How To Make a Hearty Stew

Hearty baked venison stew with cornbread baked in a pan. Click on any photo to enlarge.

I just talked to my sister up north and she said they're expecting 10-18" of snow tonight and tomorrow, that they'd already gotten a couple of inches this afternoon. They had over a foot on the ground to start with. Somebody call Al Gore, we want him to know that global warming has missed us here in Michigan!

On a night like this, a good stew and some cornbread sticks to the ribs, as the old saying goes. In under an hour, you should be able to get a stew in the oven, get the cornbread mixed and bake it when your stew is almost done.

This really isn't a recipe, but it's a guide to making a good stew. And as for the cornbread, stay away from the mixes and go get some good yellow cornmeal in the round box, and treat yourself to a small cast iron frying pan, and make it by a recipe, then bake it the way good southern cooks have been doing for a couple hundred years: there's nothing like the crust of cornbread when it's made in a frying pan....mmmmm! It's crunchy on the outside and PERFECT on the inside!!

Okay, so here's what you do before you begin to cook:

Gather your stuff
*potatoes chopped into medium chunks, peeled or just washed and chunked, your choice!
*onions
*celery (if you like it, if not leave it out!)
*carrots
*venison or beef stew meat
*flour
*seasoned salt
*vegetable, corn or canola oil
*gravy mix or beef boullion cubes

First, brown the beef in oil once you've coated each piece in flour that has been mixed with a teaspoon or more of seasoned salt (to taste). Brown each piece on its own, and get it nice and brown, no mamby pamby lightly browned stew meat will do. You want those crispy bits that come from a nicely browned piece of beef. So brown it past the "normal" brown.

Next, peel and chunk up your onion, throw that in the pan.

Brown the meat and onion chunks together....then drain them all on paper towel while you brown the next vegetables.

Next, chunk up your carrots and celery, (it's not necessary to peel the carrots if you scrub them and dry them....chop them chunky and irregular, we want the rugged look). Brown the celery and carrots thoroughly.

***NOTE: I burnt my face once throwing carrots that had been washed into the pan, the water hit the hot oil and flew up and hit me near the eye...if you wash the carrots, please dry them BEFORE you throw them in the pan!

Once the celery and carrots have browned, remove them to the paper towel and drain the oil from the pan, leaving the crispy bits in there. Deglaze the pan, and stir in the gravy mix and water, or the boullion and water. I use a couple boullion because the potatoes will need it while they cook. Thicken gravy with flour if you did not use gravy mix, and make sure that you have extra liquid as the potatoes will soak up some liquid while they cook.

Once the gravy is made, then put all the meat, vegetables and gravy into an enamel roaster to put into the oven. You could use a crock pot, too but it will need longer to cook, and the stew makes better gravy in a roaster pan. Before you put the lid on, add some coarsely ground pepper and a little seasoned salt or any other favorite seasoning you like (I like Morton's Nature's Seasons!).

Bake at 350-375 for 1-1/2-2 hours, watching to make sure you don't lose too much of the liquid, if you do think it looks dry add some water and stir.

Assemble and then bake your cornbread after the first hour and have a great supper!

OFFICIAL FARMHOUSE FOOD!