Wild Venison Goulash

Yesterday was another cold clear day - the kind that winter should be made of...it was fresh and healthy  and we need far more of them. With the cold here, often comes some level of damp - which is in itself not a great way to be at any time of the year.

Thus our greater need for warm, nourishing foods such as soups and stews. I make no secret of the fact that I love to make them and equally enjoy eating them. Give me a good stew any day and I am quite satisfied I have eaten plenty and had all the goodness contained within.

Perhaps that is the main reason why I like making them so much - they are so versatile and you can get all your vegetables in one meal into a well organized pot of stew. With this in mind (and to have something different on our plates) I decided to make a Wild Venison Goulash.

For our purposes here, the main difference between goulash and stew (there aren't many!) is that a goulash would usually contain noodles of some kind and maybe less vegetables. To make a meal using venison, it also would have to be marinated and slow cooked.

Starting with 1 kg of diced venison, I simply added it (rolled in spelt flour) to the slow cooker with about 5 onions, lemon juice, crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and several bay leaves. This I left on high to begin cooking while I added 2 cups of boiling water.

The key here to a nice taste is probably the onion (mixture of shallots and onions) and garlic - there are lots added and the meat gets to cook all day in these juices. After a few hours I added in some, but not too much, carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin and turnip. Just enough to notice there were vegetables in there.

Again I left the slow cooker on for a couple more hours, only this time I turned it down to a low heat setting. Once I was satisfied the goulash was cooked - I added 1 cup of noodles. I would have preferred to make them myself, however, next time I hope to be able to do that.

Within about 1/2 hour, the goulash was ready - at this point you can add some fresh goat's yogurt to the pot or even to individual bowls once it is served. But my children usually like this dish plain - and it was enjoyed all the same, very much so!

It's an easy meal to make and a nice change from an ordinary stew....

April

Wild Venison Goulash