Tag: venison

By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes, Smoked Goodness, Sous Vide, What's for dinner No Comments

This weekend I got rained out from typical outdoor activities, so I took some time to clean out the older items in the root cellar, but earlier in the week I had done some exploring in the chest freezer and found some freezer fossils.  Now these weren’t bad, just roasts left from a couple years ago, but one was freezer burned and the other pristine.  I thawed them out and gave them a quick rub on Friday with a Mexican inspired rub.  I used two parts onion powder to one part of each of the following garlic powder, cumin, chipotle powder, black pepper, salt and oregano.  I let them rest in the fridge overnight and then gave them a quick smoke on the old Weber that I fear is nearing its final day.  I went to remove the lid and was left with a handle in my handle.  This is a very fire themed post, I used my propane torch to get some hickory and mesquite chunks going and then just threw the meat on the grate and let it go.

Once it was smoked I brought it back in the house, vacuum sealed each roast individually with a couple smashed cloves of garlic and dropped them in their waiting 135°F water bath – for the next 29 hours.  Fast forward to today, 29 hours later and time to finish them, time for the weed burning torch and the video below.  Just a quick sear on both sides and done, they were still sizzling when I got in the house but still fork tender.

And after a short rest it was time to carve and eat, slicing it open revealed what I had hoped – tender, juicy and solid meat.  The first bite did not disappoint, nor did the subsequent bites.  We ate it alongside a black bean and corn relish made nearly entirely from produce grown on premises.

I used my Anova Sous Vide Stick to redeem these freezer fossils and it did not disappoint.  What are you cooking?

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, What's for dinner No Comments

In the interest of total disclosure, my wife’s initial observation of these was, “those are some nice looking turds”; and for that reason a recipe without a picture (and you are not getting a thousand words either).  A picture would be super helpful but these are a dry, no sauce, meatball – but they are not short on flavor.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground venison (or not, I ground it in the course of this recipe)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce (or for something extra special some Bluegrass Soy Sauce)
  • a couple drops of fish sauce
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/4 c almond flour
  • 1 tbsp dried Thai basil
  • handful of fresh cilantro chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

  1. Preheat the over to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix together all ingredients except the almond flour, if using unground meat chop meat into 1″ cubes and thoroughly mix them with the other ingredients, grind all twice through a fine plate.
  3. Add in almond flour and mix thoroughly.
  4. Using your hands, form into 1 ounce meat balls and placed on the previously lined baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the broiler on high for a minute or so to brown the meatballs.
  6. Serve hot.

Just another in a list of venison recipes, but something different.  If these are not spicy enough (they are not spicy) serve them with some Sriracha.

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In spite of the ridiculously warm hunts the deer have been on their feet this year and I am grateful to have taken a couple.  The farm I have been hunting has a deer problem, it is not uncommon to see twenty or more deer a sit, which makes every sit exciting.  Ten days ago I had what appeared to be a wounded deer come in that was obviously in rough shape and so I took the shot and killed it instantly, if you don’t believe me I will send you a picture of the shot.  Regardless upon butchering I discovered that the reason it appeared to be injured is that it was injured, one front shoulder was completely dislocated and the other a bruised ball of mess.  Fear not the chickens loved those two shoulders.  I butchered the rest of the deer you would as any other and set aside two roasts to make…pastrami.  I love pastrami, I love corned beef/venison as well but have a special place in my heart for pastrami.

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I have made pastrami in the passed and it was always just not quite right, either dry or funky or something, well this time I nailed it.  It is fantastic, had some last night on pumpernickel with horseradish cheddar and mayo, might have another for lunch.

As with other cured meats the process is as important as the ingredients and in this case more so for flavor, with here is what I ended up with.
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Ingredients (cure)

  • 3-5 pounds venison
  • 1/4 c tender quick (do not skip, this is the cure part)
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground mustard
  • coupe bay leaves crumbled

Ingredients (rub)

  • 3 tbsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

  1. Trim, wash and dry meat.  Set aside.
  2. Combine cure ingredients thoroughly and rub liberally all over meat.
  3. Place meat in a gallon zip lock bag or better yet vacuum seal it and place it in the fridge for at least five days, depending on meat thickness.  I went seven for this batch and it was perfect.  Turn the bag/pouch everyday.
  4. After the meat has cured – remove it from the bag, rinse and place the meat in a bowl of clean water to soak.  It should soak for at least a couple hours bur preferably over night or better yet while you are at the office.
  5. After soaking, remove meat from the water, rinse again.  Pat dry.
  6. Combine ingredients for rub, rub liberally all over the meat.  Allow meat to sit out.
  7. Preheat smoker to 225°F, add wood for smoker once preheated (I used a chunk of oak and a chunk of hickory)
  8. Once the smoker has been preheated, place the meat on the smoker and smoke until the center of the meat is 150°F
  9. Once the meat is up to 150°F in the center, remove from the smoker, wrap tightly in foil with a splash of water, beer, stock, etc.  Wrap this foil packet in a towel or two and let it sit on the counter for a half hour, this is super important to having an awesome end product.
  10. After a half an hour slice and enjoy.  It will be better the next day.

And that is it, pastrami, at home with an animal hopefully sourced by yourself, that is knowing where your food comes from.  And if anyone knows where I can find a wild pig running around in Michigan I can know where my bacon comes from too.

What is your favorite way to enjoy venison?

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I like meatballs.  They are simple but they can be so tasty.  I was kind disappointed when the Saucy Balls guy was eliminated from America’s Next Great Restaurant.  I wanted to try those meatballs.

Venison Meatballs

The best thing about meatballs is that there is really no limit to what you can do with them.  You can put them in soup, you can put them in spaghetti, you can just eat them plain; the list goes on.  They are tasty and typically made with beef, which my doctor informs me must be eaten in moderation.  No that I believe him, but I happen to like venison more than beef and it is better for the body than chicken and has more iron than beef.  So for me venison meatballs are a win-win.

Tonight we are having minestrone with venison meatballs, is that allowed?  I don’t know but it sounds tasty and hearty so we are going to give it a go.  So in the interest of time I precooked the meatballs this morning.  And thought I would share the recipe here.

Ingredients
1 lbs venison
1/2 c italian bread crumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan (not the canned garbage)
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 c milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper in dish.  Mix well and set aside.  In a large bowl combine milk and eggs, beat until well mixed.  Squeeze blood from venison and add to milk and egg.  Mix.  Slowly add the dry mixture incorporating evenly into the meat/egg/milk mixture.  Once combined put a skillet on over medium/medium-low heat and coat with a thin layer of olive oil.  Form meatballs to desired size with hand and add to skillet, make sure they do not touch.  Brown meatballs, turning frequently.  A spoon works good here.  Once the meatballs are done you have some options.  If you are making spaghetti add you sauce to the skillet cover and cook until the meatballs are cooked through about a half hour.  I was making soup so I added some beef stock and italian seasoning in place of the sauce.

These freeze well do if you make up a batch and only want to use half save the uncooked meatballs for another time.

Now a cast iron skillet is ideal here in my mind, but I like cast iron it feels more primal to cook in unrefined cookware and it just tastes better.

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By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes No Comments

Wednesday night my wife says to me, “We should make Greek burgers with some of the venison we have in the freezer.”  And that is when it was born, the Venison Greek Burger, I became infatuated with the idea for the rest of the week.  All day Thursday, all day Friday, I could not keep it off my mind.  Then finally Saturday came and the burger came to be.  It did not disappoint.  It was tasty, it was worth the thought and the preparation, and truth be told we ate a couple yesterday and are about to eat a couple more.

The Venison Greek Burger

Like so many other recipes, this is just a start, the Greek use any number of seasoning to create their own unique signature when making Gyro meat, which is what this is based off.  So this is more of a template that I used to get going and will likely add in different ingredients each time I make it from here on out.  There is a recipe for the meat, which was excellent and one for the Tzatziki sauce to go on top of the burger as well.

Greek Venison Burger Meat
Ingredients
1 lbs ground venison
1 egg
1 small onion
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground marjoram
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp fine feta cheese crumbles
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
Chop onion and then place in a food processor.  Blend in the processor until the onion is more of an unrecognizable consistent mash.  Remove from blender and place in a couple of pieces of good paper towel.  Squeeze out as much juice as possible.  Add onion as and the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the venison to a bowl.  Mix well.  Add in venison and mix until the seasoning is evenly distributed through the meat.  Form to patties, let set for 30 minutes and grill to desired wellness with light smoke from a few oak chips in the grill.

Should you have no venison you could substitute a half pound of ground beef (lean) and a half pound of ground lamb.

Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
1 1/2 c plain greek yogurt
1 cucumber
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp dill weed
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of ground black pepper
pinch of sugar
2 cloves of garlic crushed

Instructions
Peel cucumber, slice and half length wise and with a spoon remove the seeds.  Place the remaining cucumber in a food processor and blend until uniform (kind of like applesauce).  Place cucumber in a couple of paper towels and squeeze out the juice.  Combine the drained cucumber with the remaining ingredients and refrigerated overnight.

The sauce will be a little too garlicky the first day, it mellows over night, but keep the breath mints handy!

Once the burgers are cooked slap ’em on a bun with some lettuce (or spinach), tomato, onion, feta, tzatziki sauce and a dusting of ground sumac; these are wicked tasty.  Or as an alternative they are great without the bun but with everything else in a salad.  Either way give it a try, and remember the meat recipe is just a template customize, customize, customize!

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