I am slightly enamored of venison. I eat it almost any chance I get, which mostly means I order it on the very rare occasions when (a) I’ve chosen to eat out and (b) venison is on the menu. For some reason, in this city of gastronomic wonders, deer meat is just not something you see at the butcher counters of even very upscale markets, and only infrequently on restaurant menus. And I have to say, I don’t understand this. I know that there is a pretty serious problem with overpopulation of deer (and geese) in the mid-Atlantic region, and yet markets and menus are not flooded with venison and goose. Wouldn’t that be a perfect solution to all kinds of problems, not the least of which is an overdependence on factory farms for meat? Gah.
Anyway, it turns out that the Quattro’s stand at the Union Square Greenmarket DOES have venison, at least sometimes, so I bought a couple of pounds of stew meat, and stashed it in my freezer until I figured out what to make. I had never cooked venison before, and it took some time to find a recipe I thought I could trust. And then the week I wanted to make the stew happened to coincide with the beginning of a cold/flu/plague that took me out for almost 2 weeks. I was not yet (completely) down for the count when I made this, but I still purposely chose a pretty simple recipe, with only a few ingredients, both for a basic flavor and ease of preparation. So it’s kind of key to make sure the meat and greens you use are top quality here, because there isn’t much going on that will cover up anything less than the best.
You’ll want a couple pounds of stew meat (something a little fattier than what I had would probably not be a bad thing), and a couple pounds of greens, like dandelions, escarole, or chicory. Also a pound of fennel, some cayenne, and salt. For the most part, that is the ingredient list.
Wash the greens, chop them up, and mix them together. Put about a third of them in the bottom of a big soup pot, topped with a third of the chopped fennel, a sprinkle of cayenne, and some salt. Add half the meat (salted).
Repeat the layers, ending with the last third of the greens and fennel, and then pour in water–just enough to get to the top of the greens.
Bring to a boil very slowly, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes without stirring. THEN give it a stir, and again every half hour until the meat is tender (about 2 hours total). Taste for salt and spice, and add in about 2/3 a cup of grated Pecorino Romano. Serve with bread and more grated cheese.
This was a much more watery stew than I was expecting–more like a soup, really–but here’s the secret I discovered over the rest of the week, as my cold-addled tastebuds decided everything on a takeout menu tasted weird and could only tolerate the simplest of flavors: this stew is even better, I think, if you add in a little rice or barley as it’s reheating. Just toss in a handful or so of dry grains for each bowl you’re heating up, and cook until the grain is tender. It’ll soak up some of the extra liquid, and adds a little more substance if you don’t happen to have a good loaf of crusty bread lying around.
The CSA Files 
We grew up with a large sized freezer full of venison and elk and sometimes bear. Eating cow meat was a luxury for me as a child because we never got it.. Now I’m in heaven when my father shares part of an elk or my aunt/uncle share some Alaskan Halibut they caught while staying at my cousins house in Alaska. I’ve never seen venison around here either. Of course, there aren’t many deer here in the desert.