People ask me what is the best meal you ever had or tasted. I explained that the best meal ever experienced is not only the food on the plate but it encompasses the entire experience. Hiking back into camp after a long day’s elk hunt and pulling the Dutch Oven outta the coals, smelling, seeing, and tasting, that elk stew; don’t get much better than that!
Be sure to check out Chef Wutsch’s Blog on Dutch Oven Cooking
We use RecTec pellet smokers/grills for all of our outdoor cooking and all of our wild game is processed using Made With Meat equipment.
Recipe by Chef Lance Lewis
Ingredients:
- 2-3 lbs Venison Stew Meat Cubed
- ½ c Oil
- ½ c Flour
- 2 pkg French Onion Soup Mix
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Caraway Seed
- 1 tsp Thyme
- 1 T Garlic Powder
- 1 c Onion Diced
- 1 pt Pearl Onions
- ¼ c Balsamic Vinegar
- ¼ c Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 qt Beef Broth
- 1-2 lbs New Potatoes
Method:
Remove all fascia off meat, cube meat.
Combine dry ingredients.
Dice onion, peel pearl onions.
In large bowl, toss cubed meat in dry flour spice blend.
Heat the Dutch Oven using all your charcoal beneath.
Add part of the oil and sear, brown the meat in batches, remove and place on inside of Dutch Oven lid.
Once all meat has browned, add the onions, add the meat back, add the wet ingredients, and potatoes.
Place lid on Dutch Oven, remove half the charcoal from underneath and place on top of the lid.
Check every 20 minutes and rotate the lid.
The Meat should be tender within 1 hour to 1 ½ hours.
Serve smoking hot with dollop of horseradish sour cream, chopped chives, and toast points.
Substitutions:
Use Antelope, Caribou, or Moose, remember venison is generic for any member of the deer family.
Use all diced onion or all leeks in place of pearl onions.
Use large dice potatoes instead of baby potatoes.
Substitute dumplings for the potatoes.
Use dark beer in place of vinegar or Worcestershire, or just add dark beer.
Use 1 tsp Rec Tech Freakin Greek Rub for S&P
Cooking options:
Leave the meat in one large muscle and braise the dish. To lessen cooking time try using a pressure cooker. If using whole shanks, lengthen the cooking time to 2-3 hours and add more liquid.
Notes: Use approximately 20-25 charcoal briquettes for a 12” Dutch Oven.
