VENISON VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BARLEY
Hearty venison vegetable soup with barley, root vegetables, mushrooms, and smoky bacon, all simmered low and slow in red wine and stock until the venison is fall-apart tender.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds venison stew meat, 2 to 3 inch pieces (see above for cuts)
- salt and ground black pepper
- 4 slices smoked bacon, chopped
- 2 cups diced onion
- 2 cups diced carrots, 1/2 inch
- 1 cup diced celery, 1/2 inch
- 2 cups button or cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, (preferably fire roasted)
- 1 quart 4 cups chicken or venison stock
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
- 2 cups pearled barley
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or large Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook until the fat renders. Remove the bacon from the pot and set it aside while reserving the fat in the pot.
- Increase the temperature to medium-high heat. Once the bacon fat starts to slightly smoke, add the venison and season with salt and ground black pepper.
- Cook the deer meat on all sides until it is golden brown. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium low. Add the onions, celery, mushrooms and minced garlic to the same pot. If the mixture seems dry, add a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cook for 6 minutes while stirring occasionally and scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. This will take around 6 minutes.
- Place the meat back to the pot. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the carrots and barley.
- Cover with a lid and bring to a slow simmer. Cook gently for around 2 hours or until the venison is almost fall-apart tender.
- Add the carrot and the barley to the pot and cover with the lid. Simmer until the carrots are fork tender. Add a little more stock or water if needed.
- Remove the bay leaves and the thyme springs from pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with crusty bread, sliced green onion and my favorite, fresh c
NOTES
- Brown the venison in batches. Do not crowd the pot or the meat will steam instead of sear. You want real color on the venison before it goes into the long simmer.
- Cook the bacon gently. Render the bacon fat first, but do not brown it hard. That fat is there to build the base for the soup.
- Wait on carrots and barley. Simmer the soup with everything else first for about 2 hours, then add the carrots and pearled barley once the venison is almost fall-apart tender. This keeps the barley from blowing out and the carrots from turning mushy.
- Keep the simmer low. Cover the pot and cook at a slow simmer, not a hard boil, until the meat is tender. Add a little more stock or water later if the barley tightens the soup too much.
- Use the slow cooker if needed. Follow the recipe through the searing and vegetable steps, then transfer everything except the carrots and barley to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Add the carrots and barley and cook about 2 hours more.
- Season at the end. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, then taste and adjust the salt and black pepper before serving.
- Make ahead works well. The soup can be made up to 3 days ahead and reheated gently on the stove. It also freezes for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Nutrition
Calories: 1127kcal | Carbohydrates: 110g | Protein: 100g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 311mg | Sodium: 747mg | Potassium: 2401mg | Fiber: 21g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 10988IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 148mg | Iron: 16mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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