For stews, I like to make venison posole: dust the venison in salted masa flour (the stuff you use to make corn tortillas) or in regular flour. Brown in a little oil or butter, then remove while you saute the vegetables - this little trick is one that Kim learned recently, and it makes a minor but detectable difference, as the juices in the venison ahve a chance to rest and collect (rather than evaporate and cook away) while you get the vegetables started. The nest step is to cut red and green peppers and white onions into large chunks; in my household, we use hot peppers (anchos, guajillos, or others), though we've been known to use Bells and to add heat at the table for the benefit of the kids. When the peppers and onions have just been seared lightly for a couple of minutes, turn the heat down, add the meat back in, and add a can of drained hominy. Add water or broth - we'll use fresh stock if we've got it (had some in our winter vegetable veloute soup last night - parsnips, carrots, celery and a "Blushing Maiden" pepper, cooked with rice, pureed and then thinned with cream and stock - great stuff!). Cook the posole for 30 to 45 minutes over low heat, covered, to make the venison tender and moist. The purpose of browning the meat in the masa or flour is that it lightly thickens the stock as it cooks. I think some traditional recipes call for chopped tomatoes in the posole, but I like the simplicity of venison, corn, and peppers. Obviously, this is a thoroughly New World dish, and a delicious one. Additions: we sometimes grind up a couple of juniper berries and add them to the posole, along with a small hot red pepper for a little bite, ground up and added to the masa. ANother dish would be chile colorado; I've made that with buffalo, but I imagine it would also be good with venison. I've posted that recipe before, but basically it's simple: cover dried red chiles with boiling water, soak for 30-60 minutes, then puree. Add salt, pour over cubes of venison, let stand covered overnight in the fridge. The next evening, bring the venison and chiles to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook slowly, covered for 45 minutes, then remove the cover, raise the heat, and cook for 10-20 minutes to thicken the sauce. Serve with fresh corn tortillas.