Recipes from the Vault – Brunswick Stew

Every so often, the museum receives a donation that includes a cookbook or recipe card. Sometimes the recipes are familiar comfort foods still served on many Thomas County tables. Others… well, let’s just say some recipes are best left in the past. This series highlights some of those recipes: from the classics to the experimental. If you try any of these recipes, successfully or not, let us know what you think in the comments!

Brunswick Stew by Mrs. Horace Alligood, January 1970

This recipe, like all the greats, was written on a piece of scratch paper by Myla Lee Miller Alligood (1914-2008). Myla Lee was one of six children born to John “Joe” Harris and Ona Mae Davis Miller of Meigs in Thomas County. After Myla Lee finished high school, she worked as a bookkeeper at an auto agency until she met and married Horace Columbus Alligood of Mitchell County, Georgia around 1942. The couple had three children whom they raised in Meigs. In her later years, Myla Lee moved to Atlanta where she lived until her death at the age of 93.

Myla Lee was 55 years old when she wrote down this recipe in the winter of 1970. If you’re considering using this recipe as part of a supper menu, she included pairing suggestions at the end of her instructions. Even after 54 years have passed, Brunswick Stew continues to be a classic recipe in our area.

Brunswick Stew:
1 3 to 4 lb hen (or 2 fryers)
1 qt. corn (whole grain)
1 pt. okra (1 pack)
2 medium onions
3 tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 qt. tomatoes (2 cans)
1 pt. butterbeans
½ tsp. Tabasco sauce
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ c. tomato catsup
Boil chicken until tender enough to leave bone. Pull meat off and cut into large cakes and return to water in which it was cooked. Add other ingredients and cook very slowly until mixture is thick; serve with rice, green salad and hot rolls.

Mrs. Horace Alligood Jan ‘70