VENISON STEW - Cooking with Wine - Photos

I'm a foodie, I admit it and for me tender venison in a tasty dark brown (mushroom) gravy is a real culinary treat. 

Unfortunately, the only time we ever have venison is at a fancy restaurant, maybe once a year. But, lucky for us, Richard's has a co-worker who uses his annual vacation to go hunting with relatives somewhere in the backwoods up north. Last year, he gave Richard a couple of packages, such as sirloin steak, chuck steak and ground chuck. The venison ground chuck, long gone, it became the key ingredient in one of my Texas chili dishes.  

I suspected the beginnings of freezer burn so I decided on fixing a stew (pity to do that to a sirloin:) Anyway, it was time to use up the sirloin steak, a small package and the chuck steak which in itself was enough for two.

Half way into the cooking process, I realized I was out of juniper berries, a must have ingredient for my regular way of fixing a good venison stew which usually includes dark red cherries and a little orange brandy. Undeterred, I decided to go French - think Steak Diane type sauce as far as flavor.

However, I didn't have any French red wine either, but I had picked up a bottle of Chianti during Italian week at our local Aldi (grocery store).  

Our venison stew turned out as tender and delicious as hoped for and since I fixed most of it before Richard came home - this is not a quickie dinner - I thought I'd share my concoction with you.

ENJOY - oh, and cheers, daaahhlings! You can't cook with wine and not indulge a bit yourself along the way. 

Come - have a look at the pot ... (no, not that kind:)

Here, I already browned the meat, seasoned with "Herb de Provence" and a pinch of salt. Threw in half a large purple onion, sliced rather thickly ...

I just added two green onions and a couple of bay leafs - they were on the small side so I used three.

While all that is doing it's thing on medium heat ... for about ten to fifteen minutes ...

I took one package - each - out of the freezer ...

... mushrooms - carrots (which I diced up) - a mixture of chopped fine onion, celery and red paprika.

Knorr makes a great Beef Stew seasoning - they call it Goulash - but it works well with all pork, beef and veal dishes.

I chose wide egg noodles since Richard likes them and they're quicker than potatoes, but we both like potatoes, garlic mashed rosemary or parsley potatoes would have worked great too. 

OK - I'm having some wine now:) - have to make sure it's good:)

Continue cooking the veggies for about fifteen minutes on medium heat.

Having a few more sips of wine:) - well, OK then, if you must know - starting on my second glass:)

The stew mix called for two cups of water, so I used two cups of red wine instead.

Made me reflect on how Jesus turned water into wine ... I digress, .....

Stir the wine into the goulash mix until it has no lumps and add to the stew.

Keep your pot on medium heat, stir frequently - add up to a cup and a half of water as needed. If you want a thinner gravy, add another half a cup.

At this point, your venison stew should be smelling great - like mine is now

... looking good and oh, so tempting ...

One last shot for you, because I hear Richard at the door.

Set stew on low heat, while you fix your noodles, potatoes, rice etc - whatever you like. If you bake your own bread - you might just decide to go only with that.

Just for the heck of it - here's a pic of the noodles about to be done.

A shot of the stew simmering - notice - I left the lid partially opened ...

..... and no, there is nothing wrong with my picture or your screen colors...:)

I have Italian cookware and the glass lids are tinted in aqua-turquoise:)

I hope you've enjoyed cooking with me:)

We will be dining al fresco in the garden ....................

... right next to my favorite Hibiscus bush.

The tray is ready to take outside ...

Someone else approved of my cooking too ................................

Jimbo - our resident garden kitty, is not the begging kind, but he could smell a good thing.

After we finished supper, he came to investigate in hopes of a leftover bite.

Cheers - and thanks for looking!  

Have a great weekend everyone!

Written and photographed by Rose H. - images taken with Olympus D-565UZ

copyright 2009

NOTES:  

I used three small to medium size steaks which will give you generous servings for four or six regular servings.

Serve with potatoes or wide egg noodles, add a nice green salad (lettuce - cucumbers) on the side or do like we did and have watermelon for dessert.

Fruit - especially cherries, apples and plums are a good choice alongside your stew.