Odds and Ends Venison Stew

Venison stew is one of our favorite meals during the fall and winter months. It’s hearty, filling, full of flavor, and is a great way to use up odds and ends from previous meals. You can use any leftover meats, veggies, or broths in your stew. For this meal, I pulled venison stew meat from the freezer and leftover au jus from the freezer as well. The au jus was packed with flavor from french dip sandwiches made in the past. For veggies, I had carrots on their last leg and peas from a different meal earlier in the week. And our side was leftover homemade biscuits! This meal was such a great way to make sure that no leftover gets left behind!

Every delicious soup or stew starts with celery, onions, and carrots. I began my dish by sautéing those in my dutch oven with some EVOO. (If you don’t have a dutch oven, I highly suggest getting one! They make amazing soups and roasts.) While my veggies cooked, I cut the stew meat into smaller pieces and seasoned the heck out of them with salt and pepper. Once my veggies were softened, I set them aside and added my stew meat to the point and let that brown on all sides. Then I added more seasoning, flour to thicken, a can of tomatoes, and the defrosted au jus. The hardest part is done! After stirring everything together, I brought to a boil, turned the heat to a simmer, covered the pot, and let it simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours. This gives time for the flavors to really develop and the meat to become super tender. When the time is up, I added my peas and served with warm biscuits on the side. Everyone gobbled down their bowls with delight!

I didn’t exactly measure everything so the ingredient list below is a rough estimate of what I added. Feel free to add hamburger instead of stew meat, potatoes or rice to make it a more hearty meal, or barley for a spin on beef and barley soup!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lb stew meat cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups broth (or au jus)
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen or fresh peas

Directions:

Grab a large pot and heat your olive oil on the stove at medium high temp. Add your onion, celery, and carrots and sautée until soft, about 4-6 minutes. While they cook, season your stew meat with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Transfer veggies to a different bowl then add your stew meat in to brown. Cook until all meat is nicely browned then add in your flour and stir constantly to cook for 1 minute. Then pour in your tomatoes and stir to deglaze your pot. Add broth or au jus, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer, cover your pot, and let simmer on low for 1.5 – 2 hours. When cook time is complete, add your peas and taste to adjust any seasoning. Serve with a side of biscuits or bread and enjoy!