumbles ***
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the "sausage" links and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside.

2. Reheat the oil in the saucepan and add the onion, potato, garlic, and ginger. Add 1/4 cup of the stock or water, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, add the remaining stock and stir in the tomatoes, succotash, tamari, mustard, sugar, allspice, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. During the last 10 minutes of cooking time, add the reserved “sausage,” the vegetarian burger crumbles, and the Liquid Smoke.

Serves 4 to 6

* We used only 6 oz lite life vegan sausage links. Next time we might try sausage crumbles instead, maybe lite life in the tube.
** Ginger People jarred prepared ginger works fine here.
*** Morningstar frozen burger crumbles

We served this with some vegan southern cornbread (modified from the article in veg news by Robin Robertson) cooked in an iron skillet.

Cornbread

1-2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup soymilk
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/4 cup canola oil

Place an 8" cast iron skillet in the oven with 1-2 Tbsp canola oil in the skillet. Place in oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the soy milk, maple syrup, oil, and corn. Add to the dry mixture and stir until just mixed. Pour into the hot skillet, and spread it if necessary. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. Turn cornbread out of skillet and onto a plate (it will be upside down). Cut into wedges.