Moose stew - Norwegian style, Newfoundland made

This recipe was born out of a last-minute Nordic-themed dinner party. Just days before, my friend Alvan had regaled me with the story of his first moose hunt. A story which, having ended successfully enough to land me with several kilograms of stewing meat in my fridge, could be told in retrospective humility. It checked all the boxes of hunting lore: earnest amateurism, a bewildering chase, the breathless moment before a rifle is fired. Afterwards, it was my local Norwegian connection, Kristin, the sveltest sportswomen to have donned a hunting cap on this island, and incidentally the possessor of the hollowest legs I’ve ever encountered, who suggested  - or, rather, told me - that I should cook Norwegian-style moose stew for the dinner party. The next day, three recipes appeared in my inbox, all idiosyncratically translated from arcane Norwegian sources. Alright, I thought. Norwegian-style moose stew it would be.

Norwegian-style moose stew with Brussels sprouts

I took liberties with the recipes and concocted my own recipe, and the result might be the most delicious stew in the world. If you can’t find brown cheese, that’s fine, it’ll taste great without it (hint: if you’re in St. John’s, pick some up or order it at Manna Bakery.)

The key ingredient, in my opinion, is the meat/bone stock. I encourage you to make your own, because it will make your stew that much more delicious. I’ve included detailed instructions on how to make meat stock below.

What makes this stew Norwegian? My friend John asked me this question shortly after I posted a photo of it on Instagram. My response was straightforward: it’s Norwegian because it was cooked under the close supervision of a Norwegian. Ingredients like partridgeberry jam, cream, and juniper berries melt into the pot like the red, white, and blue of the nation's flag.

Like any good stew recipe, this one’s got deep roots in home cooking. And it's for this reason my recipe honours two side-dish heroes: potatoes and Brussels sprouts. And before you dismiss this as unfashionable and knobbly, just taste it. Nan was not wrong when she said, "eat your potatoes and Brussels sprouts, b’y."

Ingredients like partridge berry jam, cream, and juniper berries melt into the pot like the red, white, and blue of Norway's flag.

Brussels sprouts are absolutely delicious in this stew.

Moose stew meat stock

• The goal here is dark, clear stock with exceptional, balanced flavour.
• Make your stock from meat and/or bones. (Hint: you can get quality bones from a good butcher. If you’re in St. John’s, pay a visit to Halliday’s Meat Market.)
• Cut up any meat you're using into 1-inch dice.
• Put a large pot on high heat and melt a knob of butter just until it stops foaming.
• Brown the meat and/or bones on all sides, in batches.

Preparing stock from bones.

• ​Yes, batches. If you do it all it once you’ll end up with partially scorched, partially raw bones - or worse, if you have a lot of meat you’ll end up boiling the meat in its own juices. You want to sear it, because browning equals good flavour and good colour.
• Most importantly you don’t want to add any raw meat into the stock because it’ll create cloudiness as the proteins leak out into the liquid and coagulate there, creating small particles that are hard to strain away.
• Next put all the browned meat and/or bones into the pot and pour just enough water into it to cover it.
• Turn down the heat. Do not boil the stock. Boiling releases smaller particles into the stock which make it cloudy.

Preparing stock from moose meat.

• ​​Just as one tea bag makes one cup of tea, if you add too much water you just weaken the flavour. Meat stock is really just meat tea!
• There’s no point taking forever to make the stock. What I mean is, there’s a point when the meat and/or bones have given up the flavour they have, and this point is probably 45 minute to an hour in.
• Add your vegetables towards the very end. Use leeks, carrots, and celery stalks. Two of each will do, or less.

• ​Cut your veggies into small dice (about 5 mm cubes). Surface area equals flavour.
• Add them to the hot stock, but still don’t boil it.
• The stock is ready when the vegetable are perfectly cooked. Image you’re going to serve them. You wouldn’t serve overcooked vegetable mush, would you? Overcooking vegetables in stock just leads to cloudy and unbalanced, sweeter stock.​

• When it’s done, ladle out the stock into a fine mesh sieve. Don’t just dump it all through a sieve because this push small particles through the sieve which are hard to remove later.​
• Leave the strained stock aside for 30-60 minutes, letting the smaller particles settle to the bottom. Now strain it again, this time through a cheesecloth, ladle by ladle, leaving the cloudy muck on the bottom.
• Use the stock right away or freeze it for use later on. If you decided to freeze it, make sure you skim off any pearls of fat off the top. These will go rancid with time in the freezer.

Carrots make a great stock addition

Norwegian-style moose stew

Method

To prepare the mushroom stock, just pour boiling water over 15 g of dried chanterelles and leave it for 10 minutes. Before using, strain it through a sieve with a cheesecloth placed in it to catch any dirt that usually accompanies dried wild mushrooms.

Turn up the heat on a large, heavy-bottomed pot and add 1 tbsp of butter. When the butter stops foaming, add about one quarter of the moose to the pot and brown nicely on all side. When browned, remove from the pot, place into a bowl, and lay it aside. Repeat for the rest of the moose meat until it is all browned. The reason we do it in batches is to avoid boiling the moose in its own juices, which would happen if we added all the moose at once. ​

Turn down the heat to medium. Add the wine (you’ll hear that lovely “psssshhhhh.”) Let the wine reduce by about half, about 10 minutes. ​​Next gently stir in mustard and juniper berries. Add mushroom stock, meat/bone stock, and cream. Add 1 ½ tsp sea salt.

Ingredients

Serves 6
1,000 g moose stewing meat,  cut into one inch dice
15 g dried chanterelles 
300 mL red cooking wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 juniper berries
250 mL mushroom stock
500 mL meat/bone stock (see notes above)
250 mL cream
125 g bacon (about 7 thick slices)
1 leek, cut lengthways into quarters and cut into 5 mm/ ¼ inch slices
2 parsnips, cut into 5 mm/ ¼ inch dice
4 carrots, cut into 5 mm/ ¼ inch dice
6 slices of brunost (brown cheese, optional)
​
For the sides:
1,200 g waxy potatoes (like red or new potatoes), optionally peeled and roughly cut into large chunks
500 g (about 40) Brussels sprouts
1 lemon

Bring it back to a boil under medium heat and then turn the heat down to low and let simmer, covered with lid, for 1-2 hours. 1 hour will suffice for more tender meat (2 hours for tougher meat), so test the stew at the hour mark. When the meat is tender to your liking, turn the heat back up to medium and add the leek, parsnip, and carrot dice. Lastly, add the bacon dice, partridge berry jam, and brown cheese. Keep it at a gentle boil until the vegetables are perfectly cooked and not a minute longer, about 10 minutes.​

Remove from the heat and set aside to cool with the lid on. Meanwhile, prepare your sides. Get a medium saucepan filled three-quarters on a rolling boil and carefully drop in your potatoes. Boil until a fork pierced vertically into a potato is no longer about to pick it straight up.

For the Brussels sprouts, heat up a cast iron pan dry on high heat. Place all your Brussels sprouts quarters in a large bowl and add 2 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 ½ tsp sea salt, 2 tsp fine sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix it up and add to the pan when it’s hot. Scorch the Brussels sprouts lightly, moving them around often so they don’t burn.

To serve, reheat the stew slightly, dump in the Brussels sprouts, and when hot ladle over hot potatoes in shallow serving bowls. Enjoy!

Thanks for being here // BC
Written by Erik Veitch
Edited by Michael Lee