Venison Stew

Every year when fall rolls around, Brian heads out to his family’s cabin for deer hunting. For the last several years when he’s shot one we end up cooking the venison in the same way- pan fried in olive oil, covered in saltines and egg. It’s amazing, but sometimes a girl needs a little variety in her dinner, right?

This year, I convinced Brian to let me try a few new things with the venison he gets. We’ll still make our old, delicious standby, but I had some recipe ideas that were begging to be made. The first one he’s agreed to is this venison stew.

The beauty of this recipe is that it was made in the crock pot. I love when I can throw things in a crock pot, work all day and come home to a fully cooked meal. You just can’t beat that. Thankfully, Brian loved this and is already agreeing to try some of my other recipes in the coming weeks.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs venison steaks, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
3 T. flour
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 t. basil (NOTE: the seasonings are an estimation as I eyeballed it instead of measuring)
1 t. thyme
1 t. onion powder
1 t. oregano
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 C red wine
2 C beef broth
2-3 drops hot sauce (I used Louisiana hot sauce and was a bit heavy handed with it- I did much more than 2-3 drops and it was HOT! but really good)

Directions:

Place the venison in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and cover with flour, salt and pepper. Toss until well coated, then place in the crock pot.

Add in the veggies and the rest of the spices, then the wine and broth. Mix until evenly dispersed.

Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Just prior to serving, mix in the hot sauce.

Source: A Laura’s Recipe Collection original