Venison Stew

I’m always trying new things with all the deer meat that my husband brings in during the hunting season. This year we were fortunate enough to find a great meat processing and packaging plant where we could get some of the venison made into breakfast sausage, cubed steak and summer sausage.   I had lots of the venison cut into stew meat sized pieces (roughly 1 inch) and decided to try a new stew with it. It turned out great AND I had enough left over to freeze for a quick go to meal on a busy night. Here is how I did it:

• 1 pound of venison stew meat
• 1 pound of venison sausage
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large potato, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 12  brussel sprouts, quartered
• 2 – 14 ounce cans of Italian stewed tomatoes
• 1 – 15 ounce can of red kidney beans, drained
• 1 – 14 ounce can of enchilada sauce (I used mild)
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons of stone ground mustard
• 3 Tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon of ground cumin

Brown the stew meat in a skillet. You’re not going to cook it all the way through, just sear it. Cook the sausage all the way through and drain any fat. In the meantime, add potato, celery, carrots and brussel sprouts in a 6 – 7 quart crock pot. Once meat is cooked add it to the crock pot too. Now dump the cans of tomatoes, beans and enchilada sauce. Add onion, garlic, mustard, worcestershire sauce and cumin. Stir to incorporate everything. If the ingredients are exposed, add just enough water to barely cover everything. Cook on high for 2 hours (you looking for it to bubble around the edges). Turn to low and cook and additional 5 – 6 hours. Serve by ladling into bowls. I served with a dollop of sour cream on top and a spoon of salsa.