Smoked Bear and Venison Sausage Stew

[rtbbq2]

Pulled the last piece of hind quarter from my 2011 Ontario black bear out of the freezer to make a stew. Probably 4 lbs after trimming the fat. Rubbed with my spice rub and marinated the bear meat in Moore's Marinade overnight. Smoked the bear to 150°  in a 225° smoker temperatrure. I wanted to retain the juices and finsh cooking the meat in the stock pot. I also added 2 lbs. of venison sausage to the grill the last hour or so to give it a little smoke too.

Veggies included, onions, celery, parsnips, carrots, rutabaga, turnips and fingerling pototoes. Fresh parsley, 10 cloves of garlic

 and tyme along with a host of other spices. I also added some dry red wine, 1 bottle Black Butte porter beer, balsamic vinegar, milk and 1/4 cup chive sour cream. I usually don't measure but go by taste. Works well...

I pulled the smaller pieces of first as they cooked quicker. The venison sausage was pulled as it started to juice.

All those juices should go into the stew. The bear was removed and cut in small to medium sized chunks and

put into the stock pot to marry the veggies. The venison sausage was cut diagonally as well as the veggies. 

I bring it to a boil then simmer until the veggies are cooked through. I like to cut the veggies in various sizes.

That allows the smaller pieces to boil down and become part of the broth.which included 32 oz. beef stock and

32 oz. veggie stock along with about 64 oz. of water and the wine, beer etc as indicated above. I didn't add the

sour cream and milk/flour in this pick as yet. I like to let all the flavors from the veggies and meat marry before I add

the thickening agent. Most know that stews and soups will taste the best the second day.

I did have to have a bowl since it looked irresistible............

...Had a little wine while I was cooking. The entire house

smelled like heaven. You can probably almost smell it as you read.................

See, I told you I was drinking a little red wine while I spilled some in the stock pot...Menage a Trois, California wine.

Thanks for looking and have a nice day....RTBBQ....

If you are interested, I shot the bear with my Bowtech bow and Rage three blade broadheads. Here is the video of the bear

on my youtube channel. It was a rather unique animal. They called it a razorback bear. You can see him on the

video footage i took of him before I shot him. I filmed him for two days before I finally shot him. Note the blonde hair

running down his back. He also had red hair mixed throughout the black hair and a white patch on his chest which

is typical. I have him at the taxidermist now and will post pics of him once he is mounted...Here is the link to the

9-minute video...

Thanks for looking..........

 

[thoseguys26]

Awesome...  Unique kill for sure. Congrats! We have two really neat mounts with white chested black bears. Tell me more about your recipe, I'd like to try it.

 

[rtbbq2]

Here is my basic boiled dinner recipe. I use the same for the bear boiled dinner. Simple replace the ham hocks with the bear meat. Obviously the bear and venison sausage meat will be partially cooked if you smoke it first and it will finish cooking in the stock pot. The other liquids I added above can all be added to this recipe. I use more veggies to suit my likeness. For the batch above, I used 2lbs. carrots, I bag parsnips, two large rutababa's, 1 bag turnips, 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley, 1/4 fresh cup chopped tyme. Just add more stock or water when the veggies take over. The batch above made 3-1/2 gallons. I froze two gallons for later.This also make a great use of leftover Hams from the Holidays. Any specific questions, please ask.

Boiled Ham Dinner

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups small diced onions
• 1 cup small diced celery
• 1 cup small diced carrots
• 2 turnips diced large pcs.
• 1 cup small diced parsnips
• 1 large rutabaga diced large pcs.
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic/I buy it already chopped in jars
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1.5 Tbls dry
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 3 to 4 smoked ham hocks or 3-4 cups ham
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley/or dry
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• 3 Tbls. worcestershire sauce

Directions

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 4 -6 minutes or so. Add the garlic, bay leaves, parsley and thyme. Saute for 1 - 2minute longer. Transfer to the stock pot. Add the ham hocks/ham and stock. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook about 1 to 1.5 hours, or until the hocks are tender and veggies are done. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. If you use dry parsley put it it with the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Remove the ham hocks and remove the meat. Add the ham back into the soup. When I use a ham, I usually boil the bone in the stock for 30 minutes or so to get the flavor from the bone. Add water as needed since you will have evaporation.

 I usually add 3/4 cup of milk or cream to the soup too. It gives it a really creamy rich flavor.

 

[rtbbq2]

I also added three medium onions and a small bag of fingerling pototoes. Put anything in it that you want to. Mine turns out different everytime....

 Always good to very good! 

 

[smokinhusker]

That stew looks like a great meal! Nice vid of a unique looking bear. Thanks for sharing

 

[rtbbq2]

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• rtbbq2
• Nov 25, 2012

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• rtbbq2
• Nov 25, 2012

Just thought I would share the finished mount of the bear. The stew was

great and the mount turned our pretty good too. You can tell by the goat and

antelope in the background that it was still at the taxidermists in this pic

It's now at home and in my office....Looks Great!

 

[zzerru]

Never had bear before. What's it similar to? Stew looks great!

 

[rtbbq2]

Similar to beef stew but the flavor is somewhat different because it's bear....The best I can so...