Elk stew my way

The digital pressure cooker is used often at my house, but so is the slow cooker. We have several slow cookers of different sizes.

One is so small it will barely hold two chicken breasts and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Another is so large it will feed a large group of hungry airmen.

Last week we discussed my way of grinding the elk and deer, meaning there is no fat or beef suet added. This burger ends up close to a zero-fat meat.

A common recipe for beef stew calls for the beef to be cut into one-inch cubes. Sometimes the cubes are listed as a half-inch larger.

Good grief, are we making a roast or stew? It seems to me a one-inch cube of meat has the potential for being the perfect size to become a choking agent. Does the cook issue a fork and knife with the bowl of stew?

My solution is to use ground meat as the meat in my elk and deer stew. The ground meat is browned. Remember, it will be wise to add a little oil to the skillet before adding the meat. Meat with a zero-percent fat content may burn without fat added.

This is dumped into the large slow cooker, along with a can or two of low sodium diced tomatoes. The vegetables added are up to the cook. My stews contain carrots, potatoes and onions as a minimum. Other additions may include turnips, parsnips, peas, rice, mushrooms, beans, cauliflower and a green, such as Swiss chard.

Dennis note: Swiss chard has been added more and more to my soups and into the commercial soups purchased. Eating a soup at a social event opened my eyes to this possibility. The soup at this even actually had kale added, but my preference is Swiss chard.

By the way, this vegetable is easily grown at home. The leaves can be cooked and eaten fresh or cut into ribbons and cooked in a skilled. A big bunch of chard will be reduced greatly when cooked in this manner.

The cooked and cooled chard can then be placed in a re-sealable bag and pressed flat. This bag is retrieved from the freezer and an appropriate amount is broken off, warmed a bit in the microwave, and added to the bowl when soup is on the menu.

One approach to adding vegetables is to keep it simple, such as carrots, potatoes and onions, but use others for a change of pace.

My seasonings include garlic powder and pepper. A saltshaker is placed nearby the serving area, for convenience.