Ground Venison Casserole

Diann is Cooking's Note:

Amounts are approximate. Good lean ground venison is both healthful and apparently sustainable! For root vegetables I recommend a combination of turnip, celeriac and parsnip. For mushrooms I recommend ordinary white or baby bella.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• ¾ lb root vegetables
• 1 head garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 lb ground venison
• ¼ lb mushroom
• 4 stalks hearts of palm
• 1 dozen stalk asparagus
• 1 bell pepper
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• ground black pepper
• Italian spices
• fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. Chop the root vegetables into roughly bite-sized chunks. Roast the root vegetables together in the oven after coating lightly with about a teaspoon of the oil. Roast with the rosemary and some ground pepper for about 40 minutes at 350°F, or until at a good eating texture.
2. While roasting, remove most of the outer paper peel on the garlic, coat lightly with a few drops of the oil, then wrap in foil and roast in the same oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes. Keep both this and the ingredients of the previous step warm.
3. In a saute pan, place the rest of the oil and heat to moderate on your range top. Add the mushrooms and the ground venison, being sure to break up chunks and stir often. Add the sauce and seasonings including more ground pepper. You may add the bell pepper here, too; I just simply prefer it al dente.
4. Simmer and stir until the mushrooms are cooked and the venison has just turned no longer pink. (You may add more Worcestershire sauce if the mixture is not moist enough enough.)
5. Mix into a casserole dish with the roasted garlic - squeeze it so that the garlic pulp comes out, and discard the rest of the head. Mix in the root vegetables, and then the asparagus (broken into bite sized pieces), hearts of palm (sliced crossways) and the bell pepper (de-seeded and chopped) if you not have already added the latter.
6. Immediately bake at 350°F for approximately ten minutes, and enjoy.
7. If you've prepped this earlier for heating as a casserole later, yes, you'll need to cook this final stage longer.

Reviews

[Sagadahoc]

I love the combination of vegetables alongside venison in this recipe, a surprising mix. I roasted the root veggies a day in advance and reheated. Also baked everything in the oven for 15 mins at the end to ensure that the asparagus, etc cooked. Unfortunately, the venison dried out a bit, but the veg of every kind were perfect. (Also unfortunate, I was interrupted 3x by phone calls about a tenant crisis - god, I hate being a landlady! -so I was distracted from testing it regularly.) Anyway, I wonder if there is some way to juice it with some sauce at this point other than just adding Worcestershire. The for stars may be an underestimate due to operator error - I will make this again without significant amendment. Than you Diann.