A stew and a casserole are interchangeable; stew being a method and casserole being a pot. For clarity's sake, we can say a stew gets done on the stovetop but a casserole is cooked in the oven. Stewing almost invariably uses small pieces of meat rather than a joint or large cut. The liquid covers the ingredients and is served as part of the dish. Most stews have browned ingredients but there are certain instances when they are not. Browning does not seal in flavour juices nutrients or any other such nonsense. It simply adds lots of lovely flavours and a good colour for the final dish.

Venison is a very lean meat so stewing is an ideal method of cooking it. Go for rich earthy flavours such as red wine woody herbs wild mushrooms and berries. These flavours are not requisite for venison but they do suit it well especially in a cold-weather casserole. Keep it low key by serving with a baked potato. Allow at least 90 minutes for a good stew; low and slow is the way to go. Longer is better so that the liquid can reduce down to something that coats the back of a spoon. And lovingly swathes mashed potato. Essentially other than tenderising the meat it is about reducing the whole lot down until it makes you go weak at the knees.