Perfect for Football Sundays: Brunswick Stew

I just got my weekly Epicurious recipe flash email and it was topped by the most season-appropriate recipe I can imagine: Brunswick stew.

Now, personally, I actually can't stand Brunswick stew. I'm not sure what it is about the flavor combination, but I've just never liked it much. But I still think it's absolutely perfect for a chilly late January football-laden Sunday.

My dad and brother are both huge Redskins fans, so growing up, every single fall and winter Sunday was devoted to the game. Watching my dad watch (and listen, since he turns the sound off the TV and listens to the announcers over an ancient shower radio) a football game today is pretty much exactly like it was to spy on him during football season in, say, 1983. The only real difference is the color of his hair. He's a slave to his sportsy rituals.

While the menfolk testosterone it up in the living room, my mom hangs out in the kitchen, slowcooking something on the stove. The primary requirements for Sunday football dinner are that a) it's easy to eat whenever you get hungry (and in front of the TV); b) it fills up the house with a distinctly cozy winter smell; and c) it goes with biscuits. Which, in turn, go with butter and blackberry jam (preferably with seeds and, back in the day, preferably homemade by my paternal grandparents). Brunswick stew is in heavy Sunday rotation.

And by the way, my mom makes it with chicken, not the more traditional Brunswicky meat. That's right. Squirrel.

So while I don't really like the taste of Brunswick stew, I absolutely love the idea. Good choice, Epicurious. Good choice.