Smoky Venison and Dumplings Stew

[CDN]

My Granny Louise makes the best chicken and dumplings to be had in the USA. Hands down, no contest, don't even start. And I'm not trying to compete with her. But I've never known her to make VENISON and dumplings. So, maybe I can start a new traditon here with a little recipe I dreamed up and have my grand kids some day (long way off, I have kids in elementary school!) start off a post on their website, "My Pops makes the best venison and dumpling stew to be had..." , you get the idea.

Here's what you'll need:

For the stew-

Chunks of stew quality venison

Old WoodFire Grill's KK's 10 BBQ Rub

4 cups of water

1 cup of beef broth or chicken broth

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon black pepper

Hot sauce, to taste

1/2 cup sliced carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup sliced onions

Chopped green onions for garnish

For the dumplings-

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup milk

Start out by seasoning the venison chunks with Old WoodFire Grill's KK's 10 BBQ Rub and lightly smoking them. For this cook I used the Weber Kettle and started with a half chimney of lump charcoal, banked on one side, along with a chunk of hickory. Place the chunks of venison on the "cool" side of the grate and close the lid, positioning the vent so that it is over the meat in order to draw the smoke across the meat. Cook them at around 200-220 degrees for about 30 minutes, just to get a nice smoky flavor. You could also lightly brown the seasoned venison in a pan with olive oil if you don't want to fire up the BBQ pit, but you would miss out on the smoky flavor. Cut the smoked chunks into bite size cubes.

In a crockpot, combine the water, beef or chicken broth, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, hot sauce and smoked venison chunks. Cover and cook on high for around 5 hours, or until the venison is fall apart tender. Next, add the sliced carrots, onions and chopped celery and let it cook for another 2 to 3 hours, or until the vegetables have started to soften up.

To make the dumplings, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in small "crumbles" of butter to the dry mixture. Add the milk and stir until well blended. Using a large spoon, drop heaping lumps onto the top of the stew and let simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off, then cover and let simmer for additional 10 minutes.

Serve it up piping hot with chopped green onions for garnish.

[bkln]

damn, I'm soooo hungry now...LOL

[Deerthug]

Looks really tasty!