Venison-Stroganoff

I was lucky enough to get together with some great friends a while ago for dinner and I was in charge of the main course.  I didn't want to go to the store and spend a lot of money...so I turned to venison.   For those of you who enjoy my venison recipes (as I do) here is another one for your dinner table.

I love cooking this time of year.  A warm and comforting meal is so nice on a long and cold day.  I love to get home stoke the fire, put on some groovy music, change into something comfy and settle in the kitchen.  With venison in the freezer I have been trying to come up with new and tasty ways to use it and save a little money at the meat counter.  This recipe will not disappoint (in fact I even converted a non-venison eater with this meal) and can be adapted to the crock pot for those busy nights. 

Venison Stroganoff can be served over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.  With the warm meat, tender mushrooms and creamy sauce it is so delicious.  To make it you will need 1 pound of venison, 2 tablespoons of flour (for thickening the sauce), 1 8 oz. carton of sour cream, 2 teaspoons or 1 cube of beef bouillon, 1/2 cup of beef broth, 2 tablespoons of margarine, 1 carton of mushrooms (sliced), 1/2 of an onion (chopped), 1 clove of garlic (minced).  Please note:  I doubled the recipe because I was feeding a crowd.

First you need to cut the venison into strips.  If you slice the meat when it is still slightly frozen then this process goes really quickly and easily...

For the sauce you will mix together the flour, sour cream, beef bouillon and beef broth.  I also added 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper at this time and set aside...

Chop onion and mince garlic, set aside...

Melt butter over medium high heat and cook meat in two or three batches and set aside.  I like to season each batch of meat with a sprinkle of kosher salt.  Note:  If you cook it all at one time then it doesn't brown properly...

Once all of the meat is cooked through then add the onion, mushrooms and garlic to the same pan until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have cooked down...

Then add the meat and sour cream mixture to the mushroom and onions, heat through.  I added 1/2 teaspoon of parsley flakes for a little color at this point...



I served it over mashed potatoes with a slice of moist cornbread and it was awesome...



To make in the crock pot:  Add the sliced venison (you can brown it if you choose), mushrooms, chopped onion, garlic, beef broth and beef boullion in the crock pot and turn to low for 6-7 hours.  About 30 minutes before serving mix the sourcream, flour and black pepper in a bowl until smooth and add to the crock pot.  Let it warm and thicken for 30 minutes and serve...easy and delicious!!!

This is now one of my favorite venison recipes.  One of my friends didn't know it was venison until after we ate dinner and couldn't believe it because she is not a venison lover...well she is now...at least when it is in this stroganoff.  You could definitely use beef strips in the place of venison if you choose.  Sweet dinner-