Venison Winter Stew
Why I Love This Recipe
There is nothing like having an acquaintance who will occasionally kill food for you. I had such an acquaintance, and this is one of the many things I did with said kills. Oh, by the way- if you don't have a meat grinder, well, here's an excuse to get one... or, maybe your acquaintance has one?...
Ingredients You'll Need
1lb venison, chopped into chunks
1/4lb beef suet
1/4c or so olive oil
1lg sweet yellow onion, chopped
3-5cloves garlic, chopped
3lg carrots, sliced
2med turnips, diced
1sm winter squash, diced
1-2c turnip greens (whatever you got from the to 2med turnips), coarsely shredded
1/8c flour
2c cooked crushed tomatoes (14.5oz can)
Salt to taste
1/2tsp ea: basil, thyme, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, red pepper, white pepper, black pepper
2c cooked BlackEye peas (14.5oz can)
8-10c stock (chicken or beef, or combo)
Butter to finish
Directions
Divide the meat and suet into 4's, and run alternately thru a meat grinder to incorporate and make into a burger consistency. Since Venison is SO lean, I add suet- BUT- you DON'T have to if you don't want to. Just grind the meat and proceed as follows.
Heat oil in heavy Dutch oven over med heat and sauté Venison, onion & garlic til meat browned and onion becoming tender and fragrant. Add carrots, turnips and squash, and sauté a while longer, 10min or so, til they also are becoming tender. Add greens and cook til wilted. Add flour, stir to coat all and cook to a roux. Add remaining ingredients, EXCEPT butter, using enough stock to completely cover for a soupy consistency and stir well to combine. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for at least 1-1/2hrs, maybe even 3-4hrs if you can stand to smell it that long without trying it, stirring periodically. Stew will thicken as it cooks; if it becomes too thick too soon, add a little stock to thin. Serve each bowl with a pat of butter atop, and stir to melt into stew, with a chunk of crusty bread on the side.
