Low Carb Stew – Venison or Beef

Today’s post was punctuated by an interesting turn of events that got me thinking about the paradox of loving animals, while at the same time being a true meat eater. It’s a challenging moral dilemma for myself and I’m sure for lots of people. I do wrestle with it and do my best by using my dollars to purchase animals who I believe have been well and properly cared for.

I am working through the venison left in my freezer from my Brother-in-Law’s hunting trip last fall, as it is fall once again and there is a possibility (hint, hint) that more may arrive shortly. Some stewing meat presented the opportunity to try my first low carb stew. Stew itself doesn’t seem like it would be high carb, but it often contains starchy vegetables and is accompanied by even more starch in the way of dumplings (Steve hates those so not at my house) bread or mashed potato.

The stew was started early in the day since I actually won’t be home for dinner, and besides, stew tastes better when it is given an opportunity to rest.

Anyway, with my stew on the stove I went out for a quick dog walk and a stop at the grocery store. On the way home I drove past a woman, basically sort of sitting on an injured and likely dying deer at the side of the road. I was touched by the comfort that this woman was trying to give to this poor creature, really touched. I suppose no way is a good way to die but it seems so undignified when animals are left to die by the roadside, at least this one would pass in the company of another being.

It seemed ironic to me to be sad for a dying deer, while stewing one on the stove at the same time. The carnivorous paradox I think.

Ok, tragic story over but I do hope that for those of us who are consumers of meat that we remember to honour those who die so that we may eat today.

Honestly, I feel that way about my carrots too (maybe that’s weird).

Back in the door with the exercised dog, the stew was doing what stews do, making the house smell fantastic!

Though I did use a bit of carrot in the mirepoix for the stew, I kept it a pretty small quantity as carrots are pretty carby. Sweet=carby. I tried something new too. I had an enormous kohlrabi in my fridge and so I cut a few slices of that up into chunks and put it into the pot for the last 30 minutes. Looks just like potato but has less carb. Win for me.

I usually keep my stews pretty simple because the big man doesn’t really like stew, or at least that is what he claimed until I started making it. The secret used to be beer and horseradish, now it will have to just be horseradish as the beer too has too much carb. Boy oh boy, who would have thought that a dish that appears to be just a bowl of meat would be hiding so many carbs?!

Honestly, I doubt he’ll notice the difference. The part he never liked was the dumplings, which I never had with stew as a kid so would never have done anyway. Sometimes we just get stuff into our little pea brains. Oops, did I just call my husband a pea-brain. No-I-did-not.

I use a pretty kick ass horseradish, which adds a tiny bit of extra carb, but also a nice bite to balance out the sweetness of the veggies.

Because I was using venison, my meat was just barely browned and I only stewed it for about 2 hours so as not to make it tough. Though stewing usually makes meats more tender, venison is very low in fat and I was concerned about drying it out. The timing was perfect.

Low Carb Venison Stew

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4

Author: www.miasdailydish.com

A warm, delicious and simple stew using venison.

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Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp ghee butter or other healthy cooking fat
• 2 lb venison stewing cubes
• Salt and pepper
• 1/3 C onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 50 g carrot about 1/4 cup chopped or 1 small carrot
• 40 g pancetta or bacon diced
• 2 sticks celery
• 200 g kohlrabi cut into 3/4" cubes
• 1 1/2 C beef bone broth
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp stewing herbal blend
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1/4 tsp xanthin gum to thicken

Instructions

1. In large heavy dutch oven, heat cooking fat over medium-high heat. Season meat with salt and pepper.
2. Brown meat, in batches if needed. Do not crowd your meat or it will not brown. Once browned, remove to a bowl or plate.
3. Add pancetta to pot and cook until just beginning to brown.
4. Adding additional fat to pot if needed, gently sauté onion, carrot, celery and carrot until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
5. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Do not allow garlic to burn
6. Return meat to pot. Add broth, spices, tomato past and horseradish. Bring to a simmer and cover the pot.
7. Simmer 1 1/2 hours, add the kohlrabi. Continue to cook, about 30 minutes, until the kohlrabi is tender.
8. To thicken the broth if required, sprinkle half of xanthan gum over stew and stir until thickened. If needed add the other half. Do not use too much or it will become a slimy texture, rather than nicely thickened!

Recipe Notes

You can use another thickener, such as corn starch, but this will add considerable carbs to the dish.