venison or beef stew.

Since the weather has turned chilly in the last few weeks, I've had a serious hankering for stew. Lucky for me, my dad hunts and is generous with the contents of his freezer, so I made venison stew to kick off autumn right. You could easily use beef instead, but if you're lucky enough to have venison around, try it in stew.

{Chop up some celery, carrots and onion. This has a fancy name, which I believe is: mirepoix.}

{And again, mirepoix, but set aside some of the onions. You'll thank me later.}

{Brown the meat, and don't you dare get rid of the drippings.}

{Throw the meat in the pot with the mirepoix and toss the extra onions on the pan to cook in the juice. Once they've cooked a bit, deglaze the pan with beer or wine. Take a swig of the beer or wine too ... obviously.}

{Chop up some other veg. I'm rather partial to parsnips and potatoes.}

{Gather up whatever herbs you'd like.}

{If you're not looking to fish out stems from your herbs, tie them into a cheesecloth bundle. This also has a fancy name, which is: bouquet garni, or so I'm told.} 

{Throw everything in a pot and add bay leaves if you happened to forget to put them in the bouquet garni.}

{Throw everything into a pot or slow cooker with some brother or water and cook for a couple of hours, or longer. Be sure to add some salt and pepper, and some peas near the end.}

{Eat with some type of bread if you want. I like cornbread (recipe next week) with butter on it.  Because is there anything better than dipping a warm piece of buttered bread into a warm bowl of something? No, no, there is not. Also, be sure and fish the bouquet garni and the bay leaves out of the stew. A plopping cheese cloth bundle is not pretty and those bay leaves? They will cut you!}