Sorry for that pun but let's face it, this is hunting season. Deer season to be exact. Any of you care to offer your serving suggestions on how you prepare various venison dishes?
Update 11/4: Robert (see comments) sends this simple recipe:
Good topic, even though I can contribute nothing to it except to note that I have had fantastic chili made with venison, as well as having been introduced to it surreptitiously in the form of burgers and meat in spaghetti sauce at my uncle's house in Maine when I was a kid.
I bet it would make some great crockpot recipes.
Posted by: Jay at November 2, 2006 06:40 PMMaybe not so good a topic as no one seems willing to share what they do with venison and any recipes...
Posted by: Jeff Soyer at November 2, 2006 09:55 PMIt's good to surreptitiously feed to children after watching Bambi. Teach 'em about the real circle of life.
Posted by: roy at November 2, 2006 10:21 PMJust about any recipe that would work for beef or lamb will work for venison. The main thing to remember is to trim all fat from it; the fat on deer is tallow, as is found on mutton. It is waxy and not very flavorful.
One old favorite for small roasts is to brown it slightly, then put in a crockpot with some condensed cream of mushroom soup and some onions.
Another way is a can of beer, some onions, potatoes, and carrots (just like a beef pot roast) Leftover roast is great when chopped and mixed with potatoes for hash.
Venison does not normally have a "wild" taste if the meat has been cared for properly. If you are concerned at all, use a light marinade that has garlic, white wine, and a bit of lemon juice.
If you have elk, moose, or bison, just treat them as you would a very lean beef, because that is what they taste like.
I have to agree with Bob on this. I treat deer as a beef substitute. I haven't actually eaten beef in a year, as a result of last year's hunt. I hope to be able to do better this year and produce more variety of products. If you ever feel like asking for deer butchering tips... I've got a few... And after this years experiments I may have a few more. Can anyone say deer sausage?
Posted by: Jared McLaughlin at November 3, 2006 01:24 AMJeff, I hate venison. Sorry. When I was a kid, my mom thought it was psychological, so she made "beef" stew with it. I took one bite and said, "Where'd you get this beef? I think it's rotten." I proceeded to pick out every last piece and eat just the veggies. She later told me what it was. I never tried it again.
I hope you get some good recipes. You could always try to make a venison stew in your new crock-pot, when you get it.
Posted by: Charity at November 3, 2006 03:19 AM[copied over from Alphecca -- js]
Sorry. I'm not a hunter. I am a meatcutter though, and I can offer some advice.
1) Venison is very lean and will cook rather quickly-remember this when using dry heat cooking methods.
2)Just about any recipe for beef (particularly cuts from the round)can be adapted to venison.
3)Venison is game and does not lead the sedentary lifestyle that animals raised for slaughter do. This results in more muscle movement over the course of the animals life and as a result, game won't be as tender as other animals of the same age. Moist heat cooking methods may give more palatable results. If dry heat methods are used, it may be best limited to younger animals and/or cuts nearer the center of the animal. Cuts nearer to the ground (shoulder, leg) as a rule will be tougher.
4)Marinades can do wonders for both tenderness and flavor-just don't expect them to work in 45 minutes. Overnight or longer.
5)Aging. This is a sore subject for me. Any cut of meat can be improved by being PROPERLY aged. The problem is that most game is so lean that you can't do it. It works like this: During the aging process cells burst, water drains and natural enzymes break down connective tissue promoting tenderness. The flavor effectively becomes "concentrated." Here is the problem-meat deteriorates during this process, from the outside-in. This poses little problem with beef or lamb-heavy fat cover. Venison-little or no fat cover. If it must be done (and some insist that it must), do it only with the hide on and under controlled temprature-below 40 degrees. Attempting this without some cover to protect the lean results in unacceptable dehydration and trim loss. And don't buy into the myth that individual cuts of meat can be aged in the refrigerator. You aren't aging them, you're just letting them get old.
6)There is a company in N.J. called D'Artagnan (www.dartagnan.com). They are purveyors of game and charcuterie products. One of the founders-George Faison, is a big hunter, and isn't too shabby in the kitchen. They have a number of game recipes on their website. Check it out.
Posted by: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner at November 3, 2006 12:13 PMMy friends and I just got back from NC with a ton of venison.
One of my favorite ways to prepare:
I'm not sure how to describe this way of cutting, so bear with me ... take a roast or large piece of backstrap, put it on the cutting board and cut low from the side, rolling the meat as you go along. Basically, you're turning a round piece into one whole flat piece, maybe 3/4 of an inch thick.
Once you have your vension flat, layer a mixture of the following onto it:
Feta cheese
Diced tomato
Fresh chopped parsley
Crushed garlic
Chopped black olives
Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt & pepper, then roll the whole thing back up, tying with a piece of butcher's string.
Place this in the oven at 350 or so until done.
Good stuff
Posted by: Mr. Weebles at November 3, 2006 02:36 PMAs I've been told, it sounds like my Osso Buco recipe works well with venison.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at November 3, 2006 04:08 PMThe whole trick is preparation; cooking is pretty much like any *VERY, VERY* lean cut.
A) Remove all the "fat", unless you're a real fan of that "gamY" flavor - lot of it is concentrated in the fat.
B) Marinate the meat using a tenderizer - the spices are up to you. I've had venison marinated in Coke - the sugar and flavorings are, shall we say, interesting, and the carbonated water (carbonic acid) acts to break down the meat and tenderize it. I thought that adding a little bourbon might have improved it. YOu know the flavorings you like; try them.
Brown the meat using bacon grease, and then cook it with the veggies in a crock pot on low, but don't let it dry out.
Posted by: bud at November 3, 2006 06:58 PMI had quite a few deer roasts after a successful hunt, and used to marinate at least 24 hrs. I used Liquid Smoke, various BBQ sauces, a few of the different Tabasco sauces, and whatever else I happened to have around. I also wrapped the roast in bacon - pinning the slices with toothpicks, and then grill it. Very tasty.
Posted by: Jeffro at November 3, 2006 07:57 PMFirst of all, let me DEMAND that Jeff post the fabulous venison cooking photo I forwarded him. Jeff! There are no excuses!
Second: Here's my two venison recipes:
Chili: First, kill a deer. I suggest a military rifle in .30 cal or so, and snatch the deer from life without it knowing that it even been snatched. You don't want traumatized meat. I'm talking bullet placement here, folks.
Second, skin it, quarter it and get it processed. It's best if the processor has a tatto of an anchor on his arm. Pick it up and pay.
Next, take a package of the ground venison and thaw, then brown in a big skillet on low heat. Don't add anything. Step back from the freaking salt! LOW heat.
Use a commercial chili mix- say, Wick Fowlers 2-Alarm. While the meat is browning chop up all the garlic you can find plus half an onion. If the onion makes you cry, don't be ashamed. We are all men here. Put the mix, the onion, the garlic, and anything else interesting (muchrooms?) in a cooking pot. Don't add the red pepper. Chili isn't supposed to be spicy hot. It's supposed to be TASTY. Add a Mexican beer and a can of tomato sauce. I tried wine, (too bitter), Dr. Pepper, (too sweet), and water, (WTF?). Beer is best. Mexican beer is the best of the best. If you are north of the Mason/Dixon line, don't be pretentious. Use Rolling Rock...and use the whole beer. No sipping. Get your own dang beer if you are thirsty. I'm cooking with Tecate right now.
Drain the meat of the little fat that cooks off and into the pot it goes. Simmer 30 mins or more on low, low, low heat. Stir with a knife-point. Add the masa out of the mix and go another 30. Let it cool and put it away in the refrigerator. Re-heat and serve the next day.
Repeat until ground deer is gone.
2. Venison Steak: You know that bad wine you bought? Or another REAL beer, not "lite?" Thaw some steaks, (though you can grill them frozen in a pinch and they are fine) and put them in a ziplock for a couple of days with wine or beer, (not both, you neanderthal!) Some Woustershire sauce, some Zest, garlic salt, anything good laying around. Not cinannmon or something crazy.... MEAT stuff. Take the zipped ziplock with the steaks and marinade out and massage it a couple times a day. Don't go more than two days.
Easy on the salt. Or none.
Chop garlic and onion. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. Put a little olive oil in an iron skillet at LOW heat. You can call your girlfriend and ask her how you tell if the olive oil is virgin ENOUGH. Baby. You know. Is it like tighter or something?
Low heat. Start the steaks. Flip them every couple of minutes. Dump the onions and garlic in and segregate it to one side of the skillet with your spatula. Gotta watch not to overcook onions and garlic. They break down quick and olive oil, virgin or not, doesn't like a lot of heat. Watch that flame.
Use some of the marinade as well in the skillet. You could grill them over charcoal, but its a lot of damn trouble. If you wanted trouble, you would have used a bow on the deer.
Toast some bread. Have your girlfriend make a salad. Bake potatoes if you really are ambitious. Use the leftover marinade to make gravy for the potatoes. Start everything else earlier. The venison steaks are the last thing to be cooked.
How long do you cook the steaks? You'll know. You'll just KNOW. Not long. Venison is usually sliced pretty thin and it's lean.
Eat it. Feel your cholesterol sink.
Posted by: robert at November 4, 2006 12:11 AMI have a crockpot venison recipe I'm planning to try in a couple of weeks; I'll post it if it works out. Interestingly, it includes the above-mentioned cream of mushroom soup.
Posted by: triticale at November 4, 2006 03:32 AMChicken-frying it is good, just like you would chicken-fry steak. That's how we usually fix it--nothing special. The specialness comes from the venison itself, which in my opinion is much tastier than beef.
It's usually best to tenderize it very well first. Get meat tenderizer and a metal meat mallet and bang the crud out of it for several minutes.
Another important part is to properly dress the deer in the field. Don't haul it around in the back of your truck all day to show it off before you gut it. Gut it right where it falls, if at all possible.
Posted by: AlanDP at November 4, 2006 01:52 PMMan! What a photo! Is that guy a genius or what?
Posted by: robert at November 4, 2006 11:04 PMI have had decent results with adding a tablespoon of rendered bacon fat to a skillet before pan frying the back loins, soaked in Lea&Perrins worchestershire sauce.
This piece with any vegetable and a side of quick-fix pasta is very fast to cook and rather toothsome, I find.
Enjoy Jeff.
Posted by: -B at November 6, 2006 09:53 PMDo you have to be a single guy to post here? 'cuz I'm not.....I am married to a hunter. I like venison & I even like the 'gamey' flavor. I have fixed venison many times for those who dislike it. To their surprise, they like the dish & once in a while will argue with me that "this can't be venison. It tastes good!"
A few years ago I found an article that taught me "...the secrets to preparing perfect venison -- no matter what the cut." Check it out for yourself - "The Sweet Taste of Success" by Tom Dickson. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/novdec99/venison.html
Yes, you can use it as a beef substitute. Mix it with pork in meatloaf. Stir fry with soy sauce, teriyaki, or sweet & sour. Drench it with BBQ sauce & serve with potatoes, or saute mushrooms & onions in butter, poor over the venison & serve it with wild rice.
Mmm...I'm making myself hungry!!
Posted by: Liz at November 13, 2006 04:18 PM