Venison Soup

Sunday I made hamburg/vegetable soup using the ground venison (doe). My soups always end up thick, like stew (not thickened, just full of stuff and not a lot of liquid). My Mother used to make this with regular hamburger. I added the herbs and found that it made the soup more "continental", plus it smelled good. You could use basil (would probably be good with ground chicken too). I haven't tried it yet but I think it would be good made into a pot pie. You'd have to thicken the liquid a little. You could add Bisquick drop dumplings and then serve over the cooked dumplings. Maybe that's what I'll do with the leftovers from tonights supper.

If we are on low carb, I double the amount of ground meat and use the amount of veggies as listed. I like to serve it with some grated sharp cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and a splash of hot sauce over the sour cream. You don't have to drain off any grease because the venison is 90% lean and there isn't much oil used. I occasionally serve homemade garlic bread with this.
For more of a southwest flavor, subsitute two cans of Rotel tomatoes with chiles for the one can of tomatoes, and substitute 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp dried oregano for the herbs. Substitute pinto beans for the kidney beans.

HAMBURG VEGETABLE SOUP

1# ground venison or any ground meat
1 TBSP olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 - 1# bag frozen mixed vegetables (I prefer the ones with carrots, peas, lima, corn & greenbeans but didn't have it on hand).
1 - 12 oz or so frozen italian green beans or cut regular green beans
1 - 14 oz tomatoes (chopped, or whole squeezed into bits plus the liquid in the can)
1 - 14 oz water (use can)
1 - 14 oz can kidney beans (or your choice, navy, canaloni, and include the liquid, don't rinse)
2 - (optional) potatoes cut into small cubes
1 - tsp dried marjoram
1/2 - tsp dried thyme (powder or leaf)
salt and pepper to taste

Using pot big enough for soup, brown ground venison in tablespoon of olive oil. Crumble as you stir it. When half of venison has lost color, add the chopped onion. Continue to cook until the onion is transluscent (venison should completely lose raw color but do not over cook. Doesn't have to actually be brown and crispy, just cooked).

Dump in frozen mixed veggies, frozen green beans, tomatoes and additional can of water. Stir and maybe add a little more water (enough so that it almost, but not quite, covers the veggies). Cover and cook on medium, stirring every 5 minutes until the veggies have defrosted (about 10 minutes).

Dump in can of kidney beans plus bean liquid, optional potato cubes (we omit this mostly), marjoram and thyme.

Stir, cover, and cook until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Turn heat down as necessary and stir occasionally.

Salt and pepper to taste, cook for another 5 minutes and serve. Freezes well.