It’s cold outside and we’re cooking stew. A good stew to warm us up as we wait for the next winter storm is always a hit.

This is a venison stew. Mrs J figures you could use other types of game too with good results. Originally Mrs J wanted to cook with juniper berries. It turned out she was fresh out of them. But she did have an unopened supply of “wild spice”.

“Wild spice”, in Scandoland, is not as wild as you might imagine. It’s a dried mix of herbs (sage, rosemary, bay leaf) and spices (juniper berries, coriander, paprika, black pepper) with garlic and onion. It’s not hot but it already contains salt. So if you’re using this recipe replacing the “wild spice” with your own spice mix, make sure you taste and add salt as you go along.

This stew will serve three normal or two hungry people. You’ll need 2 tbsp plain flour mixed with a little bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper. For the meat, 400g of venison in small chunks (whatever you can buy already cubed, cut in thirds) is enough.

You’ll also need 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion (roughly chopped), 2 carrots (roughly chopped), 1 stick of celery (roughly chopped), 3/4 tbsp of “wild spice”, 15g of butter, some fresh parsley (3-4 sprigs), 1/2 liter of strong beef stock, 300g sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into biggish pieces) and 1 big clove of garlic.

Mix flour and a pinch of salt and pepper. Take half of it and dump over the chunks of venison. Work your hands work through this mixture with the meat until well coated. Heat your pot on a high heat with the olive oil. When sizzling hot fry your meat for 3 minutes to brown it. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, “wild spice” and the butter. Add a little bit of water, give everything a good stir, then close the lid on the pot and let everything steam for 4 to 5 minutes.

Take the lid off and let everything start to fry again as the liquid evaporates, stirring every so often for 5 to 10 minutes. Chop your parsley stalks finely (chop the leaves too and set aside for later). Once the onions start to go brown and smell sugary, add the chopped stalks to the pan with the rest of the flour. Add the stock and stir. Bring to the boil, then set the heat to low so that the stew is just simmering. Add your sweet potatoes and simmer for at least 2 hours until the meat falls apart easily. Keep an eye on it as it cooks, adding water if you think it looks too dry.

At some point during the two hours, press one clove of garlic into the chopped parsley leaves and mix thoroughly.

When the meat is soft, add the parsley and garlic mix and stir through.

Use some last leaves of parsley to decorate before serving.

Enjoy the wintry goodness!