Brunswick Stew

Here's what you need:

• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cooked and diced
• 2 cups ham, cooked and diced
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 2 to 3 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 2 cans tomatoes, 14 to 16 ounces each, cut up
• 2 cups lima beans, frozen, thawed
• 10 ounce can of corn
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

Notes on Ingredients:

Chicken: That's about four large breasts. You can also use for a few boneless thighs if you prefer.

Ham: You can use a "turkey ham" if you like. They used to sell them sometimes at Food Lion.

Onion: I use one average Vidalia onion.

Potatoes: Last time, I used one huge baking potato. It worked.

Carrots: I do 1/2" slices.

Tomatoes: You can use tomato sauce if you hate tomatoes.

Limas: Don't use canned ones, they'll get too mushy.

Corn: You can use 2 cups of frozen corn, thawed, if you want.

Note that the amounts of ingredients are flexible, you can add more/less of any of them depending on what you like/dislike and have on hand.

Directions:

If you're starting with raw chicken, cook it. I prefer to do mine on the grill, but you can also do it in a skillet: Put some olive oil in the skillet, when it starts getting warm, add the chicken breasts. Cook for eight minutes on one side, on medium. Flip it and cook until done all the way through, or 165-degrees in the middle. Also cook thighs to 165 but they're smaller so it doesn't take as long.

Dice up chicken, put it and onions in large pot. Add enough water to cover it. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on low for about half an hour.

Dice the ham into 3/4-1" cubes. Same thing with potatoes. Add those, bring back to a boil, then simmer on low for another 60-90 minutes (60 if you want the chicken to be more firm, 90 if you want it to start softening and cooking down as some restaurants do it). When I do mine, I do everything up to this point in the morning, then put the lid on the pot, turn off the stove, and let it sit for a couple of hours before returning to do the rest. But if you start it late, you may proceed...

Add the spices, tomatos/tomato sauce, lima beans, corn and carrots. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for at least another hour. If you don't like mushy carrots, add those about 15 minutes after the other ingredients.

As you can probably tell, this stew can sit and "do its thing" for a while, just be sure to keep the stove on low and stir it often. You can serve it by itself or with crackers. If you get it at the BBQ place they give you hush puppies so you can also serve it with cornbread.