It is time to let go of the barbecue. I will still do the occasional ribeye steak on the outside coal barbie, but the time has come to dig out the dutch oven, root vegetables and hardy meats.

Game is really healthy, low in saturated fats and full of iron and vitamin B12 (venison at least) and all kinds of good things albeit with the occasional shot, which I always try to find lest husband get upset at the violent end of our dinner ingredients. Which I think is a lot more merciful than the modern abattoir waiting for the farm animals. Just whetting your appetites here with these entertaining death stories. So if your target audience is of sentimental constitution when it comes to gunned down wildlife feel free to include an additional step of palpating the meat for any shot into the instructions below.

Other than that this is a very easy, tasty and comforting autumn food. You can make it into a  stew if you prefer, just use less liquid. You can also make this into a darker soup or stew using red wine and beef stock, but I think lately I have given husband too much weird dark food like squid ink pasta and black paella, so he casually enquired at some point whether there would be red food on the menu any time soon.

This soup really hit the spot when husband was suffering from his first manflu of the season and came home one night exhausted and bunged up. He collapsed on the sofa resuming the fetal position and exclaimed "What life is this? Life of work and illness!" He can be quite dramatic at times, but also very responsive to care. So I told him to go have a long hot shower, put his PJ's and warm socks on, tuned the TV from Food Network to football and brought him a steaming bowl of this tasty, nourishing and vibrantly red soup with toasted seeded bread and a hot toddy. Not sure if his physical symptoms got any better, but his outlook on life brightened instantly.

Warming game soup with tomato and root vegetables

Oil
500g game (I had ready-made game mix of venison, pheasant, partridge and mallard)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pointed capsicum, chopped
1-2 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme
Pinch of smoked paprika
1 small turnip, chopped
2-3 potatoes, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Small can (227g) of chopped tomatoes
2 cups low salt chicken stock
Water if necessary
Salt
Black pepper

Add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in a lidded non-stick pan. Add the meat that has been cut into 2cm cubes. Brown the meat and remove from the pan.

Add the onions to the pan and saute for a few minutes. Add the minced garlic and capsicum and continue to saute. Add the wine and let it evaporate a little before adding the chicken stock. Add the meat back into the pan with the thyme and paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and leave to cook on low heat for about 45 minutes.

Add the rest of the vegetables and continue cooking for 20-30 minutes until the meat is soft and the vegetables are done. If you want to make it a stew, use a bit less liquid or cook without a lid for some of the cooking time.  Or if you want to make it very soupy, add a bit of water.

Garnish with a sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves and serve with warm, fresh bread.