Crock Pot White Wine Beef (or venison) stew

Not a recipe as much as a process. I’ve done it with all sorts of basic ingredients, but the white wine and the biscuit top is important.

It’s rather simple. 8-16 oz of stew meat (or deer if you had any lucky hunters in the house–any of the stew-type meat choices through FS will work), browned on the stove. Reserve liquid in the pan and toss in chopped onion and garlic. Oil in the crock pot if yours tends to stick.

Place meat in the bottom of a large crock pot set on high. While onions and garlic cook on the stove, roast other (any) root veggies in the oven at 400 degrees (or so) for a few minutes to get them tender. These go on top of the meat. The liquid with the aromatics pours over all of it.

I use a variety of herbs, but always–always–thyme. Sage works, so does rosemary. A bit of salt, some ground pepper. Sometimes, depending on what’s in my house, I’ll slice celery or green pepper on top of all of this.

Then pour a half bottle of white wine over it all. Add enough water just to almost cover. Cook on high for an hour or so, and then reduce to low until meat falls apart.

At this point, I assess whether I need to thicken the liquid (I almost always do). I use cornstarch mixed in water before pouring it in. I stir everything and make a quick biscuit dough (either with bisquick or with any basic biscuit recipe). I spoon this over the top of the stew and put the crock pot back on high until the biscuit top is done.

Most people who eat with me add a bit of salt at the table, but I’m wary of cooking with too much ahead of time in a long-term soup like this. It cleans out the pantry and fridge when too many beets or sweet potatoes or whatever else starts stockpiling!