Elk stew & Barrister red

Holidays brought us some wonderful gifts from family. We try not to collect too many “things”, instead we love it when our family gives us “experiences”, and they managed to deliver a great one this year. A bottle of wine from Washington State, a package of frozen elk meat, and we were set for a wonderful evening at home. Elk may not be something normally associated with wine, since its hard to come by, but we have been experimenting with different pairings, and this presented us with another interesting challenge.

To really bring out the flavors of the elk, I went with a variation on a slow cooked “hunting camp” venison stew. Tomatoes, vegetables, and a handful of spices and hot peppers, simmered for hours created a hearty stew with deep, earthy flavors and enough heat on the tongue to give it a bit of a bite. With a loaf of homemade bread fresh out of the oven, it was a warm, comforting meal, perfect for a quiet night at home recovering from the holidays. We paired it with a bottle of “Rouge Justice”, a red blend from Barrister Winery in Washington state. The wine went well with the stew: combining earth and fruit notes in equal measure to create a rich flavor, with the somewhat subdued cherry flavors brought out against the spice of the stew.

As holiday gifts go, these couldn’t have been much better. An evening of good food and good wine. Its too bad that we couldn’t share it with those who gave us the gifts, but at least we can share the story.

Elk Stew (from Classic Tex-Mex and Texas Cooking by Sheryn R. Jones, Cookbook Resources, LLC, 2005)
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, roughly chopped, with juice
2 cups beef broth
2 to 3 lbs venison, cubed
Bacon drippings or vegetable oil
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 hot peppers, seeded & chopped
4 potatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
4 large carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped

-Pour the tomatoes and beef broth into a large stew pot over medium heat.
-In a large skillet, brown the meat in the bacon drippings. Pour the meat and juices to the stew pot.
-Add the spices and hot peppers. Bring the stew to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 2 or 3 hours.
-Add the potatoes, onions and carrots and cook on low heat for another 1 or 2hrs.
-Add celery about 15 to 20 minutes before serving.