Venison Stew

Dear Devon,

I apologize for my long silence. And to my downstairs neighbors, I apologize for the resounding bass reverberating through your ceiling. THE PIANO IS HERE!! I haven't done much in the kitchen since its arrival. The move was full of excitement. Picture three unimposing men carrying a 45 inch piano up a narrow staircase. Turns out moving a piano is just like dragging your groceries upstairs - step by step - only a lot slower.

Though my bedroom is chaos, my kitchen is almost perfect (minus the Viking range and dishwasher). Sigh, a girl can dream. The kitchen is equipped with the most anxious smoke detector. Let’s call it the Woody Allen of smoke detectors. Preheating the oven causes general panic; a robust voice booms "fire fire" in 15 second intervals. There is no exhaust fan. I've resorted to propping the front door open with my shoe. I can't stand the heavy smell of oil that lingers in the air after cooking. It soaks into fabrics and into your hair. Febreeze might be the only solution.

Into this kitchen, enters a nice piece of venison. My experience with venison is limited. I've only eaten it three or four times. It's a rarity where I grew up, but I'm starting to hear a lot more about it. The shoulder came frozen and dated courtesy of a friend, who suggested that I prepare it in a stew. I was shocked by how lean the meat was. There were no traces or suggestions of fat. As for the color, it was a shocking dark red. I had never seen meat this shade of dark violet red, almost purple.

I read through a bunch of cookbooks, but no one really had a venison specific recipe. Because I wasn't sure what to expect, I conflated two recipes for beef stew from the Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. You know the one that tells you to marinate the meat in a bottle of red wine for eight hours? That's what I chose. I had this bottle of red wine, a Malbec from Argentina, that I received as a present this Christmas. I'm not in the habit of buying wine to bathe meat, so it seemed natural to use this bottle. Because the meat was so lean, I added sausage and bacon for tasty and needed fat. I perfumed the stew with lots of wonderful flavors like garlic, bay leaf, and onions. Black eyed peas and a bag of frozen green peas tossed in the last half hour of cooking added to this flavorful and rich stew.

In total, it takes three days to prepare. I marinate the meat along with carrots and garlic in red wine for 24 hours. The meat emerges almost black and completely wine soaked. The next evening, after finishing my dinner, I begin the cooking process. The stew simmers on the stove for 2 hours. Originally, I wanted to use the oven, but given my problems with the smoke detector, I used the stove top. The upside to the oven is the stew will basically cook itself. The stovetop requires some babysitting. When the meat is fork tender, I turned off the flame and let it cool. I want the stew to rest and to encourage all those wonderful flavors to marry and get richer. Thirty minutes before serving, I reheat the stew on the oven and add the frozen peas and the beans. I serve it on top of starchy egg noodles in wide bowls. I leave a big bowl of chopped parsley on the side for garnish.

The stew is warm, rich, and wonderfully flavorful. The bold wine is perfect for the meat, giving it a nice dark flavor, but without that overwhelming winey taste. The bacon completely melts, marking its presence through the smoky and salty undertones of the stew. Using spicy sausage gives the stew more body and makes a nice contrast to the fork tender venison. I love the addition of the peas. Cooked so they just retain their perky sweetness, each bite is like a bright spark of flavor. I'm in love the stewed carrots. They taste amazing, almost better than the venison. Sweet, soft and succulent, the carrots maintain their shape and absorb all the rich flavors, while still keeping their distinct sweetness. My mother always serves stews over egg noodles, so it is only natural I use them here. Egg noodles provide the perfect backdrop to rich food. They absorb all the bold juices without interfering with the intricately composed main course.

Venison Stew
serves six comfortably

1 1/2 pounds of venison, cubed into 2-inch pieces
2 sausages, sliced
1 onion, cut into wedges
2 carrots, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 bottle of red wine
1 bay leaf
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 cup of cooked beans
1 package frozen green peas
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp flour

Cube venison into 2 inch chunks. Peel and cut carrots, roughly the same size as the venison cubes. Crush four cloves of garlic. In a large bowl, mix together venison, carrots, and garlic. Pour in one bottle of red wine or enough to cover the meat. Stir to combine and coat the meat. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in fridge for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. (I marinated for 24 hours). Every few hours, give the marinade a mix.

Drain the meat and pat dry. Strain the marinade and reserve it and the vegetables separately. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook chopped bacon. Remove crispy bacon from Dutch oven. Drain off excess oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Cook sausages until nicely browned and crispy. Remove and set aside. Brown venison on all sides. You might want to do this in batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove and set aside. Add onions, gently cooking until translucent. Stir in vegetables from marinade and flour. When veggies have nicely browned, add bacon, sausage and venison. Add one bay leaf. Pour in wine marinade and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the meat is fork-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Salt and pepper as needed. At this stage, I let the stew cool and rest. The other advantage to preparing the stew a day in advance is that it allows the fat to rise to the top and harden, making it easy to skim off. However, this stew had very little fat, so there wasn't much to skim off.

Thirty minutes or so before serving, reheat the stew. Stir in pre-cooked black eyed peas and one bag of frozen peas. Simmer with the lid on until ready to serve.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook one large bag of egg noodles.

Tuck into rich, hearty venison stew over a steamy bowl of egg noodles topped with fresh parsley.