• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Subscribe
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Finding the Forgotten Feast

  • Home
  • About
  • My Cookbooks
    • Public Events
  • Podcast
  • Wild Game
    • Venison Recipes
    • Duck Recipes and Goose Recipes
    • Rabbits, Hares and Squirrels
    • Pheasants, Turkey, Quail
    • Dove and Pigeon Recipes
    • Wild Pig and Bear Recipes
    • My Best Taco Recipes
    • Wild Game Sauces
  • Charcuterie
    • Homemade Sausage Recipes
    • Smoker Recipes
    • Bacon, Jerky, Hams, etc
    • Salami Recipes
    • Confit, Pate, Terrines
  • Fish
    • General Fish Recipes
    • Salmon Recipes
    • Snapper Recipes
    • Crabs, Shellfish and Squid
    • Little Fish and Oddballs
  • Foraging
    • Wild Greens and Herbs
    • Mushroom Recipes
    • Acorns, Nuts, Starches
    • Pickles and Preserved Foods
    • Berries, Sweets and Syrups
    • Unusual Vegetables
Home » Wild Game » Venison » Venison Stew Tunisian Style

Venison Stew Tunisian Style

By Hank Shaw on April 29, 2021 - 25 Comments

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Comment
4.67 from 15 votes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Venison stew is a standard in my home, and I make many varieties. This one, inspired by the flavors of Morocco and North Africa, is one of my favorites.

If that sounds exotic, it mostly isn’t. Virtually everything you need to make this recipe you already have, or is easily found in the supermarket.

A North African venison stew in a serving bowl
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

I first made this venison stew from a whitetail doe I shot in an alfalfa field in northern Wyoming. She was a magnificent animal — with a thick layer of sweet, grain-fed fat — and this is a magnificent stew. Everything falls into place together, and the flavors, seasoning and texture of this dish all come out perfectly.

This recipe is an amalgam of several I’ve read in books by Paula Wolfert, Clifford Wright and, most notably Claudia Roden’s New Book of Middle Eastern Food, which I highly recommend.

I make so many stews from so many different animals I have developed a set of rules I rarely stray far from. One of these is a deep browning of the meat before the liquid enters the stage. Tomato paste is an absolute. Most of my stews have at least a tablespoon. I make my own, too, which is worth the time. Cover it with oil and homemade tomato paste will last a year.

Add ingredients gradually. Learned this one from my mum. Put everything in the pot at once and you will have some things soft and lovely and other things soft and mushy. That’s why I wait to add the potatoes, peas, olives and such.

(Looking for a venison stew with a different set of flavors? Try my “Food Plot” venison stew recipe.)

Don’t overcook pepper and potatoes. Both will dissolve if you let them stew too long. Think al dente pasta.

Game meats and tough domestic cuts suitable for stews require a long time before they will submit. You cannot make a venison stew on a schedule. Sometimes it’s done in 90 minutes. Sometimes, like when you have an old boar or graybeard buck, it can take upwards of 4 hours. Slow and low are the keys. Don’t worry, just kick back and let the stock and herbs do their thing.

North African venison stew recipe in a serving bowl
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

That’s another reason why you add your veggies later — elk, deer or moose can stew for several hours even after they’ve become tender, giving you all the time you need to cook your vegetables.

Add another dose of herbage right at at the table, and if it is a venison stew that lacks bright flavor notes, you could do worse than hit it with a little squeeze of lemon right at the end. Your family will not really notice it, but they will notice a wider range of flavors than they would have otherwise.

A final suggestion: Big wines and malty beers. This is not the place for Pinot Noir. Lusty reds are the ticket here, like a Spanish Rioja or a California Cabernet Sauvignon. A Scottish ale or a German dunkel or bock is the ticket here.

(For a venison stew closer to home, try my New Mexico green chile stew recipe.)

North African venison stew recipe in a serving bowl
Print Recipe
4.67 from 15 votes

North African Venison Stew

Use these ingredients as a guide, not dogma. If you can't find some of the specialized ingredients, like the harissa, use sriracha or even a few dashes of hot sauce. Once made, this stew will keep for a week in the fridge.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time3 hrs
Total Time3 hrs 20 mins
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: North African
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 339kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 pounds venison stew meat, or beef or lamb
  • Salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 large onions, sliced root to tip
  • 5 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 quart venison broth or beef stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 pounds fingerling or Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 2 Anaheim peppers, diced
  • 1 cup peas
  • 12 green olives, chopped
  • 1 or 2 preserved lemons, chopped (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons Harissa or ground chiles
  • 1/3 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid. Brown the stew meat — I like 2-inch chunks — over medium-high heat. Do this in batches and take your time. Set aside the browned venison while you do the rest.
  • Heat the oven to 325°F.
  • When the meat is all browned, add the onion — this will deglaze the pot. Stir it around until no browned bits are left in the pot. Sauté this until the onions are browned, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two.
  • Add the the meat back to the pot, then the tomato paste and mix well. Pour in the venison stock and bay leaves and bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, cover and put into the oven for 2 hours.
  • At the two-hour mark, turn the heat down to 300°F and add the potatoes and peppers. Return to the oven.
  • Once the potatoes are tender, remove the pot from the oven, turn it off, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover the pot again on the stovetop and let this sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 431mg | Potassium: 1217mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 440IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 6mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @HuntGatherCook or tag #HankShaw!

Thanks for Sharing This!

1.8K shares

Filed Under: African, Fall Recipes, Recipe, Venison, Wild Game, Winter Recipes

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for Josh BowmanJosh Bowman says

    December 28, 2021 at 12:36 pm

    This is delicious. I’m not huge on peppers but this has such complex flavour that I still loved it. Fed it to people for their first venison dish and it was unanimously delicious and tender.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for Megan WiederMegan Wieder says

    December 15, 2021 at 8:55 am

    Making this with a boneless venison neck roast, my kitchen smells amazing! But I CAN wait for it to be done….giving it the time it needs to cook low and slow!

    Reply
  3. Avatar for Barbara ParsonsBarbara Parsons says

    December 5, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    Our son keeps us supplied with various cuts of venison, including his Italian sausage and our preference is to use the venison in international cuisine recipes that use chicken or lamb or beef. This stew knocked the top off. We’re lucky to have a Lebanese market in our city neighborhood, so the preserved lemons were in the fridge, migrated to the slow cooker, and happily resided in the bowl as a perky addition. I love your site. And I tell all our hunting/fishing friends to check you out.

    Reply
  4. Avatar for Noah AllenNoah Allen says

    September 27, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    How would you adapt this for a crockpot? This looks like a great way to use up some of my elk stew meat!

    Reply
  5. Avatar for LanceLance says

    May 20, 2021 at 7:08 pm

    I don’t think I’ve ever had a stew with so many bursts of different but complimentary flavors. The preserved lemons were an neat touch. I made the dish with back leg from an older elk, turned out great. Excellent as usual Hank, thanks.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hank Shaw holding a rod and reel in the American River

Hi, my name is Hank Shaw. I am a James Beard Award-winning author and chef and I focus all my energies on wild foods: Foraging, fishing, hunting. I write cookbooks as well as this website, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild game, fish, or edible wild plants and mushrooms, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

More about Hank...

Featured Recipes

Closeup of sliced, smoked venison backstrap on a platter
Venison 101: How to Cook Venison
Finished fried turkey nuggets recipe
Fried Turkey Nuggets
A bunch of ramps ready to cook.
13 Ramps Recipes to Try This Spring
Braised turkey wings recipe on a plate
Braised Turkey Wings
Wild asparagus spears.
Gathering Wild Asparagus
A platter of fried morels
Fried Morel Mushrooms

As Seen In

As seen on CNN, New York Times, Simply Recipes, Martha Stewart, Food and Wine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and The Splendid Table

Never Miss a Recipe

Receive recipes direct to your inbox.

 

 

Back to Top
  • Home
  • About
  • Classes & Events
  • Tutorials
  • Podcast
  • Charcuterie
  • Wild Game
  • Fish
  • Foraging
  • Privacy
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2022 Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, All Rights Reserved.

Site built by: Site by Status Forward

1.8K shares
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • 45Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Save
  • Email
1.8K shares
  • 45