Bear meat has quickly become my favorite wild game (that I've tried). About a week ago, I decided to try it with a simple bourguignon recipe and the results were absolutely fantastic!
I started with about 12 ounces of homemade bacon, which I browned in a heavy pan. I reserved all the grease. Gratuitous bacon pics:
With the bacon set aside, I spread out 3 pound of bear meat (cut into 1-2" chunks) on paper towels, and gave them a healthy dosing of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Then browned the meat just slightly in the bacon grease (I was worried about cooking the meat too much too quickly and making it tough - it really could have used a little more browning).
After that, I added one chopped onion, two chopped shallots, five or six smashed garlic cloves, a bundle of fresh carrots, and one pound of halved mushrooms to the pan. These cooked for about 10 minutes, with a little shake every now and then, until the onions were translucent.
Finally, I put the bacon, bear, and veggies in a crockpot with a full bottle of cabernet sauvignon, two cups of beef broth, a crushed up beef bullion cube, two bay leaves, and two sprigs of thyme. Next time, I'd probably use pinot noir and reduce the beef broth to one cup or none at all.
I let this go on low for about 6 hours, removing the bay and thyme every so often so I could stir things around without losing them in the stew. Toward the end, I mixed a half stick of butter with a quarter cup of flour to try and thicken it up a bit - that didn't work. Just reduce the beef broth and you'll end up better than I did. At the end of cooking, I discarded the bay leaves and thyme.
I oven roasted 3 pounds of baby potatoes to serve the stew over (I don't like my potatoes mushy so I didn't put them in the crockpot). Shockingly, to me, the mushrooms stayed firm through all this cooking. And because the smell was killing me and I couldn't wait to start eating this, I didn't take a pic of the finished product!
I'm going to try this with some venison that's dry aging in my fridge next, and I need to make bacon from another pork belly. I doubt it will be as good as the bear, but this is my new favorite stew!
I started with about 12 ounces of homemade bacon, which I browned in a heavy pan. I reserved all the grease. Gratuitous bacon pics:
With the bacon set aside, I spread out 3 pound of bear meat (cut into 1-2" chunks) on paper towels, and gave them a healthy dosing of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Then browned the meat just slightly in the bacon grease (I was worried about cooking the meat too much too quickly and making it tough - it really could have used a little more browning).
After that, I added one chopped onion, two chopped shallots, five or six smashed garlic cloves, a bundle of fresh carrots, and one pound of halved mushrooms to the pan. These cooked for about 10 minutes, with a little shake every now and then, until the onions were translucent.
Finally, I put the bacon, bear, and veggies in a crockpot with a full bottle of cabernet sauvignon, two cups of beef broth, a crushed up beef bullion cube, two bay leaves, and two sprigs of thyme. Next time, I'd probably use pinot noir and reduce the beef broth to one cup or none at all.
I let this go on low for about 6 hours, removing the bay and thyme every so often so I could stir things around without losing them in the stew. Toward the end, I mixed a half stick of butter with a quarter cup of flour to try and thicken it up a bit - that didn't work. Just reduce the beef broth and you'll end up better than I did. At the end of cooking, I discarded the bay leaves and thyme.
I oven roasted 3 pounds of baby potatoes to serve the stew over (I don't like my potatoes mushy so I didn't put them in the crockpot). Shockingly, to me, the mushrooms stayed firm through all this cooking. And because the smell was killing me and I couldn't wait to start eating this, I didn't take a pic of the finished product!
I'm going to try this with some venison that's dry aging in my fridge next, and I need to make bacon from another pork belly. I doubt it will be as good as the bear, but this is my new favorite stew!
