Venison Stew with Suet Dumplings

Venison Stew is rich, comforting, warming and utterly satisfying. In short, it’s just what’s needed at this time of year, with Autumn turning to Winter.

Even better, cook some traditional, fluffy Suet Dumplings on top of the stew and let them soak up all that tasty, meaty flavour.

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Autumn and Winter is the traditional season for game. That’s because the animals have finished breeding and rearing their young and so the ‘closed season’, when most shooting is not allowed, comes to an end.

Happily, that coincides with exactly the time when I crave warming comfort food like Venison Stew with Suet Dumplings.

VENISON

According to the excellent Eat the Seasons, meat from deer has been important since prehistoric times. I was interested to learn that the word ‘venison’, now meaning deer meat, originally referred to meat from any wild animal, coming from the Latin venari – to hunt.

If you’ve no objection to shooting, then venison is a good, ethical choice. Most of it in the UK is ‘free range’ and not intensively farmed. But if in doubt, ask your supplier.

Personally, I’m not overly fond of a very strong gamey flavour. If you feel the same way, then you should give venison a try as it’s relatively mild. The flavour is very like good beef, and you can cook it in similar ways too.

VENISON STEW

Venison Stew is a classic and very easy to make.

You can cook it in a low oven or on top of the stove for 2-3 hours, in a slow cooker, or in a pressure cooker. I make the stew in my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker where the venison takes around 40 minutes to get meltingly tender. In the recipe at the end of this post I’ve given instructions for cooking the Venison Stew in the oven and in an Instant Pot.

As venison is a lean meat, I think the stew benefits from some added fat.

For me, this is in the form of chunky, smoked bacon pieces or lardons. Besides adding richness to the gravy, I love the light smokiness it imparts.

The other main ingredients you’ll need are: onion, celery, carrot, garlic and beef stock. Try to use a low salt stock if you can as the bacon may be quite salty. This also means that, if you need to reduce the sauce at the end, the stew won’t be overloaded with salt.

For my Venison Stew I’ve included the traditional flavourings of bay leaves and juniper berries. These add a subtle perfume, but you can leave them out if you prefer.

SUET DUMPLINGS

You can serve the finished stew just as it is, or maybe with mashed or baked potatoes, bread, rice or other grain. But I like to cook some herby dumplings on top of the Venison Stew. This recipe makes a fabulous tasting gravy, and the outside of the dumplings will take up all that meaty flavour. Inside, they’ll be soft and fluffy with a hint of herbs. Chives, in this case.

If you’ve never made dumplings before, don’t worry. They’re dead simple and take just a matter of minutes to put together.

Traditionally, dumplings are made with beef suet which is the fat around the outside of kidneys.

As a child, I remember Mum occasionally getting big, white, fresh lumps of it from the butcher. She’d grate it into seasoned, self-raising flour and add a little water before forming the mix into dumplings. But, more often, she’d get the suet from a bold red, yellow and blue box of Atora.

I use Atora in my dumplings too. It’s very easy as it comes in little pellets, dusted in flour to stop it sticking together. It has a long shelf life, so it’s worth keeping some in the cupboard.

As well as dumplings, suet makes a delicious, rich pastry for meat pies. I use it in my Homemade Christmas Mincemeat too. Actually, I’ve even been known to throw a handful around a joint of beef if it’s not produced quite enough fat for making roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings AND gravy.

If you don’t want to use beef suet, substitute grated butter or lard. I personally wouldn’t use vegetable suet. Apart from the lack of flavour, it will almost certainly contain environmentally disastrous palm oil.

COOKING THE DUMPLINGS

Once the Venison Stew is cooked, all you do is pop the dumplings on top of the gently simmering stew. Put a lid on and leave for 20 minutes. Take the lid off and you’ll find fluffy clouds bobbing about temptingly. However, I can’t help periodically taking a few peeps under the lid to see how things are going. Naughty.

I’m sure you can cook dumplings in a pressure cooker without them exploding, but I haven’t been brave enough to try yet. So, after making the stew in my Instant Pot, I transfer it to a casserole on top of the stove to get the dumplings bubbling away.

SERVING VENISON STEW WITH SUET DUMPLINGS

To make a balanced meal, you can include in the stew chunks of vegetable such as carrot, parsnip, swede, mushrooms etc. However, apart from the finely chopped vegetables which are really there to flavour the gravy, I prefer to sauté or steam any accompanying vegetables separately. Dark leaves like kale or cavolo nero are particularly good, also broccoli.

The stew freezes well, so it’s worth making a bigger batch if you can. For me, that’s another reason not to add vegetable chunks. I find, after freezing, cooked veg is just too soggy for my taste.

The dumplings won’t keep, so you’ll have to scoff them all straight away. But that’s no problem in our house.

The stew itself will come to no harm in the fridge or freezer. In fact, like many stews, I think this Venison Stew is even better reheated the next day.

As I write this, appropriately enough during Great British Game Week, the weather has turned bitterly cold and there’s drizzle in the air. As Autumn turns icily into Winter, you really need to grab a spoon and dig in to this rich, comforting, warming and utterly satisfying Venison Stew with fluffy Suet Dumplings.

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Venison Stew with Suet Dumplings

Rich, comforting, warming and utterly satisfying Venison Stew. Instructions given for slow cooking in the oven or for making in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. Best served with fluffy Suet Dumplings cooked on top where they'll have taken up some of the tasty, meaty gravy.

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Keyword venison stew, stew, game

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g fatty smoked bacon lardons/diced
• 10 g butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• salt & black pepper
• 1 kg stewing venison in large chunks
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 large carrot finely chopped
• 1 stick celery finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 700 ml beef stock (low salt if possible)
• 6 dried juniper berries lightly bruised with the back of a spoon
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

FOR THE DUMPLINGS

• 150 g self raising flour
• pinch salt
• 75 g shredded beef suet or grated lard or butter
• 1 tbsp herbs e.g. chives, parsley, thyme, rosemary (optional) finely chopped
• cold water

Instructions

1. In a large frying pan (or using the Saute function on an Instant Pot [IP] electric pressure cooker), heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil.
   

2. When the oil is hot, add the smoked bacon pieces and cook until well browned (approx 10 min).
   

3. Remove the bacon from the pan or IP, leaving the fat behind.

   If cooking the stew in the oven

   transfer the bacon to a casserole dish and preheat the oven to 140 C/ 120 Fan / Gas 1

   If using an IP transfer the bacon to a plate.

4. Add the butter to the frying pan or IP and heat it.
   

5. In a large container, season the flour sparingly with salt & plenty of black pepper. Tip in the venison chunks and stir/shake until the meat is lightly coated in flour.
   

6. In batches, brown the meat all over in the oil and butter. Transfer the browned venison to the casserole dish or plate to join the bacon. Add more olive oil as you go if needed.
   

7. When all the meat has been browned and set aside, add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the fat. Season with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Saute, stirring regularly, until softening and starting to brown (10-15 min).
   

8. If cooking the stew in the oven
   

   Transfer the softened vegetables to the casserole dish with the bacon and browned meat. De-glaze the frying pan with 200ml of the beef stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Tip it all into the casserole dish, along with the rest of the beef stock, the juniper berries and bay leaves. Stir well.

   Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove then put in the preheated oven with a tight fitting lid on. Cook until the venison is very tender (2-3 hours). Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
   

   If using an IP

   Pour all of the beef stock into the IP, over the vegetables. Stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the juniper berries, bay leaves, the browned bacon and venison.

   Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button, lock on the IP lid and make sure the lever is pointing to 'Sealing'. Press the Manual button then use the + / - buttons to set the time to 40 minutes.

   Leave until the time has elapsed and the indicator has counted down to zero. Switch off and leave until the pressure has naturally released. Switch the lever to 'venting' then carefully remove the lid. If the venison is not completely soft, cook for a further 5 minutes then check again. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

   NOTE stew can be cooled then refrigerated or frozen at this stage.

FOR THE DUMPLINGS

1. When the stew is cooked, take a bowl and add the flour, a pinch of salt, the suet and herbs if using. Stir together with a round-bladed knife.
   

   Sprinkle a few tablespoons of cold water over the mixture, then bring it together into a soft dough, first using the knife then your hands. Add more water if needed.

   Roll into 8 dumplings.
   

2. If cooking in the oven (or reheating on top of the stove)

   With the stew at a low simmer, drop in the dumplings, replace the lid, and leave to cook for 20 minutes either in the oven or on top of the stove.

   If using an IP I recommend transferring the stew to a casserole dish or saucepan and cook the dumplings in the oven or on top of the stove as above.
   

3. When the dumplings are cooked, sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve the stew and dumplings in bowls, with extra vegetables if liked.
   

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