Made some moose stew in the crock pot. It was absolutely delicious. There are lots of variations I play on this, and all of them are very simple and easy to make. My recipe today, good with any kind of lean game meat:
Slice roast into 3/4 inch steaks. Let sit until the chill of the refrigerator has left it, after about half an hour at room temp. (Meanwhile, prepare vegetables.) Iron skillet is nice for this at med. high heat. Pat steaks dry with paper towels before introducing them to the skillet and with just the barest of butter or lard or oil in the skillet, brown heavily on both sides, two or three at a time. Do not crowd skillet so as to rob it of heat.
After all the steaks are browned, remove them to the crock pot, set on low, and deglaze the skillet with about a half cup of dry red wine, such as merlot, reducing it by about 1/3rd in a med skillet, working it well with a wooden spatula until all the particles are loosened from the skillet. Pour skillet contents into crock pot. Add half a quart of home canned tomatoes, four white onions cut into eighths, four cloves of smashed garlic, two sweet bell peppers (I used one red one and one green one) cut into slices, and four peeled carrots cut in large pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
After about 7 hours, and while preparing the rest of the meal, add the remaining tomatoes. Meanwhile, prepare a modest roux to thicken the gravy by stirring together constantly a quarter stick of butter and a quarter cup of flour in an iron skillet for about ten minutes, until the color darkens and the roux gives off a nutty aroma. Set this aside to cool a bit and turn to the rice.
Mashed potatoes or pilaf? I went with pilaf today. Brown a cup of rice and two diced cloves of garlic in two tbs. of butter and two tbs of extra virgin olive oil, stirring it almost constantly as you did the roux, for about 5 minutes, until it gives off a nutty aroma. Add a cup of water, bring to boil, and simmer covered for twenty minutes.
While this is happening, turn crock pot to high, whisk in the roux to thicken the sauce, add a package of coarsely sliced portabella mushrooms and two 14.5 oz cans of canned green beans, drained. Set aside liquid in case gravy consistency needs adjusted. When stew returns to a light boil, adjust seasonings and gravy consistency if need be.
Set rice aside covered for 5 minutes while you squeeze out the juice of one lemon. Strain it over the rice, add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, and stir it all up with a fork prior to serving.
You can serve the stew over the pilaf if you wish, but I like them separate, because sometimes I want just a bite of one or the other.
Topic: Moose in a Crock Pot (Read 1166 times)
