Crock Pot Venison Stew With Bacon and Mushrooms

mary winecoff's Note:

I read some of the recipes off of the recipe forum about unusual meats. Now I have a cookbook from Alaska that will tell you how to cook just about anything but this is a recipe that someone might actually use! I serve this with white or brown rice or buttered egg noodles. It comes from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook"

• Total Time: 8 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 lbs venison stew meat, trimmed of fat, tenderized by pounding and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• salt and pepper
• 2 slices smoky bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, cut in half and sliced into half moons
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup dry red wine or 2/3 cup dry sherry
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can beef broth
• 12 ounces fresh mushrooms (sliced or quartered)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Season the venison with salt and pepper.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp; transfer to paper towels and crumble.
3. Add the oil to the bacon drippings and brown the meat in batches on all sides, about 10 minutes total.
4. Transfer to the slow cooker as you finish each batch.
5. Add the onion, carrots and garlic to the skillet and cook. stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with the flour, stir and transfer to the cooker.
7. Add the wine to the skillet, bring to a boil and cook, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pan, until the wine has thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Pour into cooker.
9. Add the bay leaf, thyme and broth; stir to evenly distribute.
10. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours.
11. Add the mushrooms and crumbled bacon and stir to combine.
12. Cover and continue to cook on LOW until the venison is tender enough to cut with a fork, another 3 hours.
13. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the vinegar.
14. Serve.

Reviews

[Shirls in SA]

This was totally delicious. For once, I followed the recipe exactly. I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans.

[PatinWaukesha]

We were given an elk shoulder roast and wasn't sure how to cook it. Found this recipe and gave it a try. The only thing I did differently was added a can of diced tomatoesand some Penzey's Northwoods seasoning. At the end I pulled the meat off the bone (like I would pull a pork shoulder) and added it back in with the veggies & liquid. This created more of a ragu. I then added cooked wide noodles. It was very good!

[BLUE ROSE]

Looking for a different way to make Venison I picked this recipe.

Wow did I pick a winner! We all loved the flavor of this. Because I did not have smokey bacon I added some smoke flavor to this.

Can't wait to make this dish for my parents who grew up on venison. Wow are they going to be surprised with this one.

Thank you for posting this recipe for us to try.