Doc’s Venison
Stew With Carl’s Final Touch
Prologue:
This recipe evolved over many generations of our San Francisco
family and was perfected in its final form by my father.
It was taught to me by my mother some time after my father’s
death and first documented by me in 1986. It’s influenced
by our Italian ancestry using locally harvested California
Coastal Black Tail deer meat. Black, White and Mule Tail
deer meat may be substituted with equal success.
If you harvested a rut buck or didn’t properly field dress
and age your deer meat, then we suggest you use beef, veal
or lamb meat instead to assure a palatable outcome. Or use
your bad venison meat, then drink the broth and feed the
cooked meat to your mut.
Quality, fresh ingredients are a must for gastronomic success.
Ingredients (vary relative proportions
to individual circumstances or taste):
- 2 lbs. venison, with all bones, fat and tendons removed,
cut up into bite-sized stew chunks. Though venison is far
more lean than beef or lamb, the reason for removing all
of the fat from the meat is that the fat imparts the wild,
gamey taste which some folks don’t like. If you follow
this recipe, the meat will not be dry.
- 1 or 2 large yellow onions, chopped.
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
- Olive oil.
- 2 28-oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes, cut up. Fresh oblong
Italian tomatoes are preferable if available, with skins
removed and cut up.
- 1 28-oz. can tomato sauce.
- 4 or 5 medium-sized carrots, cut up diagonally
- 2 or 3 large celery stalks, cut up.
- ½ lb. Fresh green beans, cut up (optional).
- ¾ cup quality burgundy red wine.
- Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
- Corn starch or flour to thicken juice (optional).
- ½ head cabbage, coarsely chopped (Carl’s German touch)
(optional)
Cooking:
- Use cast-iron dutch oven for best results.
- Brown venison in olive oil over high heat, being careful
not to cook through. Remove meat and juice from pan and
set aside.
- Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until clear,
being careful not to burn.
- Add garlic to onion and continue cooking for 1 or 2 minutes.,
again being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add back the meat and meat juice.
- Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, celery, green beans
(optional), wine and seasoning. Bring to boil, then simmer
covered for approximately 2 hours or until meat is tender.
- Dissolve 1 to 3 tbl. spns. corn starch or flour in small
quantity of the stew juice, gradually adding more juice
to the mixture until it becomes fairly thin, not lumpy,
then stir briskly into pot to thicken juice to desired
consistency (optional).
- Add cabbage and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until tender.
Serve with polenta and freshly grated Parmisan
cheese.
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