Winter is knocking and lucky us in Brussels we had a bit of a cold spill last week but the temperatures are back up. No white Christmas for us and that is just as well. However winter gives me this immense urge to make stews. Where fall is all about soups, winter is all about stews for me.
STEW – is a slow-cooking process where solid food ( meat and vegetables) are cooked in a liquid. Especially tougher meats are very suitable for this type of cooking. In Flanders we have this beef stew made with brown beer that is very famous called carbonnade or stoverij. I love making a venison stew, obviously not with the lean filet meat but with the off cuts, just ask your butcher for advise on the bets cuts to use for a stew.
BASIC PRINCIPLE – after seasoning the meat you dust it with some flour, brown it and add the vegetables and stock to simmer for a while.
VENISON – is the meat of a deer. It has a more gamey flavour than beef but it is leaner as it is lower in calories and cholesterol. The European hunting season runs from October to December and venison is often served at Christmas. And I will indeed cook it for my family on Christmas day again, with celery root mash potatoes and a lovely gravy.
My vegetable and venison stew
Yield 2 portions
Ingredients
- 400 gr venison cuts for stewing, cut in 3 cm chunks
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 20 gr butter, unsalted
- 6 small button onions, peeled
- 2 carrots, peeled, sliced
- fresh rosemary
- 3 baie leaves
- 1 liter beef or game stock
- 200 ml red wine
Instructions
- Season the meat with salt and pepper, dust with the flour.
- Add the butter to the pan and brown the meat on all sides.
- Add vegetables, herbs wine and stock and simmer on a low heat for about 1 hour until the venison is tender and the stock has reduced.
- Serve with mash potatoes.
Notes
on www.leeksandhighheels.com by Sandra Slawinski
Written and photographed by Sandra Slawinski without commercial deals. I used my own Le Creuset cookpot.
