Rocky Mountain Elk Stew Recipe - Hank Shaw's Rocky Mountain Elk Stew (2024)

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Course: lunch, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Servings: 10 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

• ▢ 4 tablespoons butter, canola oil or sunflower oil
• ▢ 2 to 3 pounds elk stew meat
• ▢ Salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup flour
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 ounce dried porcini, crushed (or some other dried mushroom)
• ▢ 5 Hatch, Anaheim poblano peppers, roasted, seeded, and chopped
• ▢ 1 quart elk, venison or beef stock
• ▢ 1 pint Belgian beer (anything malty)
• ▢ 2 large carrots, peeled and cut unto chunks
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

• ▢ 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
• ▢ 1 cup corn kernels
• ▢ 1 cup cooked barley or wheat berries
• ▢ 1 15-ounce can, Great Northern beans
• ▢ 1 cup chopped cooked greens, like spinach, nettles, or chard

• Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in a large soup pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Salt the stew meat well, then dust in the flour. Brown the meat in batches, making sure they do not touch each other. Remove the meat to a bowl as it browns and reserve.

• When all the meat is nicely browned, add the remaining oil and the chopped onion. Stir well, and brown this well, too.

• While this is happening, put 2 of the roasted chiles into a blender with the stock and puree.

• Add the garlic and stir to combine. Return the meat to the pot, along with any juices that have collected in the bowl. Pour the contents of the blender into the pot. Crush the dried mushrooms in your hands and add to the pot. Fill the blender bowl again with water and pour that into the pot. Finally, add the beer. Bring all this to a simmer, add salt to taste, partially cover the pot, and let this cook gently.

• If you are using dried beans, wheat berries or barley and greens, now is the time to cook them. If you are using canned beans, wait.

• After about 2 hours, add the carrots and the sage, as well as the parsnip, if using. When they are tender, about 40 minutes or so later, add the remaining green chiles, and any of the other optional ingredients you happen to be using. Taste for salt and black pepper and serve.

If you can’t find dried mushrooms, use 1/2 pound fresh ones, chop them and add with the onions.

Keys to Success

• I like to use big chunks of neck or front shoulder meat here, sliced across the grain. They look gnarly at first, but after several hours in the pot, that connective tissue melts and you get a really nice stew. Shank chunks work well for this, too.
• Take your time with the browning step for both the meat and onions. This is the foundation of the stew’s flavor.
• This is a place for canned green chiles. I like to roast chiles, but if you don’t, canned will do nicely here.
• If you have the starchy optional things, like the wheat berries and beans, etc. you won’t need anything else. If you skip them, serve this with crusty bread.