Venison, Wild Rice, and Brown Ale Stew

This hearty stew is a delicious variation of traditional beef stews. It is a perfect way to prepare wild game as the long slow cooking time and unique flavors offer a compliment to the often lean qualities of wild game. Excellent on a fall day with fresh apple cider and homemade bread.

Don't like venison, no problem, just use a beef roast instead. Beef was used for these instructions because no one has given me any deer meat this year. Huntings not my thing but eating cooking is.

These instructions show instructions for preparing on a stove top but usually I tend to make it in a camp style dutch oven over a bed of charcoal.

Step 1: Ingedients and Supplies

Ingredients and Supplies

Tools and Implements
-6 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven or if cooking outside camp style Dutch Oven. I use Lodge for all my cast iron cookware.
-Cutting Board
-Sharp Knife (Chef or Santoku)
-Liquid Measuring Cup at least 2 Cups
-Tablespoon
-Teaspoon
-Small bowl
-Wooden Spatula/Spoon
-Swivel vegetable peeler

Ingredients

All vegetable amounts are approximate. This is cooking not baking, sloppy measuring is normally not a problem. Adjust to personal tastes.

-Several Tablespoons of Olive Oil
-Salt
-Black Pepper
-Large Venison or Beef roast. You want a roast that holds up well to long slow cooking like a chuck
-2 medium onions (white or yellow)
-3-4 Stalks Celery or approx 1 ½ cups
-1 ½ cups Carrots ( I use baby carrots because I snack on them at other times.)
-1 cup Parsnips (optional. Not included in the pictures as I was out of them. Taste like a combination of Celery and Carrots with a twist)
-3-5 Garlic cloves (I almost always use more garlic then less)
-4 cups Beef Broth
-1/2 cup Steak Sauce
-1 bottle Brown Ale
-2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
-¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
-2-3 Tablespoons Beef Stock Base (Not pictures anywhere. This is a solid beef stock powder normally found by the liquid stocks and bullion cubes. Don't use bullion cubes)
-3 Bay leaves
-1 teaspoon Dill Weed
-1 teaspoon Thyme
-2 teaspoon Allspice (This is a key ingredient where the amount used drastically effects the final taste, if the taste is too strong to your liking don't go below 1 teaspoon)
-1 ½ to 2 cups potatoes (I always use russet but my brother always uses Yukon gold)\
-1 ½ cup Wild Rice

-water as needed

Comments

[medievalpirate]

I make a variation of this, with Porter rather than Brown Ale, Pearl Barley and Mushrooms. You must add the Pearl Barley, at the beginning otherwise you'll make yourself ill. Pearl Barley needs at least 3 hours in an oven at home or 5 or 6 hours out camping, the longer you cook it for the better the stew. You can then add more meat and veg the following day and cook for 4 or 5 hours.