It's that time of year. The leaves are changing color and starting to drop from the trees. The nights are cooler - good sleeping weather. Now that the rain has stopped falling, at least for now, the daylight hours are more pleasant with even a little sunshine now and then.
It is the time of year that I start craving homemade soups and stews. I treated myself to a venison stew a couple of days ago. I don't often get venison. Not like I did when I lived in the north woods and had hunters still living at home. So venison is a treat for me.
I had one jar of canned venison left on the shelf. A couple of years ago I had canned potato cubes, carrot chunks and peas together in quart jars. Into the pot they all went. Tossed in some chopped onion and some beef broth along with seasonings. Let it simmer on the back burner for about an hour. Put a pan of biscuits in the oven and thickened the stew a bit. The result was a meal fit for a king.
Last evening I heated up the leftover stew. Can't recall what else I was doing at the time, but the stew stayed in the pan longer than it should have without being stirred. Sure enough. It was scorched. I am not good at multi-tasking.
I don't like to waste anything, so I dished up the scorched stew over the leftover biscuits anyway. It was delicious.
You just can't wreck a good venison stew, no matter how hard you try.
Opus 2024-395: Built, Not Chosen
2 hours ago
Sometimes the burned part is the best part.
ReplyDeleteFurry Bottoms...I think you're right! My Dad made peanut brittle every Christmas. About half the time he would scorch it. And that's when the peanut brittle tasted the best.
ReplyDeleteRain?? I don't think we had any here. Stew is always good, the beef gets pricy. I have talked about using chicken, or pork and I get that deer in the head lights look from family.
ReplyDeleteRob...Should have been more clear. I was thinking about the cold rainy days last week.
ReplyDeleteBeef is spendy and I only buy it when it is on sale, but then I buy lots, cut it into cubes and can it. It's really good in soups or stews.
I used to can chicken, but now only can chicken breast when it is on sale. I get more bang for a buck with canning turkey. And Cub once in a while has pork loin for a good price. Last time they did I bought 6 full pork loins. Half I canned in large pieces for roast pork. The rest I canned in 1-inch cubes for soup or stew or BBQ pork sandwiches. Both the turkey and pork make really good soup or stew. Sometimes I'll make dumplings with them and sometimes have the stews over biscuits. I'd bet that if your family would just try a turkey or pork stew, they might like it.
Venison stew is the reason the U.S. is the greatest nation ever. Anyone that doesn't realize the distinction is probably a vegan and will soon be blown away by a strong cold front....and the coyotes will mourn their lack of a good meal.
ReplyDeleteJess...Sometimes your comments cause tears of laughter. And you are absolutely right. Anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of a venison stew hasn't lived. They've just existed.
ReplyDeleteI love stew in the winter. Having a big crock pot of stew makes me feel secure and cozy. I suppose that's crazy but it's true.
ReplyDeleteHarry...Well, if that's crazy, then we are both nuts. I don't know what it is , but there is just something about a big pot of stew that says "home."
ReplyDelete