Stew for those colder Fall nights

Well, I don't know about where you are, but here at home the nights are getting pretty chilly outside! It's so nice to finally have some crisp, cool air to make us forget about those sweltering summer days! We had some leftover stew meat in the freezer before all the new venison got added to the mix, so we decided to try out a new recipe I have in my new cookbook I got from a friend for my birthday! You can find the cookbook here! I must admit, I have already sat down and began to read this cookbook like a book! It is chalked full of great ideas for almost anything you want/need in your kitchen! So, thanks to Martha Storey (author) and her friends, we got to work on her venison stew! Again, if you don't have wild game meat on hand you can always substitute it for whichever stew meat tickles your fancy!

Here are the ingredients we decided to use:
1/2 c (+ 3 TBS) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 lbs. venison coast (cut into 1 inch cubes) or ready to go stew meat
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 c boiling water
1 bay leaf
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 lg onion, diced (recipe calls for 12 small whole onions cut into chunks but we both prefer onions in our stew a little smaller) 
5-6 small carrots thin sliced, (recipe calls for 6 medium carrots, cut into chunks but I'm not a carrot person)
1/2 c of cold water
1 lg. green pepper diced (again it called for 2 large green peppers cut into rings...I don't like a lot of "chunky" vegetables in my stew)
3 small potatoes sliced into rounds, then quarter each round (we added this)
Note: We left out the frozen package of lima beans (again...not a fan)

Here's what you're going to do with all these fantastic ingredients:
1) Mix the 1/2 c flour with the salt and pepper. Take the meat and cover (dredge) the meat in the flour mixture. Make sure each piece is coated on all sides. Place the coated pieces aside on a plate.
2) We used a large skillet and added the 1/4 c of vegetable oil, then browned the meat on all sides.

3) Add the boiling water and bay leaf to the skillet with the meat. Cover it up and let it simmer for about 30 minutes!
4) Discard the bay leaf and add the bouillon cubes. (NOTE: We added 2 cubes to the water that we were boiling and then added one more cube after we put it all in the skillet.)
5) After it has simmered for half an hour add the onions and carrots (and potatoes if you so wish). 
6) Simmer for another 45 minutes or so. I think we left ours on there about an hour!
7) Serve in a bowl and ENJOY!

We left out a part of the original recipe where you remove the meat and vegetables and thicken the sauce with the left-over flour and cold water. We wanted more of "liquid soup" instead of something thick! It turned out just as hearty and we both loved it!

You'll see in the picture which I forgot to add that when we added the vegetables 

we added a can of fire roasted tomatoes to give it a kick. 

And seriously...I couldn't make stew without adding tomatoes :)

I hope ya'll had a great weekend! 

December will be here in just a few short days, and I can't wait to cookin'!!

~Happy Eating~

 

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