Dark Days Challenge: One Pot Meal
My surprisingly delicous stew: venison, turnip (& greens), potato and tomato.
I have to admit that I was not very excited about this meal. I’ve been thinking for a week about what I wanted to make for this one-pot meal challenge and nothing sounded good. A stew or chili seemed the most obvious (at least easiest) choice, but 1) I haven’t been in the mood and 2) I wanted to do something more exciting.
Well, here we are on Sunday, my big dark days cooking day and I had nothing. Add to that the fact that my back has been in spasm for a few days and I can’t stand for more than a few minutes without excruciating pain and, well, I thought I was just going to bypass the challenge entirely. And then it snowed a little and I was suddenly in the mood for a hearty stew.
The beauty of a stocked pantry: stew ingredients.
Since I can’t walk or stand, going to the market today was out of the question. So I foraged through my cupboards to find stew ingredients. I came up with some venison stew meat (okay, that was in the freezer); organic canned tomatoes (not local, but organic); local potatoes, shallots, butter, and garlic from the Maple Avenue Market; and local spice blend Nick’s All Purpose Seasoning and some cilantro I dried this summer. The Rappahannock Cellars wine was leftover from dinner last night. I sent Rick out to the garden to harvest some of our turnips and I had stew ingredients!
The result was a flavorful, hearty stew that completely made my stomach smile. I have to admit to have low expectations, probably because I don’t feel well and pulling this together felt very random. But I will make this stew again. The turnip was the key. It adding a tangy flavor, and the greens are divine. So horray! I made something for the first challenge challenge.
Incidentally, it takes a long time to chop meat and veggies when you have to take a break every few minutes to let the back spasms stop!
Recipe: Venison and Turnip Stew
Summary: a hearty and flavorful local winter stew.
Ingredients
- 2 shallots, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, put through a press
- 1 lb venison stew meat
- 1 Tbs butter
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 2 cups potato, cubed
- 1 cup turnip, cubed
- 1 14 oz can organic diced tomatoes
- 1 to 2 cups water
- 2 Tbs Nick’s All Purpose Seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbs cilantro
- 4 cups turnip greens, torn into bite sized pieces
Instructions
- In a stock pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and sauté until tender.
- Add the wine to deglaze the pot, and simmer until wine is reduced.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except for the turnip greens. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours, until potato and turnips are tender and the venison is cooked through.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed
- Add the turnip greens. When the greens are wilted, dish up and serve with your favorite hearty bread.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 2 hour(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
Copyright © Susan Rose.
This post is being share on Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.
2 Responses to Dark Days Challenge: One Pot Meal
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Nice stew! It is funny what a little snow can do to change your mind on certain things. Your garden turnips are beautiful too. I still have three left in our garden to pull.
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