Venison with Rice and Garam Masala

Hello all! Garam Masala spice (known as "The Magic Spice") is from northern India and surrounding areas. It's not just a spice, but actually a blend of spices. In Hindi, Garam means "hot" and Masala means "spices." In this context, though, Garam refers to the intensity of spices rather than the heat content. Common spices found in this blend are cinnamon, cloves, black and white cumin seeds, black, brown and green cardamom pods, and both black and white peppercorns. If you want to try something different with wild game, try cooking with Garam Masala. The flavor combination lends itself well with venison. Find it at your local Indian specialty store or online.

This recipe makes a lot of food, so it's perfect for a family meal. With Jen a few time zones away, this fed me all week, which was nice because I didn't have to cook something up every night after coming home late from the gym. 

Prep and Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of venison roast
- 2 cups of uncooked white rice
- 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup of dry white wine
- 1 tsp. of Garam Masala
- 1 1/2 cups of pearl onions
- 2 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 2 tsp. of Hungarian or sweet paprika
- 1 tbs. of finely chopped rosemary
- 5 cloves of chopped
- 1/2 cup of sliced green onions
- 1 cup of chopped broccoli
- 1 cup of chopped carrots
- salt and pepper, to taste

1. Trim fat and silver skin off roast. Season roast with salt and pepper.  Place roast on a medium-hot heated grill and cook for 5 minutes on each side. You’re not looking to completely cook the roast but brown it well on both sides.  I added soaked hickory chips to the coals to give it a smoky flavor. After browning the roast, let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Then cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes and set aside.


2. In a medium saucepan, combine chicken stock, wine and garam masala and bring to a low simmer, making sure the stock does not evaporate too much. 

3. While the above stock is coming to a simmer, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep 12-inch cast iron frying pan until it is almost smoking.  Add pearl onions and scallions and cook until soft, stirring frequently.  Next, add chopped garlic and continue to stir making sure you do not burn the garlic.  Reduce the heat to medium and add tomatoes, paprika and rosemary.  Cook for about 2 minutes.

4. Add rice and stir well, mixing all ingredients together, making sure the rice is coated with the olive oil and cook for an additional two minutes.

Then pour the now simmering stock into the frying pan along with carrots and mix well.  Cover the pan and simmer on low for approximately 15-20 minutes.   

Yum...

5. Add the cubed meat and chopped broccoli to the frying pan. Cover again for about 15 minutes to allow meat to heat up and broccoli to steam without over cooking it.  At this point make sure the burner is off.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Serve with chopped green onions as a garnish.