By Chris Torborg
IG: @chris.torborg
If you are reading this you have repeatedly heard some form of the following statements about wild game:
- “My spouse does not like deer, its too gamey.”
- “Duck tastes like flying liver.”
- “Geese are good for one thing, dogfood.”
If you or a loved one has said a form of one of these statements, I have a solution for you – learn proper cooking techniques and the right recipes.
There are three root causes for wild game to not taste good:
1. Improper meat care
2. Overcooking
3. Not cooking it long enough.
This recipe covers braising meat which in turn solves problem #3. When you cook meat low and slow something magical happens, the muscles and connective tissue break down and meld into the flavors you surround them with. This recipe is a fool-proof way to make any wild game taste good enough for anybody to eat. And I mean ANYBODY, mother-in-laws included.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of wild game meat (deer, goose, duck, bear, elk) In this recipe I used Canada Goose
- 2 lbs red or fingerling potatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 large carrots (roughly ½ lb)
- 4 celery stalks (roughly ½ lb)
- 4 Tbsp butter or fat
- Salt and pepper
- McCormick’s Steak seasoning (sub. steak seasoning or seasoned salt)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups stock (Beef Stock)
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar Fresh rosemary Fresh thyme
- 1/3 cup of red wine
Directions
- Cut potatoes into roughly 1 inch cubes, dice onion, and chop carrots and celery. Place into slow cooker.
- Cut meat into 1″ cubes.
- Place the stew meat into a bowl and season with McCormick’s steak seasoning or seasoning of your choice (Lawry’s, Johnny’s, etc). While mixing, slowly add in flour until meat is thoroughly coated. Set aside.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and floured meat to the pan. Brown meat by stirring every few minutes until most of the meat turns brown and slightly crispy. Place browned meat in slow cooker.
- Once the meat is done browning, turn pan to low heat and wait a few minutes until pan cools down. Deglaze the pan with 2 cups of stock by stirring and scraping the pan with a spatula until all crispy flecks of meat are dissolved off the bottom of the pan and mixed in with the stock. Add Dijon, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and brown sugar to the skillet. Stir to combine the ingredients and make sure all bits from pan are dissolved into the stock. Add to slow cooker, and take care not to spill any of this liquid gold.
- Add additional 2 cups of beef stock, fresh Rosemary and Thyme to slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for roughly 6 hours, or on low for 10. Time is your friend here to ensure the meat is properly braised and tender. The stew is done when the pieces of meat are able to be shredded.
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