21: Venison Stew Slow Cooked for 8 Hours / Rice

Yes, you want to make this recipe. Simple and delicious. This was the perfect recipe for today. I got up, prepped the ingredients, and then tossed everything in the crock pot on the low setting. You don't have to brown the meat or saute the veggies ahead of time. I then went on to have a very productive day, cleaning my room top to bottom, and going through all my random clutter in the living room and dining room. Needless to say, I was ready to eat.

Venison is a lean meat, low in fat, and incredibly tasty. Normally, I would make a venison steak with a five spice rub, seared to rare perfection, but I have this undying penchant for slow cooking meats during the winter. The subtle black licorice flavor of fennel, mild taste of leeks, and rich taste of portobello mushroom make this dish complete.

We paired this wine with a blend we made at a Winemaker for a Day Event at Sunset Hills Vineyard in Virginia. I must admit I am not the biggest fan of Virginia wines, but this was a really cool and enjoyable event. The vineyard brought us their 2009 grapes in bottles, although unfinished, so we could experiment with blending wine for a finished product much like they do at vineyards. After trying a few different combinations, we settled on this classic bordeaux mix: 65% cab franc, 10% merlot, 10% cab sauv, 10% petite verdot, and finished the wine out with 5% tannat. In other words, a perfect medium-bodied wine to complement a stew with complex and subtle flavors. Even the vineyard's owner was impressed with our blend.

Ingredients and Directions:

-1 lb ground venison

-4 to 6 small red potatoes, diced

-1 medium fennel bulb, sliced

-1 large portobello cap, destemmed, gills removed, and diced

-2 large leeks, sliced

-3 medium garlic cloves, sliced

-bouquet garni

-1 can creamy portobello mushroom soup (Yes, I cheated here.)

-1 cup water

-rice

-salt and pepper to taste

-minced parsley for garnish

Combine all ingredients, except bouquet garni, in a large bowl. Be sure to break down the meat because you do not want large chunks. You will have to break the meat down once or twice while it's cooking as well. Once ingredients are combined, add to crock pot with soup, water, bouquet garni, and salt and pepper. Set the crock pot to low, stirring every couple hours, and find something to do for eight hours. Cook rice as suggested on package to be completed at the same time as the 8 hour slow cooked stew.

Serve, garnish, and enjoy!