September Venison Stew

A flavorful dish with last season's venison and fresh herbs from the garden, that can be served "thin" as soup or "thickened" and served as stew.

• 3 lbs venison cut into small pieces (stew meat)
• 3 quarts water
• 1 pint home canned tomatoes
• 4 large potatoes (cut into chunks)
• 3 stalks celery (diced)
• 1 1/4 cup carrots (diced)
• 1 large onion (diced)
• 2 small garden fresh jalapeno peppers (sliced like onion rings)
• 2 garlic cloves (diced)
• 1 large sprig fresh parsley (removed from stem and chopped)
• 4 sprigs fresh Italian oregano (6 inches long - leaves removed from stems and chopped)
• 3 fresh sweet basil leaves (chopped)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp salt
• olive oil

CAUTION: The small, young, garden fresh jalapenos are mild and add flavor and a little zip. If the large mature jalapeno peppers from the grocery are used, you may want to use less and also remove the seeds to keep the stew from being too spicey.

• 1: Saute onion, garlic and pepper in a little olive oil in a heavy pan
• 2: Remove from pan and brown the meat in the same oil (add a little oil if needed).
• 3: Put the water in a large pot and add the salt, tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper and browned meat along with the oil and meat juices from the pan.
• 4: Remove stems and chop the herbs small, except for the bay leaves (leave these whole).
• 5: Dice the carrots and celery and cut the potatoes into chunks varying from diced to large and add to the pot with the other ingredients.
• 6: Cover the pot and cook on low heat for at least 2 hours. Even longer cooking at low heat makes the meat more tender and allows flavors to better meld.

Note: This recipe should work well with any meat, however other meats contain more fat than venison and could make the dish more greasy. Also if you use dried herbs, keep in mind that when substituting dried for fresh, the volume should be decreased by approx. 1/3.
   The dish can be thickened by using less water to start with, not using a cover and allowing it to cook down, or by stirring in a little flour first blended in water. Corn starch or potato flakes might also be used for thickening agents.