Bear (or Pork) & Pumpkin Stew

Bear (or Pork) & Pumpkin Stew

This is a great and easy recipe to make with a fatty and rich meat like bear, and if you don’t have any of this- pork will do. Works great for stew cuts of venison as well.

Ingredients: pretty simple and usually around

1-2 lbs. of chunked bear or pork, about inch to inch and a half chunked or cubed. Fattier meats do better with this- butt, shoulder etc.

Half of a sugar pumpkin or half of a butternut squash – chunked in two piles- one pile the size of the meat and one of smaller cubes

3 good size potatoes quartered

One good size onion quartered- more if you like more

3 carrots cut in 1 in sections

1 cup flour for dredge

1 stick of butter

Bear, pork or vegetable stock 16 oz

I bottle of beer, cider or hard cider

Salt and pepper to taste

Herbs and spices to taste: thyme, cayenne or red pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, sage, brown sugar- use what you like

Prep – hunt a bear, go to the store

Method:

Take the flour in a big bowl and add salt and pepper to taste, rest of the herbs and spices or whatever you like and mix dry ingredients. Dredge the meat and coat with this flour mixture. On stove top heat dutch oven or big heavy-lidded pot and get half the butter sizzling and then brown meat on 2 opposite sides for 3 minutes per side. Best do this in batches and then put aside. Pour in beer, cider or hard cider into pot to deglaze and with a spoon move this around until all tidbits are loosen off the bottom. Bring this to high simmer. Add meat, carrots, onion and bring this to high simmer. Turn oven on to 350F. Now add the stock, the smaller cube pumpkin pile and potatoes, and bring this to high simmer. You can add more butter now, salt and pepper to taste. If your stock is thin, you can add the left over flour dredge slowly and stir in to create thicker gravy. If you have an oven, put this covered pot in oven for 45 minutes. Check and stir at 45 minutes and then add big chunks of the pumpkin and salt and pepper to taste. Put back in oven for another 45 minutes uncovered. Stir this about halfway through. If you want to do this stove top just simmer covered for 45 minutes, uncover, and add the big pumpkin pieces and then continue simmer for 45 minutes.

You should have tender flavorful meat in a light brown rich gravy with nice orange chunks of tender sweet pumpkin- a real crowd pleaser. The beauty of this is you can use what you generally have at hand and adapt it to your supplies. Break out big bowls and a bottle of that cider or beer and enjoy!

Chris Zorn

Registered Maine Guide

Bridgton, ME