Moose Stew & A Life List

Moose stew and a life list, not exactly a combination I planned in advance. But there it is. Well, sort of. My life list doesn't actually include moose stew, but it does include a goal of trying at least one new recipe every month for a year. I love cooking, regularly clip, dogear and bookmark recipes to try, and somehow never get around to making them. Given I whipped up moose stew last night for the first time, I thought this is as good a time as any to give the recipe adventure a go. 

On to the stew. Moose isn't a common ingredient in my house, but I happened to have some in the freezer courtesy of my in-laws. I also happened to have a half dozen men coming by the house this evening giving me good reason to cook it up (cause I ain't gonna eat, moose and I aren't exactly best friends!). Now to get all factual on ya, I didn't actually cook the stew last night. I just assembled the ingredients in the slow cooker and switched it on this morning before work (allow me an aside: if you've never used a slow cooker, I highly recommend it - life-saving cooking tool for the busy working girl!) When we got home this evening, we were greeted by the delicious aroma of a hearty stew simmering away, ready for the burly men to dig into when they arrive for the car-party.

I used this recipe as a guide, but modified it to suit my needs (as I usually do with recipes). A couple of the changes I made:

• used moose instead of beef (obviously, its moose stew)
• didn't brown the beef, but seasoned it with S-n-P and tossed with some flour
• replaced sweet potato & celery with carrots & turnip
• used mini potatoes instead of average sized ones
• added in worcestershire sauce and garlic...garlic makes everything better.

Hmmm, as I type I realize that perhaps this is more of a complete change in recipe than a modification. Oh well, all part of having fun in the kitchen ;) Here are the 'before and after' pics - and I do apologize for the photo quality, lighting at 8pm in January leaves much to be desired. I promise it looks much more appetizing in person.



Moose, veg, and broth all hanging out and getting to know each other in the slow cooker.



And the finished stew. Everyone came together and made friends.

 And the hungry-man reviews are in: The stew is almost completely gone, several second helpings were had and not one bowl was left uncleaned.

All in all, a good start to a year-long recipe adventure.