One of my favorite winter recipes! It's such a fantastic one for winter. Me and my ex JP came up with this one about 5 or 6 years ago, and I've made it many a time since.

1.5# Venison. Neck meat, trimmed from bone and diced approx 1 cubic inch. (Can use diced beef as well)

2 large yams. Peeled and diced in same fashion as meat.

1 large (or 2 smaller) green bell peppers, diced.

6 cups beef stock

1 yellow onion, finely chopped.

3 cloves of garlic very finely chopped

3 table spoons of oil (I used extra virgin olive. Canola is fine)

3 table spoons of flour

6oz Tomato paste

1 tablespoon of El Yucateco red hot sauce

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon: Thyme

1 teaspoons: Basil, cilantro,

1/2 teaspoon: black pepper, fennel, cayenne pepper.

4 strips of bacon, fried and broken into smaller bits. (OPTIONAL. Sometimes comes out wonky for some reason)

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Heat the oil in a large pot on medium, then add the onions, garlic, and green peppers in. Cook until soft, should take about 10 minutes. Add in the venison and bacon and turn up the heat to medium-high: stir until browned on all sides.

Sprinkle flower over the mix and pour in 5 of the 6 cups of stock. Reduce heat to low and add the tomato paste, all the spices, and the hot sauce. Stir thoroughly. Cover and simmer for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes and the last cup of stock and bring to boil. Reduce back to low and let it simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check and make sure potatoes are tender, if they are it's done.

Voila. Enjoy. It should be just spicy enough to get your nose running and blood flowing, but not enough to burn. A terrific and hearty winter dish.