Seasonings and vegetables for venison stew?

[Cairycat]

Someone gave my husband a couple of small packages of venison, about a half pound each. One is ground venison, one is something labeled "butterfly". My plan was to brown the ground meat, and cube the "butterfly" meat and brown it too. I was thinking of using celery and carrots and mushrooms, and of course onion and garlic, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about other vegetables, which herbs and seasonings, and what liquid might work well.

Thanks!

[madrchsod]

1. i`d use milk and brown the meat with olive oil.

i cooked (oven) a baby back deer roast and i used milk. killed the wild taste and with the combo of veggies i used made a kick ass gravy. dam that`s making me hungry

[Cairycat]

2. Thanks! I've used sour cream before in venison stew

when the venison was cooked in broth and sour cream added to the juices. I wonder if buttermilk would work, or a mixture of buttermilk and regular milk (so it wouldn't be too tangy). Thanks for the suggestion!

[Arkansas Granny]

3. We made some venison stew not long ago. I like to use beef broth for the liquid.

For veggies we used potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onion, garlic and rutabaga. Parsnips and/or turnips would be good, also. We dumped in a package of frozen peas during the last few minutes of cooking. As far as herbs, I'm pretty sure we used rosemary, sage and thyme. I'm really bad (or good, depending how you look at it) about opening the spice drawer, sniffing the contents and adding a little bit of anything that smells like it would be good in the dish.

We've never had a problem with venison having a wild or gamy taste. You have to make sure that you remove any fat that might be on the meat before cooking. That seems to be what makes it gamy.

[Cairycat]

4. Thanks for the suggestions!

Had been thinking of turnips, and am glad to be reminded about peas.

I appreciate the ideas. Although, I figure, if we have some of the bread the 15-year-old has been baking, that will make up for most deficits the stew might have.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. If you have a 15 yo that bakes bread, I'd say you had it made.

[Cairycat]

11. He's my bonny baker!

Just need to figure out how to keep the momentum going!

[HopeHoops]

5. Bay leaves and rosemary would fall in the "essential" category.

[Cairycat]

12. Thanks for the suggestions! n/t

[oneshooter]

6. Venison has no edible fat on it. Thus you must add a source of fat or the

meat will come out dry. I generally use salt pork or bacon. This also adds another flavor to the dish.

[Cairycat]

13. I have some bacon fat saved

that I was planning on using. Thanks for the ideas!

[freshwest]

8. I was told that red wine was needed to marinate both the venison and the cook.

One person told me if anyhing is wrong with the venison, the wine the cook drinks while waiting to see how the roast comes out, will take care of it. And it sounded funny at the time. Not that I take that approach to cooking, but FWIW...

[Cairycat]

14. I'll bear that in mind!

[noamnety]

9. I posted this in one of the dinner threads

and I totally stole it from another DUer, but this recipe made with venison was amazing:

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/ss/how_to_meatball_tagine.htm

[Cairycat]

15. Omigosh, that looks wonderful

and totally do-able. Bookmarking that one. Thank you!

[GoCubsGo]

10. The the ones labeled 'butterfly' are steaks.

Too nice of a cut to chop up for stew, IMHO. You can marinade them with your favorite beef marinade and grill or pan-fry them like beef steaks. You'll probably want to use oil in your marinade since it's so lean. The ground can be used like ground beef. No need to brown if you make meatloaf.

Here are a bunch of venison recipes that might give you some ideas. There are lots more on the internet where these came from.

http://www.askthemeatman.com/recipes_deer_2.htm

[Cairycat]

16. Thanks for the link, and the clarification

on what the butterfly cut is. My revised plan is to augment the ground venison with some lean ground beef, and go ahead with the stew. The butterfly I'll hang onto a little longer and grill it when the weather warms up. I'm thinking that marinating it with a marinade containing olive oil, and/or cooking it on perforated foil, like I do with salmon, would work.

[GoCubsGo]

17. Sometimes the tenderloins are also butterflied.

You definitely wouldn't want to turn those into stew meat. That's the "prize" for most venison fans. You might want to have your husband check with the person who gave him the meat as to exactly what is in that parcel. It's probably steaks/chops from the loin (backstrap), and they're generally fairly tender compared to the cuts that became the ground meat. But, not quite as tender as the tenderloin.

Your husband has a really nice friend. I used to get whole deers before my life turned to shit. South Carolina has the longest hunting season in the country, basically no limits, and I know a few hunters. I could put in an order in case they got an extra deer. All I had to do was pay for the butchering. Most years, I had enough venison for a year. Hopefully, things will have settled down by the time the next hunting season comes around, because I sure do like venison. It makes great chili, and the steaks go great with sauteed mushrooms.