Venison Gravy over Rice

That is what we had for dinner last night.  It's simple to make, mostly requires time rather than talent, and is very:

• cheap
• filling
• nutritious

If you'd like to make it (you can substitute beef if you don't have venison), here's what you do.

Take 1 pound venison (or beef) stew meat.

Put the meat into a medium size bowl where you have mixed together
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp Lawry's seasoning salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

Stir well to coat the meat with the seasonings and flour. 

Then, into a large (10") skillet that you have melted
1/4 cup lard or shortening
over medium heat

Dump the contents of your bowl into the skillet.  Yes, even the extra flour that didn't stick to the meat.  It will thicken your gravy as it cooks.

Brown the meat on both sides (stir lightly a few times, or turn each piece individually with a fork, ) then add

6 cups of water. 

Increase heat to high, until the water comes to a boil.

Stir the meat to make sure nothing is sticking, then put a cover on the skillet, turn the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for about two hours.  Stir once in a while, and turn to low if it looks like the liquid is getting  lower than the amount of gravy you want (should simmer off 1-2 cups of liquid).

After the meat/gravy has been simmering for an hour, it's time to start the rice!  (Sorry, I didn't get pics of this).

In a 3 quart sauce pan (2 qt might work, but I've always used my 3), put

3 cups of water

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt.

Heat water to boiling, then stir in

1 1/2 cups brown rice

When water returns to a boil, stir the rice, then cover the pan and turn heat to low for 25 minutes.  After 25 minutes, turn heat off but don't take the lid off pan or stir the rice!  Leave the pan, covered, on the hot burner for another 20 minutes.  After that, you can remove the lid, stir the rice and check for doneness.  Unless the rice is really crunchy or watery (in which case, put the lid on, turn the heat back on, and simmer for 10 min or so), your rice is ready now.

To serve, put a scoop (or several) of rice on your plate, and cover with the meat and gravy.  Serve a nice colorful veggie on the side (we had the last of the sweet potatoes from the garden), and you have a healthy, vitamin packed meal that will definitely fill you up.

Here's what the meat and gravy looked like when it was finished (and we'd eaten most of it--I forgot to take a picture before serving).

You can, of course, use white rice instead of brown (adjust the cooking time accordingly, about 30 min total for real rice that isn't instant.  I've never used instant rice, so I guess just cook it however the package says to).